Wouter, on a general level I can agree that you need a certain amont of talent to reach specific goals, like you and Jake have mentioned. But I dont think sailboat racing is at that level just yet. Perhaps Poul Elvstrøm had a special talent for sailing, but the "great dane" himself attribute his success to hard work and lots of thinking.
Calling somebody foolish on a internet forum is indeed foolish..

Jake, I can totally relate to what you say about music. I am one of those unlucky individuals who dont have musical abilities. Without a reference, I am unable to differentiate between two different notes. Asking me to sing a well known song is hillarious for the listeners for the first 30seconds, then they beg me to stop. I would say that I am an exception to the norm, lacking musical abilities (a handicap). You will probably not reach a pinnacle of anything if you are handicapped within your chosen area (excepting Bill Wallace). But looking at the 17 teams who raced Tornados in the Athens games. I dont really see one team as more talented than the others. Roman Hagara and Hans Peter dont win the majority of the events they enter, and neither does any other team. Does this mean that they are all equally talented? I just can not see that. However, I think Hans Peter and Roman use a full four years to prepare for the games, and have a rather large budget to use. They also have the mental abilities to peak at the events that matter the most. I dont think they are more talented than Bundy and Forbes, but they either cope with the pressure better doing less errors, or have prepared better.
Luck was a poorly choosen word. How about randomness instead? Wind is not 100% predictable, there is a random element there. Sometimes fellow competitors also act more or less randomly as well, at least it feels that way on my level <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
If we go back to what Pat said about a 3% speed difference and hold it up to what you say about how people being wired differently, I think the talent probably boils down to a good understanding and feel of keeping the boat in the groove and how to helm efficiently. Finding information about helming techniques, how to use the helm for best speed in different conditions and for different courses is something that is very poorly documented.


Robi, if you are interested, get "Sail, Race and Win" by Eric Twiname from Amazon. It's a book about self coaching and how we set limits for ourself (Erics other book, "Start to win" is also an excellent read).