Rolf
I think you need to seperate the olympic teams that are all at the top of the heap and very talented from a middle of the pack Nationals level guy.
I sailed against Bob Curry at the 14's this year. He is very detailed, prepared and very talented. His boat setup is very detailed, but I would bet that he could have switched with me on the water(old boat & sail) and still won almost all the races.
I sailed with Juani Maegli at the 16's this year. He came in second this year behind Enrique for the second straight year. Juani is 19 and naturally talented. He sails mono's in RI now at the high school he is attending. With little or no practice on the 16 he jumps on and is winning races on the second day of the event.
There are people that are just gifted in music, math, science and sports.
The hard working techies can make it to the top ten.
The naturally talented guys win.
They have an intangible that you just can't learn. IMO

Rolf: I want to believe you are right.