I hope nobody will be anything but understanding if you are a leg or two behind and you decide to sail your proper course. However, if you are that far behind, alone, it might be smart to 'finish' and let the RC know you are throwing the race so you can start again. Reason? Becouse you will learn more by sailing with the fleet than a leg behind. The extra point you gain that way really dont matter as you are very last.
Add another boat or two with matching speed, and it is a very different matter. Then you have to consider the time limit and wether you can finish in time, often 30minutes or something behind the first boat to finish.


I must say that I dont see much difference between DNS and DNF. Either three letter "reward" is disasterous for your result and one point more or less dont matter much. At least that is my opinion. However, I despise scoring a DNF more than a DNS, becouse then I have broken something on the boat. A DNS becouse of the weather (decision to race) or something I broke earlier and have not repaired yet is easier to accept.