The very good sailors sail by instinct and drummed in repetition and do not spend any mental effort in handling their boat, they feel it and keep it moving. Just as in a tack, though, there are a sequence of events that they go through during every wind shift, puff etc, that makes them fast. The basic theory (advanced baot speed, I call it) of how to keep your boat going fast, I have never encountered. You can read about wind patterns, and tactics, sail shape, boat tuning, but....
So how does one get there? Here's my take (not that I'm all that...).
The advice I've given to the new folk in our Fleet, and the approach I followed, takes more time rather than less. But here goes.
First off - take everything you read as a suggestion, not a hard fast rule. Think about the why's in what the article or person has said. Realize that there may be some things that make things a little different from your situation, and realize that authorities, as well loved and trusted as they may be, are sometimes just wrong. Learn to think about the suggestions, apply your thought process as to why it should or should not work, and work out what's right for you with experimentation. Then you know it because you know it, not because you can quote a tuning manual.
Secondly - Burn your skills into your brain over a series of seasons. Don't try to become the King in one season.
Make a little plan to concentrate on one skill per season while racing. For instance - season one - work on boat speed. Temper all your decisions in races with getting your boat going as fast as possible. For instance, if you think it might be better to dig deep slow for a mark, remember your goal and run hot with an extra jibe instead. Don't worry as much about getting the tactics just right, etc., just learn how to make your boat go fast. Next season, pick a new skill, maybe it's starts. The speed stuff is mostly burned in now, mostly habit, so concentrate on the new skill while paying less attention to the others. Next season, concentrate on getting your head out of the boat. Next season, tactics, and so on. Keep reading stuff, keep getting advice, but follow your season goal, and move to new goal for the next season. And, while you are doing this, give up on winning pickle dishes. The trophies are not your goal, learning your skill is. But you may find that with each season you take home more hardware anyway.
When you think you have it all down, realize that you may be full of poo and have more to learn. Figure out what the next thing is and learn it.
No book can teach you the "feel". If you found a book that perported to teach that, you'd never be able the process the checklists in your brain for each little twitter you experience. Get out and sail...
So, something to try if you have the time and patience.
One last thing. Look at your boat. Look at the shape of the hulls, the boards, the sail plan. These things all contain hints about how the boat will act while sailing.
