I know and have sailed with a lot of people who say (very emphatically) that they don't race unless they can win. I of course accept that philosophy exists, but don't ascribe to it.
When I was growing up, my father had a boat and I did a fair amount of sailing on it. I thought I was an able sailor when I bought my first boat, but I discovered otherwise when I first tried to race it. Being an entire lap of the course behind when everybody else had finished quickly demonstrated how much I had to learn. So, I set out to improve. My skills increased to where I was not always last. Then I would pick a sailor who regularly beat me and try to beat him. I kept that up until I was regularly in the lead pack. I even won a few races.
While I was improving, It didn't bother me not to win. It was obvious that I couldn't. Once I started, though, I began to race only to win. When I didn't win, I wasn't happy - and that was almost every race. My sailing ability had reached a plateau and it wasn't fun. So, I made a conscious decision to turn things around. I disregarded the finish positions and instead strove to (1) sail as well as I could, and (2) enjoy sailing the race instead of its outcome.
Racing became fun again. I stopped blaming others for my mistakes. I stopped cursing bad luck. I learned to get over setbacks. Surprisingly, I also broke through the plateau and my skills have improved ever since.
I am still very competitive on the water, and I have studied the rules to better play the game, but winning is not my goal - enjoying the sport is. Trophies are nice, but they are the keepsakes to comemerate the event, not the purpose for attending.
Racing has definitely made me a better sailor. More importantly though, racing gets me out on the water. I wouln't sail anywhere near as much without it.
