Here's a true story and case study of getting to the start early.

Last regatta I was at 1 month ago conditions were very unsettled as a storm front was coming in. The course was being set up 90 degrees different from the day before, so I was out early checking it out and finding the marks. The multihulls were scheduled to be the first group. The line was being fiddled with trying to get the position just right, and I could tell the committee was having trouble getting things just right due to the large wind shifts.

Time for the first shape came, so the committee finalized the start and initiated our sequence. No sooner did they do so than a 30 degree wind shift occurred. This shift brought the pin end of the line closer to the first mark and made the port tack clearly favored.

I decided to go with a pin-end port start and made is almost directly to the mark on one tack and well ahead. Being at the start early and appreciating the unsettled conditions put me in a position to exploit this opportunity.
I was first at the mark because I sailed the shortest distance to it.

Summary: Sail the shortest distance possible around the course!

[Of course the committee sqared the course up for the subsequent races.]

...don't do much singing, but do talk to myself an aweful lot...