I would not know, everyone around here beats me, I used to sail faster but then I learned a bunch and now I can consistantly come in near the end.
What I have observed the winners doing is starting first, sailing fast to the marks in the right order, and knowing when to finish. What they tell me is to have a plan for every situation and to sail for speed all the time. Now I know that and I think that the real way to sail fast is to not drink anything before the race and have a rum and coke at the end of the race, however I prefer to come in last and drink beer on the course. (not enough to get drunk, just enough to not care that I am losing).