Very interesting. I don't agree with all of it. I don't agree that members of the fleet resent it when the leading sailors in the fleet tell them what they could have done better. And I don't agree that you should not try to get all the members of the fleet to the top.

What we are doing with our fleet racing is, after the races are over for a given day, we have a marker board at the beach and talk about the races -- sort of a mini debriefing clinic for all of us.

We discuss what worked and what didn't work. We talk about tactical things, rules situations that arose, wind shifts, what was the favored side of the course and why, geographical influences if any, current if any. We talk about sail trim and settings and downhaul, etc. and what seemed to work best for the wind and water conditions experienced during that particular race day. Was somebody pinching too much or footing too much? Did crew weight seem to be a factor one way or the other in these particular conditions?

I think this kind of group clinic after fleet races helps to keep the group united and interested and gets them thinking about what they can do to improve their performance next series race day. It gives help and hope to the tail-enders and keeps them involved and working to improve. And the session is incredibly informative to everybody.

Of course, this kind of thing is only really useful for one-design fleets (and formula fleets that race boat for boat).

Obviously, not everybody is going to get to the top of a given fleet and not everybody is going to win a national championship. But the important thing is for people to feel that they are continuing to learn new things and learn how to apply their new knowledge, even if it is just to beat one other boat in the middle of the pack, or at the back of the pack.

It's the little victories that keep people coming back for more. Works for me.