Sailing is a team sports - maybe I should pay more attention to that...

I received so many great responses to my question about whether it is OK to excel and win races while keeping it fun for everyone on the boat. I have permission to share some of that anonymously and I hope that other racers will benefit from this!

Lesson from me:

1. trust your crew - delegate responsibilities to each person. They have a job and they will do all they can to do it well.
   
2. Don't think short term, winning or losing one race is only a temporary goal. Building a great program, where everyone can become better, have fun and start consistently winning races is probably way more important and worthwhile.
   
3. Set goals with the team and identify the steps we need to take as a team to get to this goal. As a step toward that, I have enlisted the help of Nick as a coach for this season. I know he's looking at things from a team perspective. He is also great at individual feedback so we can all individually become better. No doubt that this will also up the game. However, it is as a team that we will win, therefore it is as a team that we must learn.

Also, I have been wondering very selfishly: 'how do I become a better sailor? Who can teach me?' - I think that knowing to respect and enjoy sailing with a team contains probably more learning than I could ever wish from any sailing class. And it will also make me a better person. I can always take up more short-handed experiences to just work on my individual skills as a sailor, and rotate crew positions, offer myself as crew on other boats from time to time - or broaden my experience such as train as a PRO to get a different view of a race course.

I am incredibly grateful for the folks who have spoken up! Keep this coming!

"In response to your blog~ Since I do not have my own boat, I have sailed with many different boats and crew. I must say the vibe of the boat is my primary choice in racing with someone. As a crew member, I want to feel like a valid part of the team."

"I love being told how to do something better because I do want to win."

"Yes I think you can have a good time and still be finishing in the top percent of the fleet. We as crew members are here for you. We trust that you respect us as much as we respect you. There have been boats that I will not race with anymore because of belittling of crew. Commands should not be made personal but straight forward."

"I know as the skipper of the boat and wanting to be competitive that it must be a hard balance to strike. It is a subtle thing sometime, but believe me, the crew wants to win and feel good at the same time."