Myopically, I’ve often debated in my mind that the difference between my own racing sailing ability (limited) and that of the pros and concluded that it is paper-thin borne more out of their luck and opportunity than their inherent talent. The more I know however, the stupider this argument is. I disagree with my own mind.
The difference in reality and fact is Mariana Trench scale of size and I have a sneaking suspicion that what goes on in the six inches between their ears is where fundamentally the difference lies. The professionals in our sport are not only coachable (unlike myself) but have a level, stable, data-driven, concise, detailed mentality where they measure everything in millimetres that is ubiquitous in those that make it.
