Lessons from Sailing-How to Master the Art of Defeat?

In the throws of Hot Rum Races we battled magnificently around the mark with dozens of other boats competing for a few top spots. Over half way through our race and in a good position heading to the finish line the wind overpowered our boat. The mast was shaking, the mainsail lufted from the gusts, and the more we tightened the down-haul the tighter the wiggle. With a ripping sound the mainsail split open from one side to the other.

We were done! The race was over and we lost! Our ship fell behind. While we didn't win we were able to master defeat.

It didn't take us long to pull the main sail down and start concentrating on tweaking the jib to get us home. While we are not happy we did learn something about overpower the boat and pushing the limits without being prepared to suffer the consequences.

It was a semi-solemn sail to the finish line. Our ship stuck out like a sore thumb because we were the only one's without all of our sails up. A sort of limping duck to the finish line. The committee boat cheered anyway. :)

The Art of Defeat?

1.) Understand that you can't always win and losing can prepare you to win.

2.) While it seems to be very important at that time the feelings will pass.

3.) Analyze what went wrong and fit is for the future.

4.) Never assess blame because there are often multiple causes and lack of training at the root.