Sailing champions unless....

Larry knows of lots of gung-ho, committed, dedicated, enthusiastic, masterful, confident would-be sailing champions who'll do anything to win trophies....


Unless it costs too much, or
Unless they have to train for hours and hours, or
Unless it's too hot / cold / wet / windy / boring / scary to be fun, or
Unless they'd rather party and goof off, or
Unless the weather forecast isn't 100% perfect, or
Unless wind, water, waves, and course conditions don't meet their one area of expertise,
Unless it's too far or inconvenient to get to sailable water very often,
Unless they're expected to volunteer to help with race committee and sailing club jobs,
Unless they have to concentrate on doing their assigned crew job,
Unless the race committee assigns a course that they're not used to sailing,
Unless they have to pay their share of the bar tab or other expenses,
Unless they're asked to help less fortunate sailors,
Unless they're asked to train green young crew,
Unless they have to buy new or better sails,
Unless the skipper tells them to learn something new,
Unless they have to adapt to new crewmates, boats, or sailing conditions,
Unless the instructor doesn't let them lecture and show off how smart they are,
Unless there's a good drink special at the club bar,
Unless they have to help put away and clean the boat,
Unless they have to inspect, clean, tune, and maintain the hull and rig,
Unless they have to sail against better sailors and can't stand to get beat by them, or
Unless they can't buy a top boat and crew and then hire a truck to load the trophies, or
Unless their family doesn't want them to sail, or
Unless they don't get a favorable handicap rating,
Unless their significant other needs help shopping for shoes,
Unless they have to feed and groom their pet rocks,
Unless they can't bully fellow racers and the protest committee,
Unless there's a good sale somewhere or an important game or soap on the telly, or
Unless they have to pay attention to and observe the top sailors, or
Unless the top sailors are racing against them that weekend,
Unless they have to learn the rules, or
Unless the wind changes,
Unless they have to fix things that break, or
Unless someone tells them to stop daydreaming and focus on their job,
Unless they need to put sailing on hold to chat on the phone or do some stock trades on a Blackberry, or
Unless they have to study weather and local conditions, or
Unless they need to thoroughly prepare their boat, or
Unless they have to study and understand books and stay awake while watching videos and them practice what they read and watch, or
Unless they have to read the compass or do math,
Unless it means studying competitors' boats, strengths & limitations, tactics, and habits, or,
Unless it means accepting fair criticisms and being willing to change bad habits, or
Unless they realize they're not smarter than the coach after a few lessons, or
Unless they need to beat the bushes for crew, pay crew expenses, and take responsibility for crew and crew training.
Unless they have to be nice to their crew, race committee, and fellow competitors, or
Unless they have to travel and spend time, money, and must concentrate and take notes to learn from top competitors, coaches, regattas, and programs, or
Unless it involves listening to advice from the right places, or
Unless they never run out of excuses for losing.


Got any more you could add to the list?