One of the most important things you can do is study the wind and the water. It's like a big laboratory out there.
Yes, it is, but untill you have al lthe boat handling down pat, if yu spend too much time looking out of the boat you go slow.
I have what I call the "Auto-pilot zone" where I'm sailing the boat (for boatspeed and doing good T+G's) without thinking about it very much which allows me to get my head out the boat. You can (IMO) only do this when you have your boat handling sorted out.
