Not everything is a lesson. Case in point: Oman's thriving sailing community.

A country that barely registered on sailing's map five years ago has developed into an emerging power so rapidly it's tempting to look at it as a model. Just last year, for example, The Wave, Muscat won the Extreme Sailing Series championship. In second place was Oman Air.

All this for a tiny nation that officially took up the sport in 2008.