Why was this image not acceped?

Hello,

Don’t forget about composition. In this shot you have cut the photo in half with the horizon.

Composition

Hey ​@jeoyoneill519 

With such a photo: consider using a tripod. 
You would need to take the image into Lightroom or Photoshop and clean up the image and add a number of adjustment layers.I would make sure to shoot in Raw. 
Raw files are much easier to work with in Photoshop and Lightroom

Cheers
Nate

Aside from the problems already mentioned, your photo is flat. It lacks depth, drama or compositional interest to pull viewers into the scene. Wow factor is what separates ordinary snapshots from exceptional Stock photography. 

Compare your work with similar inventory that’s been accepted.

What did these Contributors do differently?

https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=sailboat+in+ocean  1.7 million results.

Read your Contributor User Guide for more tips. 

https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/photography-illustrations.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/quality-and-technical-issues.html

Hope that helps & good luck.

I’m sorry to say that the quality of the photo lacks what is needed for being offered for print purposes.
The following issues are easily identifiable: white border, sensor spot, noise and artifacts, focus, exposure, and I would add photo format. 
Because of the artifacts, the photo is hard to correct. I tried adding some motion effect to smooth out the artifacts. I added clouds to remove the color noise. I then formatted to a normal format and composed for the Rule of Thirds. I am still not sure that this would solve the quality issues. But It can give you an idea of what needs to be done.
 

Did you submit it with the white border on the sides? Even without other issues, that would result in a refusal.

It’s underexposed, the sky is very noisy, and there’s a large, very noticeable sensor spot in the sky,