SAILING FIT

By: Meka Taulbee

ACE Certified Personal Trainer

  SAILFIT Inc

Getting Ready

A large part of my job is to just observe. You learn a ton by just closing your mouth and watching and listening. That being said, I have been doing just that and it has lead me to this next article. My question to you is what do you do to get ready for a regatta? Do you prepare mentally or physically or do you just go out there and let it rip and hope for the best? How far in advance do you start preparing? These along with many other questions made me think that this is something that I would like to point out to everyone.

I am fortunate enough to live in a place that has a lot of high caliber sailors as well as a lot of club sailors and I am also fortunate enough to have the pleasure of knowing a lot of sailors in the laser class. Over the years I have been able to watch a variety of different training styles. Needless to say everyone has their own “Method of Madness”. Right now there are a handful of sailors who are camped out in Florida all training for that next big event. For some that event is a month away and for some it is a few months away. In either case these sailors are spending hours in their boats working on specific skills to make them better. They have brought in training partners who will challenge them and whom they can learn from. These training partners are getting the same in return.

Aside from spending time in their boats I have noticed some great workout routines that are implemented on a regular basis and some routines that are rather sporadic. Some are concerned with their nutrition every day and some are just worried about it during a regatta. Some are making sure that they are mentally focused on their goals and again some don’t give it any thought. These sailors are all great sailors no matter how they choose to get ready. What works for one may not work for another, but we can all learn from each other and maybe even find something we would like to incorporate into our own program.

What kind of sailor are you? What kind of sailor do you want to be? I ask Think about this a little. Over the next few weeks I have decided to interview a variety of sailors in North America. Some of the sailors are highly competitive and some are weekend warriors. They will range in age from junior to Master and I will ask them all the same questions:

• Do you do anything specific to prepare for a regatta?
• How far in advance do you start preparing?
• How many hours do you spend in your boat on average?
• When you practice do you have specific things you want to work on each time?
• Do you like to train with a partner/group/coach or would you rather train alone?
• What do you do physically to prepare?
• Do you work on your fitness goals regularly or just before the regatta?
• How about Nutrition? Do you work on this regularly or just before the regatta?
• Do you do anything to Mentally Prepare? 
• Do you like to keep your training program secret or do you share with anyone who asks?

Ask yourself the same questions and see how your answers compare to other sailors you may be competing against. If you’d like to hear from someone in particular let me know. I’ll see if I can get them to participate. 

I’m always here to answer any questions you may have on any topic. If you want me to address a certain topic, let me know and I’d be happy to. You can always reach me at www.sailfit.com or meka@sailfit.com.