View from the pointy end

I spent much of my early big boat sailing on the bow. It was a logical place for me to be because I was young, relatively light, fit and had loads of dinghy experience. I had loads of fun at that end, bouncing around in choppy seas, climbing the mast, sighting the start line. And, of course, doing the most important job for a few minutes at the beginning and end of every downwind leg.

Later on I moved back to trim the sails, a job I prefer, but I still miss doing foredeck. Here is some fitness advice for aspiring Bowmen, taken from today's Scuttlebutt.

SAILING FITNESS: BOWMAN ROUTINE
The Bowman is responsible for making sure sail changes go smoothly, jibing the spinnaker pole, organizing and running the front end of the boat. The training will be structured as if we are training to be a gymnast or rock climber. Flexibility, lightning speed, agility, balance and strength will be needed to be effective while under pressure, anticipating the next move. Apart from a strong cardiovascular program, we can work on various exercises that can help.

A few of my favorites are:

* Squat thrust/Shoulder press: It’s a great exercise that challenges the heart rate, incorporates many different exercises all in one (synergistic) and will challenge the best athletes. This exercise can be intensified by first pre-exhausting the arms and legs.
* Rows: These can be done one arm or two. Adding a Bosu ball or Stability ball will assist in working the core (Throw in Pullups, as many as possible).
* Circuit Training: This is a fantastic way to train. Basically you move from exercise to exercise every 30 seconds. The workout takes about 30 minutes and can be done with the crew or alone. Intensity will be increased or decreased depending upon routine chosen.
* Plyometrics: This helps with explosive power and speed.
* Agility ladders, cones, exer-band harness: Speed, balance and agility training.

Read on: http://na.northsails.com/tabid/12808/Default.aspx

Countdown

Despite my lack of posts last autumn, I participated in nearly all of the Winter Series. It's been nearly four months since I was on the water and it has been a long winter (although I was helped through it by Sam the Sailor). This weekend marks the start of the Spring Series, and I can't wait.

I will be sailing on the good ship Cajou once again. We ended up 6th overall in the Winter Series but were so close to coming third until the last day. We are hoping to do better than that this year. The entry list looks impressive for this weekend and no doubt the Solent will be crowded with boats of all sizes. Hopefully there will be some TP52s out at some point during the series, such as the one shown in this picture.

As they say in Blightey: watch this space.

Going down

Bum boats add a splash of colour and tradition to regattas such as Grenada Sailing Festival and Bequia, but the buoyancy usually consists of several big rocks and when they get swamped, they're going down. I've been there! Fortunately, wood floats.
Photo by Cory Silken.

Inspirational

One of the truly heroic stories of the Games, Nick Scandone, while suffering with ALS, won a gold medal in the Skud 18 class. To win a Gold medal in any discipline is an amazing achievement. To do so while in the advanced stages of a neurodegenerative disease is nothing short of inspirational: remember that an Olympic campaign is not just two weeks in Qingdao, but years of hard work.

RIP.

Starcom: Burke is our Man Of The Year

BRASS TACKS SUNDAY, an at times controversial but interesting radio discussion programme yesterday, named one-armed sailor Andrew Burke as its Personality Of The Year 2008.

Burke, who lost his left arm, collar and shoulder blade to cancer three years ago, put his sea-faring skills to work by sailing solo around Barbados on February 10, to raise funds for others battling cancer. He helped raise $350 000 for cancer victims.

For the full story, click here.

4.7 marketing

"Ok boys, somewhere in this picture is a Laser sail. If you can spot it, and tell me correctly which rig it's from, you win a free coaching session."

Sail? What Sail?! Apologies to SA for blatantly lifting their image, but I suffered from the same weak knee syndrome that they did when viewing the best ever SCOTW, and felt the need to share this feeling with others!

BigSmall

This is a brilliant shot of the machine that has been dubbed DOGzilla. Sitting at the dock there it looks...quite normal, really. Just your average trimaran, perhaps a similar size to an Extreme 40. But click on the picture and look closely, you can just about see someone standing infront of the starboard daggerboard. He looks like an ant!