Background
Triggered by a question from a dinghy sailor ‘what are the best exercises to help with my sailing?’ the idea of finding out what sailors actually do to keep fit, and their attitude towards extra training, was formed.

A short on-line survey was developed and sailors were invited to complete this during late March and early April 2009.

Survey Statistics
A total of 216 sailors started the survey, although the average time to complete the survey was only 3 minutes, 39 dropped out before completion, leaving 177 completed responses.

Type of sailors responding
77% of respondents were hiking dinghy sailors, 17% trapeze and just a handful of Cat and keel boat sailors. Despite the high numbers of keel boat sailors in the world, this low proportion responding to the survey may reflect a lack of on-line presence in the forums that the survey was promoted in.  The proportion of hiking versus trapeze dinghies probably reflects the real proportions, given the large number of clubs on restricted water where trapeze boats are not practical.

The vast majority of respondents sail once a week ( 75%). Representing the club Sunday sailors. Only 7% sail more than twice a week, which would indicate pro, semi-pro or people with just a lot of time on their hands.

A total of 62% of respondents class themselves as serious club racers or open circuit competitors. 4% (7) of the respondents class themselves as Olympic or International championship contenders. No beginners responded to this survey.

Another interesting demographic is the age of the respondents, with the vast majority between 35-65. As this was an online survey, it might have been expected to have a bias to lower age groups. As the respondents are mainly dinghy sailors, this indicates that the majority of dinghy sailors are getting on a bit, and there isn’t as much youth in the system as might be hoped. Something to be considered!

Attitude to Fitness
The survey asked about attitude to fitness. When asked if general fitness was important to their sailing the majority strongly agreed, and only 1 disagreed. Reflecting the survey majority of open meeting contending dinghy sailors in their middle age isn’t that surprising.

Interestingly the camp was divided when asked if they were fit enough, 39% agreed and 34% disagreed, of course that question is subjective – what is ‘enough’?

88% agreed or strongly agreed that sailing help their fitness.  Several respondents indicated that the best way to get fit was through sailing, one indicating that it was essential to sail 12 months a year, one indicated a weight loss of 9lbs just through sailing without trying to lose weight, another suggested they lost 6kg in one windy championship week yet they were drinking plenty of beer to try and make up.

Give the demographics of age and experience it was not surprising that the vast majority thought they knew enough about the most suitable exercises to benefit their sailing.

Unfortunately 11% felt sailing had been detrimental to their health damaging, knees, back etc. A wise comment from one was that we all crack up one day so it is important to consult the best doctors instantly and do what they say. Correct levels of fitness and correct techniques can help prevent damage.

Rather interestingly mental fitness wasn’t seen to be that important. From ISAF’s description of team racing ‘it becomes a very intricate and skilled game of chess on water’. Maybe that’s why team racing isn’t that popular except with the universities.

The top 10 most popular forms of exercise for sailing

The other category is worth a mention, the most popular was football, followed by racket sports of one kind or another (tennis, badminton, squash) and the most obscure was ‘deer stalking’.

The wisest comments were
“I find fitness and gear go hand in hand- keeping your body at the right temperature can help improve stamina, similarly the hiking pants debate- good hikers are great great, bad hikers hinder performance.”

“Continuous sustained training is better than cramming and anaerobic rather than power lifting is much better”
“It is fantastically important to stretch your back, shoulders and legs to compliment your exercises.”

[fitness is]“Extremely important, and underestimated by many national championship attendees.”

“Having sailed 20 years nationally & internationally and always having looked after my body I think sailing is definately a far more agressive sport than most sports in terms of damage to joints. I think the general hiking position assumed is unnatural for the human body to sustain over many years, also as sailors we are exercising in damp conditions. I don't know of a single dinghy sailor over 50 who having sailed for many years hasn't got either a knee, back, or hip problem - many with multiple problems.”

“"I hate going to the gym but it depends on how much you want to win (or hate losing!). I take the view that other competitors might be more talented than me but they're not going to beat me because they're fitter.  I think it's important to set short- to medium-term goals. I find it difficult to make myself go the gym in January when the Nationals are not until September. So I set goals such as, 'I need to be a certain weight and fitness level by the first open meeting', and then I reset goals as the year progresses.  I keep a training record which I find useful as I can compare with previous years and see if I'm as fit as last year for example. This is also useful for goal-setting. E.g. 'I need to run x miles in a certain time to be the same fitness level as this time last year'.”

And the wisest crack

“too broken down by age & sex - too much of the former and not enough of the latter” 

Thank you all for you participation, I hope this has been useful for you.
If anyone would like the underlying data please contact me.