Different classes and specific sailing situations are going to demand different physical capabilities, but no matter which class your coaching, helping your sailors to meet the demands of sailing will help to ensure you keep them safe, healthy, and performing at their best. 

The nutrition and fitness tips below are for you to consider and think about the next time you are coaching. The tips have been adapted from Carrie Smith, Head Coach at the Victorian Institute of Sport’s newsletter, which was first published in June 2020.  

Nutrition: 

Nutrition is a vital part to keeping sailors happy and healthy on and off the water. It is often an aspect coaches forget about.  

As a coach, it is important to encourage sailors in a training environment to have enough balance in their diet and continue to eat and drink regularly, this will not only help their concentration and performance, but is vital to their long-term health. 

A few simple tips below that coaches can consider when working with sailors: 

• If a sailor is lacking concentration – water! Lots of hydration is key. If they are not interested in water, and not getting enough fluids, consider mixing it up by diluting Powerade with water or add a few slices of lemon or coconut water. Anything to make the taste a little more inviting! 

• Sailors should plan to eat a larger meal 1-2 hours prior to training (breakfast or lunch depending on the training session time) and if it is afterschool training, sailors should be having a hearty snack after school and before arriving at training. This could be sandwich, leftovers from dinner the night before, or cheese and crackers with dip.  

• In the boat park before and after sailing this is when snack food should be incorporated, some good simple suggestions are, fruit, muesli bar, or a protein bar. These snacks should be eaten when the sailor is getting dressed, launching the boat, or immediately coming off the water. The snacks before and after sailing are critical if sailors don’t like to eat on the water, or as a top up of energy sources helping to repair muscle post session.  

• On water a lot of sailors don’t like to eat but trying to get electrotypes and energy in is important so try bars, gel shots, lollies, or sports drinks. If they do eat, try to avoid heavy carbohydrates which might make them feel unwell.  

• Try to encourage your sailors to have some fluids or food every 20- 30min, during the session. 

Fitness: 

There are multiple fitness aspects involved in sailing, including, balance, coordination, agility, strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular health. So it is important to encourage sailors to not only enjoy their sailing, but also to embrace other sports or cross training activities that they might have done previously or wanted to try. It will only help them become better sailors in their chosen class! 

Encouraging sailors to learn a new skill is very important, it could be foiling, windsurfing, kite boarding or stand up paddle boarding, or it could be jumping aboard a different class for a few races or joining in with a keelboat crew. 

Many sailors are extremely talented at one discipline or in one particular class, but they should also be expanding their knowledge and skills into new classes too. This is especially true for younger sailors, as we know that specialising in one class or sport to early, can hinder progression and can lead to burn out later on. 

Swimming, cycling, netball, soccer, football, and boxing are some examples of other sports which sailors benefit from, and should be encouraged to participate in. Through these other sports sailors learn and develop, coordination, cardiovascular enhancement, and fine motor skills, which will always transfer positively into their sailing.