“Aerobic fitness is the physical foundation to all sailing; the better your aerobic fitness the greater your ability is to sail at your best. As soon as you become tired, and your body can’t keep up with the physical demands being placed on it, your performance level inevitably drops and mental function takes a big hit as fatigue takes its toll.
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Cardiovascular proficiency is a very underrated part of sailing. Last summer I bought my first road bike and was hooked instantly on the opportunity to change up how I train my cardio. Instead of long dreary hours on the spin bike or the erg I now am out on the open road. Cycling has long been touted as a very strong training mechanism for sailing especially laser sailing. It is great training for leg strength and hiking.
Look me up on Strava if you want to keep up with my training or check out some of these articles on cycling below:
Cycling for Hiking Cross Training
Justin Norton for ISA
Cycling and the British Sailing Team - with Olympic Medallist Bryony Shaw - Winter training
Fortunately many of my fellow Canadian Laser sailors share my interest in making cycling a key component the training program so I rarely have trouble finding others to ride with.
L to R: Liam, Luke Ruitenberg and James Juhasz