After an afternoon of shoddy manoeuvres by everyone on the Monday and a telling off by Nico, Tuesday and Wednesday this week was spent on boat handling. We also had two newbies joining the group (yes we aren’t the newest members of the training group now woohoo!) Spanish sailors Anna and Gerard, who are competing in the double handed transatlantic race on the Figaro circuit this year, the AG2R have joined us. Anna fresh from the Barcelona World Race with Dee is also doing the Solitaire with her sponsor ‘Gaes’.

On Friday we had a mistral come through, I saw up to 38 knots in a gust so it was all on just to get the boats around the course! The boats can be very physical, and with big breeze forecast I was intrigued so went out wearing my heart rate monitor. We were sailing for 5 hours and 19 minutes, and in that time I burnt 4326 calories, with a maximum heart rate of 198, and an average of 142. Below is a picture of the chart and also a link to the video taken from the coach boat that day.

I dread to think the amount of calories you would burn in 24 hours in this stuff… I know Sam lost 8kg after spending a month in the southern ocean, is it possible to even consume enough calories to match your output? Is it sustainable?

It sure is hard work, and with everyone pushing hard in training for just that extra boat length of speed over just 10 miles, it is making training very intensive which is fantastic. Nico says if the leg was 100 miles long instead of 10, 5 boat lengths in 10 miles turns into 50, and all of a sudden they are over the horizon. When you think that in the transatlantic race last year the top 5 boats finished within 30 minutes, you get the idea of how hard everyone is pushing for the smallest, smallest of margins! Even after 16 days of racing…

Fast reaching

With just over a month until our first race, things are starting to hot up. We are slowly getting to grips with the Figaro, and are understanding more and more the kind of dedication it takes to win on this amazing circuit. Aaron, Ollie and myself have been mixing it with the top French guys at times but need to work on more all round consistent performances. Unfortunately for Aaron he is back in the UK at the moment in order to keep his ‘job’, whatever that may be..? But will be back with us for another 3 weeks of intensive training in February after our week off end of January.

‘A plus’

H