Is the Olympic Boardsailor an Endurance Athlete?

Abstract

The present study was carried out in order to describe the physiological profile of top Olympic boa rdsailors of both genders and to measure the energy cost during actual boardsailing with particular attention to the most demanding conditions. Fourteen elite Olympic boardsailors (7 males and 7 females) volunteered to participate in the study. Each subject underwent a maximal cycle ergometer test in orderto measure VO2peak and ventilatory threshold (Tvent). Additionally, anthropometric measurements including body fat percentage were taken. The cardiorespiratory demand and the energy cost of actual boardsailing were assessed by means of a very light telemetric device (K2 Cosmed) which allowed the measurements of VO2, VE and HR. VO2peak was 63.6 +/- 2.3 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1) (Tvent 70% of maximum) and 49.2 +/- 4.1 (Tvent 60% of maximum) in males and females, respectively. The data recorded during actual boardsailing show that this sport activity can be classified as aerobic, the VO2 values being above or very close to those of Tvent values (75% and 60% of the maximum in males and females). Furthermore the mean blood lactate values obtained at the end of each regatta testing were 6 +/- 2 mMol x l(-1) in males and 5 +/- 1.5 mMol x l(-1) in females indicating a partial involvement of anaerobic metabolism, which in some regatta phases could represent a limiting factor for performance.

Assessment of physiological demand in kitesurfing

“…The mean aerobic fitness level i:e:; _ VO 2max À Á of our subjects is similar to that reported in elite Laser sailors (*55 ml min -1 kg -1 ) (e.g., Vogiatzis et al 1995;De Vito et al 1996;, but lower than that observed in trained windsurfers ([60 ml min -1 kg -1 ) (e.g., De Vito et al 1997;Guével et al 1999;Chamari et al 2003;). The differences in _ VO 2max values between trained windsurfers and our subjects might be related to the specificity of training, but also the nature of the muscular contractions required during sailing.…”

“…As reported in Table 3, the characteristics of experimental design associated with the specificity of sailing mode make it difficult to compare the HR responses in kitesurfing with those observed in windsurfing and Laser sailing (Guével et al 1999;Chamari et al 2003;. However, while it has been acknowledged that the pumping action in windsurfing is considered as a highly demanding aerobic activity (De Vito et al 1997;Vogiatzis et al 2002) in comparison with specific manoeuvres observed in kitesurfing or Laser sailing, the mean HR responses of these sailing sports are comprised within a range of 72-85% HR max (Table 3).…”

“…The physiological responses of sailing sports have previously been described using direct measures of oxygen uptake _ VO 2 À Á (De Vito et al 1997;Vogiatzis et al 2002;, heart rate (HR) or blood lactate concentration ([La b ]) (Guével et al 1999;Chamari et al 2003). For instance, given the relative stability of the windsurfer on the board (with or without pumping), the energy demand was evaluated using gas exchange telemetric analysers (Vogiatzis et al 2002;.…”

Physiological demands of different sailing techniques of the new Olympic windsurfing class

“…Sail pumping in Mistral One Design class (the official board used by sailors from 1992 through to the 2004 Olympic Games) was reported to increase windsurfers' cardiorespiratory demands three-fold compare to windsurfing without pumping (Vogiatzis et al 2002), thereby making windsurfing a highly demanding Olympic class in terms of aerobic capacity ( _ VO 2 typically ranging between 70 and 85% of maximal) (DeVito et al 1996(DeVito et al , 1997. With the introduction of the new sailboard [the Neilpryde RS:X Ò (RS:X)] for the Beijing Olympic Games, sail pumping was shown to be even more demanding compared to the Mistral class ( _ VO 2 ranging between 80 and 90% of maximal) owing to the larger sail area of the RS:X board (Castagna et al 2007).…”

Development of Knowledge and Reported Use of Sport Science by Elite New Zealand Olympic Class Sailors.

“…Greater scientific interest in competitive dinghy racing has resulted from sailors and sailing administrative bodies increasingly seeking advice from sport scientists in order to obtain a competitive advantage. Most studies related to dinghy racing have concentrated on the physiological demands of sailing (Bachemont et al, 1984;Blackburn, 1994;De Vito et al, 1996;De Vito et al, 1997;Gallozzi et al, 1993;Harrison et al, 1988;Pudenz et al, 1981;Vogiatzis et al, 1993;Vogiatzis et al, 1994), the biomechanics of dinghy racing (Beillot et al, 1979;Beillot et al, 1981;Marchetti et al, 1980;Putnam, 1979), the physical profile of sailors Niinimaa et al, 1977;Plyley et al, 1985;Shephard, 1990) and sailor's responses to physical training programmes (Spurway and Burns, 1993;Wright et al, 1976). However, less is known of sailors knowledge of sport science and the application of sport science to their nutrition, psychology and physical conditioning practices.…”