When Rick and I were in our mid 40's, we started noticing a decline in our strength and endurance, especially in long and difficult regattas. So we started going to a local gym every morning five days a week and going through a weight-training regimen. We did this for about three months straight, prior to the sailing season. It was amazing what a dramatic difference it made in our strength and endurance for racing.

I think regular weight training, along with aerobics, can greatly extend competitive racing years for people who want to race beach cats or high-performance dinghies of any kind.

People on this forum devote a lot of time to the intricacies of rigging and sails and rudders and lines and cleats. So I am just wondering whether people devote any time to making themselves better and stronger athletes to operate all this high-tech equipment.