Setting sail for Paris 2024: Retrospective analysis of world-class ILCA 7 Olympic sailors' cardiorespiratory fitness (2015-2020).

The aim of this retrospective analysis was to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the cardiorespiratory profile of world-class ILCA-7 sailors (n = 3, all males), through a longitudinal evaluation offering real-world data on physiological profile and exercise intensity domains. The cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) was performed by the same researchers using the same equipment during the study. Assessments took place twice a year, aligning with major international competition preparations. Participants trained and competed at the same sailing club in Split, Croatia, under consistent supervision from the same team throughout the study, winning a total of 21 medals at major international competitions. The recorded V ̇ O 2 peak ${{\dot{V}}_{{{{\mathrm{O}}}_{\mathrm{2}}}{\mathrm{peak}}}}$ ranged from 51.7 ± 1.6 to 61.9 ± 3.0 mL min-1 kg-1, respectively. Similarly, peak power output varied from 352 ± 10 to 426 ± 34 W. The changes in physiological responses at the ventilatory thresholds were proportional to the changes in peak cardiorespiratory fitness capacity. Interestingly, the oxygen pulse measured in 2015 was 25 ± 1 mL O2 beat-1. Over the subsequent 6 years, the O2 pulse marginally increased and appeared to stabilize at 27 ± 1 mL O2 beat-1 in 2020, when these athletes were 32 ± 3 years old. This work offers a broader understanding of world-class Olympic sailors' cardiorespiratory fitness, going beyond the standard assessment of peak V ̇ O 2 ${{\dot{V}}_{{{{\mathrm{O}}}_{\mathrm{2}}}}}$ to incorporate an analysis of ventilatory thresholds. While a direct link between cardiorespiratory fitness and competitive success remains ambiguous, the importance of a well-rounded aerobic capacity for excellence in ILCA-7 sailing class is evident. HIGHLIGHTS: What is the central question of this study? What are the temporal changes in the physiological profiles of three world-class ILCA-7 sailors? What is the main finding and its importance? Data on oxygen pulse adjustments suggest the involvement of compensatory cardiovascular mechanisms, likely associated with the isometric and quasi-isometric contractions inherent in ILCA-7 sailing. This is evidenced by the absence of an age-related increase in oxygen pulse, a phenomenon often observed in endurance athletes throughout their competitive careers.

Anthropometric and Somatotype Profile of Elite Finn Class Sailors.

Determining the reference base of anthropometric parameters on a sample of elite athletes is one of the foundations of further research and forming a clearer picture of each sport and sports discipline. In this study, the aim was to describe the anthropometric and somatotype profiles of elite Finn class sailors and to determine the differences in the measured parameters between sailors at different levels of general competitive success. The subject sample included 57 Finn class sailors who competed at the open Finn European Championship. A set of 25 anthropometric variables were applied. The sailors were divided into three groups according to their level of general competitive success using World Sailing Rankings. Finn sailors had higher average values in almost all morphological characteristics when compared to the sailors in other Olympic classes. Considering the average values of somatotype categories, we determined that Finn sailors fit the endomorphic mesomorph somatotype category (3.94 ± 1.19 - 5.50 ± 1.19 - 1.63 ± 0.74). Significant differences were observed between more-successful, medium, and less-successful sailors in the variables of age, body mass, muscle mass, arm muscle mass, and endomorphy rating. These results indicate the possibility of selection processes and/or adaptation to sailing occurring in the Finn class. The anthropometric characteristics of Finn sailors compared to sailors in Olympic classes further "support" the Finn class being called the "heavy dinghy" male class. This study on anthropometric parameters, determined via a sample of top Finn sailors, may be of great help to coaches and young sailors when deciding on the selection of an adult sailing class.

Steadiness of technical variables as a determinant factor of performance in a virtual simulated regatta.

The aim of this investigation is to explore the relationship between Optimist sailing performance with boat steadiness as well as the steadiness of cyclic variables related to sailors' technique, in the upwind leg of a regatta. Thirty-two sailors from the optimist class (16 bottom level and 16 top level) performed a regatta in a semi-immersive simulator which measures the instantaneous velocity, heading, boom, heel, and rudder angle and hiking effort. It was calculated the mean values as well as the short-term steadiness and long-term steadiness throughout the test. Top level and bottom level sailors were compared and the correlation between these variables and mean velocity were analysed. Significant differences were found between groups on mean values, STS values and LTS values as well as significant correlations ranging r values between 0.385 and 0.768. If the steadiness of sailing variables is considered, they appear as determinants of performance in Optimist class while this is not observed when analysing mean values.

Case example of a female solo sailor competing in the Vendée Globe reveals extraordinary biological demands.

The Vendée Globe is a non-stop, unassisted, single-handed round the world sailing race. It is regarded as the toughest sailing race, requiring high cognitive functioning and constant alertness. Little is known about the amount of sleep restriction and nutritional deficit experienced at sea and effects that fatigue have on sailors' performance. This report aimed to investigate these aspects by monitoring one of the female participants of the latest Vendée Globe. Sleep, food intake and stress were self-reported daily using specific app. Cognitive assessments were digitally completed. Heart rate and activity intensity were measured using a wrist-worn wearable device. Mean self-report sleep duration per 24 h was 3 hours 40 minutes. By the end of the 95 race days, the sailor reached a caloric deficit of 27,900 kcal. On average, the sailor spent 50 minutes per day in moderate-to-vigorous activity. Cognitive assessments did not show any effect of fatigue or stress on completion time or performance. Recent technological and communication advancement for offshore sailors, enabled continuous data to be monitored in near real time, even from the Southern Ocean. Moving forward this will enable greater understanding of when sailors will be at risk of poor decision making, illness or injury.

Not so silent spectators: How spectator vessels at international sailing regattas alter marine soundscapes.

International sailing regattas are major sporting events often held within coastal marine environments which overlap with the habitats of marine species. Although races are confined to courses, the popularity of these events can attract large spectator flotillas, sometimes composed of hundreds of motorized vessels. Underwater noise from these flotillas can potentially alter soundscapes experienced by marine species. To understand how these flotillas may alter soundscapes, acoustic recordings were taken around racecourses during the 36th America's Cup in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand in 2021. Sustained increases in broadband underwater sound levels during the regatta (up to 17 dB re 1 µPa rms; 0.01-24 kHz) that extended beyond racecourse boundaries (>8.5 km) and racing hours were observed; very likely attributable to the increase in regatta-related vessel activity. Underwater noise pollution from spectator flotillas attending larger regattas should be considered during event planning stages, particularly when events occur in ecologically significance areas.

Virtual reality: a promising instrument to promote sail education.

Sailing has gained an increasing attention among children and adolescents in China, which raised a strong need for sail courses through physical education (PE). However, challenges in teaching practice arise with rapid development of the sport. In the current study, we proposed a perspective that virtual reality (VR) technology makes high-quality sail education accessible for students. Critical analysis summarized the prominent features that enhance sail education, including immersive experience, interactive learning, the first-person view, and practice under well-controlled conditions. Further, research on VR sport training indicated successful transfer from virtual environment to real situation. Specifically, significant improvement in skill performance and tactical behaviors were identified, which was attributed to the enhanced perception-action coupling after VR training. Additionally, VR-based coding programs provide students with affordances of designing the virtual environment. The content design education promotes comprehension and application of knowledge and theories when students develop the simulated environment with a high level of presence. Therefore, VR technology is a promising instrument to meet the increasing demand on sail education. While VR enriches educational resources for a large class size, the interdisciplinary feature of VR-based sail course can attract students with different study interests and backgrounds to the class.

Adapted sailing teaching methodology using vsail-trainer simulator as rehabilitation therapy. A feasibility study.

CONTEXT: Sailing is a sport that can help in the rehabilitation of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) patients and improve their quality of life. Teaching methodology in sailing has always been considered as complex, due to the great amount of uncertainty that this sport has. PURPOSE: To design a protocol for teaching adapted sailing in a simulated situation for people with SCI and to know the effect of the teaching protocol on learning, effort perception and heart rate. METHOD: Six adults were patients recruited at the National Hospital of Paraplegics of Toledo (Spain), aged between 31 and 54 years, who have passed the early subacute phase. Each subject underwent semi-immersive virtual reality sailing therapy for 40 min per session three times per week for six weeks, 18 sessions. A simulated adapted sailing initiation program VSail-Trainer® was used for the simulator therapy. During this session, the basic notions of sailing, wind direction, sheet trimming and control of the boat on different courses were explained. The variables assessed were: sailing learning, heart rate and effort perception. RESULTS: The comparison of performance variables between pretest and posttest resulted differences in boat speed, heel and Velocity Made Good (VMG). These improvements in the performance variables are also reflected in the average times taken by the subjects to complete the regatta. CONCLUSION: The methodology used in this study can be used as a guide for learning the activity by new SCI patients in rehabilitation who want to get into sailing sport.

Perfil de rendimiento de regatistas de élite de clase ILCA. Diferencias entre hombres y mujeres / Performance profile for ILCA class elite sailors. Differences between men and women

En la vela deportiva, tres son los pilares fundamentales del rendimiento de los regatistas de vela ligera (condición física, capacidad cognitiva y material). Uno de los momentos determinantes en una regata de vela ligera individual es la navegaciónen el rumbo de ceñida, ya que requiere de los regatistas una alta demanda física, para llevar la embarcación plana y tomarlas mejores decisiones según las condiciones tácticas de la regata. El objetivo de la investigación es (i) analizar el rendimientode regatistas de élite sobre la posición de sacar cuerpo en una situación dinámica de navegación virtual. (ii) medir la fatigamuscular del tren inferior en la acción de sacar cuerpo. La muestra fueron 10 regatistas de la clase Ilca de navegación ypertenecientes a los equipos olímpicos de las selecciones nacionales de Noruega, México y España, 6 de ellos hombres(Medad =31,67, SDedad =6,861) y 4 mujeres, (Medad =30,50, SDedad =4,655). El protocolo de fatiga estuvo compuesto por un testestático y un test dinámico de la posición de sacar cuerpo. Ambos test miden el esfuerzo de los regatistas hasta la fatigaextrema o hasta perder la posición. El test se realizó en el simular de vela vSail-Trainer®, el cual permite reproducir condicionesreales de navegación y muestras los datos sobre variables de control de la embarcación. Los resultados obtenidos muestran diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre el grupo de mujeres y hombres sobre la velocidad de la embarcación(p =0,039), distancia navegada (p <0,001) y hiking (p =0,002). Existen diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la potenciadel tren inferior pre y post test de fatiga. Esto no lleva a concluir que el simulador es una herramienta válida para valorar lafatiga de forma específica en regatistas de clase Ilca.(AU)

In sport sailing, there are three fundamental pillars of performance for dinghy sailors (physical condition, cognitive abilityand equipment). One of the decisive moments in a single-handed dinghy race is sailing upwind, as it requires a high physicaldemand from the sailors to keep the boat flat and make the best decisions according to the tactical conditions of the race.The objective of the research is (i) to analyze the performance of elite sailors on the hiking position in a dynamic virtual sailingsituation and (ii) to measure the lower body muscle fatigue in the hiking action. The sample consisted of 10 sailors from theIlca sailing class and belonging to the Olympic teams of the Norwegian, Mexican and Spanish national teams, 6 of themmen (Mage=31.67, SDage=6.861) and 4 women, (Mage=30.50, SDage=4.655). The fatigue protocol consisted of a static test and adynamic test of the sac body position. Both tests measure the sailors’ effort up to extreme fatigue or loss of position. The testwas performed on the vSail-Trainer® sailing simulator, which allows to reproduce real sailing conditions and displays data onboat control variables. The results obtained show statistically significant differences between the group of women and menon boat speed (P=0.039), distance sailed (P<0.001) and hiking effort (P=0.002). There are statistically significant differences inlower body power pre and post fatigue test. This does not lead to the conclusion that the simulator is a valid tool to assessfatigue specifically in Ilca class sailors.(AU)

Pachyoliva columellaris G.B. Sowerby I, 1825 (Olividae, Caenogastropoda) in Peru: tidal migrations and population density

The gastropod Pachyoliva columellaris (formerly Olivella columellaris) is particularly common on many sandy beaches in North Peru. In the studied region north of Paita, Piura province, the species reaches densities of over 80,000 individuals per beach meter. The snails perform tidal migrations throughout the lunar cycle although tidal amplitudes differ four-fold between neap and spring tide. Not all animals complete their tidal migrations, and significant numbers remain above the water line at low tide. Throughout the tidal cycle, the proportion of small individuals is increased near the water line whereas large animals dominate in lower beach zones. I conclude that the sandy beaches north of Paita are well-suited for further studies of P. columellaris and the mechanisms underlying tidal migrations in invertebrates.

El gasterópodo Pachyoliva columellaris (antes Olivella columellaris) es particularmente común en las playas arenosas del norte de Perú. En la región estudiada al norte de Paita, provincia de Piura, la especie alcanza densidades de más de 80.000 individuos por metro de playa. Los caracoles realizan migraciones mareales durante todo el ciclo lunar, aunque las amplitudes de marea difieren cuatro veces entre la marea muerta y la marea viva. No todos los animales completan sus migraciones mareales y un número significativo permanece por encima del nivel del agua en marea baja. Durante todo el ciclo de marea, la proporción de individuos pequeños aumenta cerca del nivel del agua, mientras que los animales grandes dominan en las zonas bajas de la playa. Concluyo que las playas arenosas al norte de Paita son apropiadas para estudios adicionales de P. columellaris y los mecanismos de las migraciones de marea en invertebrados.

Injuries and Health Issues Occurring During Offshore Transoceanic Sailing: A Survey of Recreational Sailors and Cruisers.

INTRODUCTION: Most of the literature on sailing injuries is centered on competitive sailing, often involving a single regatta. The aims of this study were to provide a description of the types of injuries and illnesses sustained during amateur offshore cruising events, estimate their incidence, and investigate potential risk factors for injuries. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of self-reported sailing-related injuries and health issues during 4 different events organized by the World Cruising Club between 2014 and 2015. Prior to departure, sailors received an injury or health issue report form to complete during their sailing event. Questionnaires were then collected at the end of each event. Bivariable (Student's t tests and χ2 tests) and mutilvariable logistic regression were used to study the associations among injuries, health issues, and the characteristics of sailors or sailboats. RESULTS: The incidence of injuries and health issues among the respondents was 1.08 and 1.01 per 10,000 nautical miles, respectively. Smaller boats (P<0.001) and crews with less experience with the current boat (P<0.001) were associated with reporting of more injuries. Most of the injuries were reported during favorable weather conditions. Health issues were more frequent on smaller boats and with women (P=0.008), who reported significantly more seasickness (P<0.001), anxiety (P=0.037), and skin rash/fungal infection (P=0.021). CONCLUSIONS: Injuries and health issues are relatively common among amateur offshore recreational sailors, but severe injuries are rare. Smaller boats and having less experience in sailing with the current boat were associated with more injuries. Preventive strategies should include a sailing experience requirement on the boat being sailed for all crew members, increasing the minimum boat size requirement for sailing events, and mandatory first-aid training prior to a cruising event for all crew members.

Training cessation and subsequent retraining of a world-class female Olympic sailor after Tokyo 2020: A case study.

Olympic sailing is a complex sport where sailors are required to predict and interpret weather conditions while facing high physical and physiological demands. While it is essential for sailors to develop physical and physiological capabilities toward major competition, monitoring training status following the competition is equally important to minimize the magnitude of detraining and facilitate retraining. Despite its long history in the modern Olympics, reports on world-class sailors' training status and performance characteristics across different periodization phases are currently lacking. This case study aimed to determine the influence of training cessation and subsequent retraining on performance parameters in a world-class female sailor. A 31-year old female sailor, seventh in the Women's Sailing 470 medal race in Tokyo 2020, completely stopped training for 4 weeks following the Olympics, and resumed low-intensity training for 3 weeks. Over these 7 weeks, 12.7 and 5.3% reductions were observed in 6 s peak cycling power output and jump height, respectively, with a 4.7% decrease in maximal aerobic power output. Seven weeks of training cessation-retraining period induced clear reductions in explosive power production capacities but less prominent decreases in aerobic capacity. The current findings are likely attributed to the sailor's training characteristics during the retraining period.

Anthropometric characteristics of young elite sailors based on performance level.

Background: /Objectives: The aim of the present study was to analyse possible differences in anthropometric characteristics of elite sailors based on categories and performance level. Methods: ː A total of 42 young (aged 12-18 years) elite sailors (men = 31; women = 11) of the Monohull (n = 21) and Windsurfing (n = 21) categories composed the study sample. Testing was per-formed in one session the day before the start of an official and international competition. Body composition was measured using an octopolar and multi-frequency electrical bioimpedance analyser, and height was recorded using a telescopic measuring instrument. Cross-sectional study. The total sample was divided into two groups based on their performance level (ranking), 50th percentile (P1), and 100th percentile (P2). Results: ː P1 presented a lower BMI, total body fat mass, and body fat mass in the trunk, arms, and legs (p < 0.05). Similarly, P1 reported a higher total body muscle mass and body muscle mass on the trunk, arms, and legs compared to the less level performance group (p < 0.05). In addition, P2 sailors were taller and heavier (p < 0.05). Regarding categories, the Windsurf sailors presented statistically significantly lower arm fat mass than the Monohull (p < 0.05). The Windsurf sailors showed differences between the two performance-level groups (p < 0.05). Additionally, comparing the high-level performance group in both categories, higher arm muscle mass on the Windsurfing sailors was detected (p < 0.05). Conclusions: ː These findings could help to differentiate the anthropometric variables that determine sport performance in young elite sailors and could be used to differentiate the anthropometric variables in each category.

Handling shifts during an overnight sailing regatta: Comparison between sleep management strategies.

The study aims to investigate the association between different sleep management strategies and the final ranking during a one-night sailing race. A large sample of 190 teams participating in the overnight sailing regatta (151 Miglia) were included in the study. The experimental design consisted of two surveys, administered one before the start of the race and the other after the arrival. The questionnaires provided general information on the sailboat, its crew, and the strategy adopted to manage sleep during the race. In this one-night regatta, the self-management of sleep/wake timing emerged as the most successful strategy. Among participants who adopted a shift-based racing strategy, a short night shift duration (i.e., 2 h) significantly predicted a better placement. These findings confirmed the relevance of sleep management in sport performance and provided new insights into the most suitable sleep management strategy during a relatively short offshore regatta. The conclusions might apply also to similar continuous-cycle activities. Further investigations are needed to explore best sleep management strategy in team regattas of longer duration.

Influence of sport expertise in facilitating and inhibiting the recognition of the opponent's intentions in sailing.

Starting from the proposed role of the mirror neuron system in the recognition of the intention underlying the actions of others, an experimental paradigm was implemented to test the role of sailing motor expertise in predicting the outcome of a competitor's action. It was hypothesized that subjects with experience in sailing would correctly interpret the maneuver performed due to the activation of domain specific motor representations of the same movements and that subjects who practiced a sport different from sailing would perform worse because of the activation of irrelevant motor patterns. For doing so, a series of video clips, in which a professional sailor performed a tack or a feint, have been manipulated so that the video clips would stop at the moment of the dunkin, namely, when the boat acquires speed to tack or continue straight ahead. The task consisted in predicting whether the action following the dunkin was an actual tack or a feint. The performance of 87 subjects, divided into three subgroups (sailors, tennis players, sedentary), was evaluated in terms of accuracy in identifying the sailor's intentions and correlated to age, gender, manual dominance, education, job, hours spent weekly playing videogames, and experience in playing sports. Results showed that the percentage of correct identifications of the intention to do a tack or feint was the highest in the group of sailors and the lowest in tennis players. An inverse relation between tennis experience and ability in recognizing the sailor's intention was found in the group of tennis players. Gender, age, manual dominance, education, job, and experience with videogames were not found to be correlated with performance. Findings support the possible implication of the mirror neuron system in maneuver detection in sailing and may be a starting point for the development of psychological training in this sport.

Full Sails against Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Cancer is very disruptive in adolescence and hospitalizations interfere with this development stage in becoming independent, developing social relationships, and making plans for the future. A major challenge in the care of adolescents with cancer is being able to enhance their quality of life. The aim of this project is to increase our understanding of how adventure therapy influenced quality of life for adolescents with cancer. METHODS: Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, in collaboration with the Tender to Nave Italia Foundation (TTNI), has been conducting a unique project, located on a beautiful brigantine of the Italian Navy. Adventure therapy is a form of experiential therapy that consists of various types of adventure, in particular outdoor and sailing activities. Ninety teenagers have been the protagonists of this project to date and filled out two questionnaires about quality of life and self-esteem, before and after the sailing experience. RESULTS: The adventure provides the opportunity for the participants to build interpersonal relationships and develop life skills that they can benefit from in the future experiences. All participants report a significant improvement in their quality of life and self-esteem at the end of this experience. CONCLUSION: This collaborative adventure project is a great way to learn and practice new behaviors, improve interpersonal skills, heal painful emotions, overcome personal obstacles and challenges, and help the teenagers to resume their developmental path after an onco-hematological diagnosis.

Analysis of sailing variables and performance of laser sailors with different rankings under the condition of certain wind speed.

Objective: The aims of this study were to describe the characteristics of sailing variables and differences between different ranking sailors under the condition of certain wind speed, and predict the variables that affect performance. Methods: Five regatta's data of the 2019-2020 Hempel World Cup Series and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for a total of 63 races were analyzed in this study. The wind speed was defined as light wind below 8 knots, medium wind at 8-12 knots and strong wind above 12 knots. Sailors were divided into top 10 and other ranked groups based on their performance for each race. Results: 1) The race time of Laser class was about 50 min. The sailing distance traveled, VMG, percentage of upwind time, and the number of downwind maneuvers increased with an increase in the wind speed, while upwind maneuvers decreased increasing wind speed. Under the same wind speed, the VMG of reaching legs was the highest, followed by downwind and upwind legs in same wind speed. (2) The top 10 sailors had a high VMG, less race time, upwind/reaching legs' time and distance compared to other ranked sailors in all categories of wind speed (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the number of maneuvers among sailors of different rankings (p > 0.05). (3) There was a moderate to high correlation between first upwind mark position of sailors and the race ranking (r ranging 0.762-0.851, p < 0.01), and the top 10 sailors' first upwind ranking was close to the race performance. Conclusions: Wind speeds affect sailing variables and race characteristics. VMG and time and distance in upwind and reaching legs are important variables for differentiating sailors' level. Regardless of the wind speed, the first upwind mark position of sailors can be used as an effective factor in predicting the performance of the race.

Artificial-intelligence robot umpires in sailing race.

Today, many maritime nations have been promoting boat sports proactively, including sailing races. As sailing races are large-scale regattas that require massive workforces to monitor the game fairly; however, with limited match budgets and labors, Internet of Things (IoT) technology supports monitoring games has become a trend. This article proposes a robot umpire system in sailing races based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, using drones and AIoT technology to monitor sailing matches. When a large number of sailboats are in a match, and each sail along different routes, drones can monitor the entire game simultaneously. The features of this proposed approach are (1) The system recognizes images by Faster R-CNN, judging whether a sailboat uses a motor to accelerate; (2) The system detects conditions by edge computing; when cheating behaviors happen, it can notify the event holder immediately; (3) Advanced drone route plans can avoid collision incidents; (4) Improve the system recognition by federated learning. This study has implemented an experiment with real drones and installed IoT equipment on the drones for taking videos and recognizing. The experimental result has shown that the proposed approach is feasible and benefits the match's fairness. Additionally, umpires can review the violation details from the videos taken by the drones, supporting evidence for judging.

Testing citizen science as a tool for monitoring surface water microplastics.

The use of citizen science in the collection of surface water marine microplastics (MP) samples with manta trawl was tested in the Baltic Sea, where the collection of surface water samples is often hampered by environmental conditions. Sampling was carried out at 7 locations around the Baltic Sea with a custom-made manta trawl which was operated onboard a sailing boat. The total concentrations of ≥ 0.3 mm MP in the samples ranged from 0.45 to 1.98 MP m-3. Based on the results and experiences from this study, citizen science could be introduced into the toolbox of monitoring large MP. When the common basic constraints of surface water sampling within a regional sea are defined and agreed upon, citizen science could be used for strengthening the power of assessments on the state of the marine environment by increasing the spatial coverage of the monitored area.

"All Hands on Deck": Psychological Characteristics of Women with Experience of Oncological Disease Participating in Sailing Cruise-A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: In addition to searching for effective methods of treatment, interventions are sought to support well-being, quality of life, mental health, and recovery. Sailing has its specific features, including task orientation, challenges, contact with people, and nature. This specificity may be treated as a potential therapeutic factor, but it is also likely that people with certain psychological characteristics are involved in it. Therefore, the study aimed to assess some psychological features of women with cancer experience who decided to take part in the Onco-Cruise (Polish: Onko-Rejs). METHODS: Participants were 56 women (M = 46.73; SD = 9.21). We used NEO-FFI, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, and The Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale. RESULTS: Onco-Cruises participants were characterized by a high level of extraversion (M = 32.48; SD = 7.02; sten score M = 7.21; Mo = 7), openness (M = 31.50; SD = 6.31; sten score M = 7.41; Mo = 8), low neuroticism (M = 21.62; SD = 9.33; sten score M = 4.96), predominance of present hedonistic (M = 12.55, SD = 1.46) and future time perspective (M = 11.39; SD = 2.67), and the internal health locus of control (M = 23.25, SD = 5.43). CONCLUSION: Group sailing can be favorable for broadly understood health and cancer recovery, but people who choose this activity have certain psychological predispositions, especially indicating high needs for stimulation. Permanent features should be taken into account when proposing various interventions for oncology patients to best suit them to their natural possibilities and preferences and, thus, make them most effective.

Establishing the incidence and prevalence of injury and illness in Australian sailing athletes over a full year of training and competition to help determine prevention priorities.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence, incidence rate (IR) and burden of health problems (injuries and illnesses) in Australian Olympic class and State Sailing Pathway Program (SSPP) athletes over 12-months of training and competition. DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiological study. METHODS: Ninety-two Australian Sailing and SSPP athletes were prospectively followed during the 2019-2020 season. Medical attention injuries and illnesses were prospectively recorded, and further sub-categorised according to time loss. The IR and burden were calculated per 365 athlete-days, with differences in IR between sexes compared using negative binomial generated rate ratios. RESULTS: Three hundred and forty-nine injuries were reported in 53 athletes (57.6 %), with 14.3 % resulting in time loss. Injury IR was 3.71 (95%CI = 3.33-4.12) injuries per 365 athlete-days, with no difference observed between sex (IRR = 1.64; 95%CI = 0.81-3.34). Shoulder injuries were found to have the greatest burden. Fifty-four illnesses were reported in 27 athletes (29.3 %), with 39.0 % resulting in time loss. Respiratory infection (n = 22, 40.7 %) was the most common illness reported. Illness IR was 0.57 (95%CI = 0.43-0.75) illnesses per 365 athlete days, with females found to have a 3.6 fold increase in illness compared to males (IRR = 3.6; 95%CI = 2.0-6.7). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of health problems reported in sailing athletes did not result in time loss. There were no differences in the injury IR between sexes, however females had a 3.6-fold increase in reported illness. These results can inform future strategies to reduce key health problems in sailors. Future research investigating whether performance is impacted by the high rate of non-time loss health problems is warranted.