Skipper weight

[heymacaulay]

Hi,

Congratulations on a great web site. I’ve just been reading about what boats and foils the top 10 sailors use. I was wondering if there was any approximations for sailor body weight or a general range of body weights for competitive sailors. ?

Thanks Shane

[heymacaulay]

Hi Shane,

I think a good weight range for the Sabre is 65 – 72 kg. You can be competitive in all conditions in this weight range. Having said that, the Sabre carries weight pretty well, so if you are up to around 80 kg you can still do really well in light conditions, but it’s more of a struggle. For example, Wayne Bates is around 80 kg and he has won more national titles than anyone in Sabre history!

Alan Riley
Sabre 1564

[salliemerry674]

Hi all,
I’m to light for a sabre i’m 50kg, from what i’ve heard & seen that the weight for a sabre should be from 60 to 80kg to still be there.
But one problem as i have said i’m 50kg & i race against people that are over 80kg, i can beat them around the bouys in a blow.

How can that be?

[Meryl Todd]

I agree it would be great to know the sailing weight of successful skippers. The problem is that is not a required measurement.

The lighter the skipper the faster the boat, every thing else being equal. From what I have seen a 55-57kg skipper can hold a Sabre upright to 20knots and few races are conducted above that. Yesterday my wife at 54kg, and slightly more in years, handled 30 knot gusts without problems going to windward bladed out at maximum hull speed, admittedly in flat water. For the technically minded; sailing 5% lower, only loses you about 25 seconds on an average length beat and after rounding the top mark the lightweight skippers disappear in the distance! Sailing lower the lightweight is the first to a new shift, which makes it even more frustrating for us heavyweights who fought to gain height on every gust.

In comparison, the Laser Radial requires slightly more weight,and its ideal is 55-65kg, although top skippers average around 63kg in sailing clothes as most major events are held in open water. It is interesting that coaches are now quoting 53-58kg as the target for women interested in training seriously for the Olympics. With its rounder cross section shape it carries weight better than the Sabre.

Another consideration is height. The Sabre design is optimal for a maximum height of some 170cm, which gives 61-65 kg weight for men and 59-63 kg for women.

Thus, I suggest the ideal weight would be 52-62kg. Certainly if you are above 70kg you need excellent strategic and tactical skills to be competitive.

However what really matters is to enjoy sailing your Sabre whatever your weight.

[heymacaulay]

I think there are three critical factors which need to be considered when discussing the ideal Sabre sailor weight:- wind strength, wave height, male/female.

Wind strength- the ideal weight changes depending on how windy the place is. If it is Albert Park lake, with average wind of say 10 knots, you would want to be light. If sailing in summer with 20 knot seabreezes you want to be heavy

Wave height- the ideal weight for the Sabre I think changes again based on wave conditions. If the waves are really big it is hard to get over the waves and keep the boat flat unless you are heavy and/or strong. However if you are light you have a big advantage downwind !

Male/female- I think the ideal weight question is also related to whether you are male or female. Typically men are stronger than women for the same weight, so I don’t think it is equal.

I started sailing Sabres about 8 years ago at 55kg. Once the winds on Port Phillip Bay hit 15 knots, sailing got difficult. Now I am 65kg and I can feel a significant difference in my performance- it is much easier and I can keep up , up to about 20 knots. Another few kgs would help me keep pace for all conditions !

[heymacaulay]

G’day

I sail a sabre competitevely out of Merriks yacht club on Western port bay, I am 14 and i only weigh 42 kg. In the light conditions up to about 10 knots from the north i can do reallly well and keep the boat relatively flat, however if the wind is from the south then i tend to struggle, as the sea tends to get quite lumpy. but it’s great downwind.

happy sailing.

[salliemerry674]

hi james,

i’m in the same boat, i’m a light weight & i’m 17 & weigh 50kg
i sail from gippsland lakes when ever the wind is up over 15kts then i’m out the back door. but same i love it when it windy going down wind, i cream all the other guys 😆

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