Sailing Is Good for You!
Sailing Demo Post.
Some Text from our RFI to the City of Corpus Christi about how sailing is good for you. This is a placeholder and demo blog.
Wellness Impact
Not only is sailing a great physical activity, but it provides mental stimulation, mental health, team building, personal and interpersonal skill building and leadership skills….plus a healthy dose of Vitamin Sea (aka Vitamin D and serotonin to health professionals). It is suitable for all ages and a wide range of fitness levels and can be adapted for those with physical and learning handicaps.
From Dietandfitnesstoday.com[1]— One hour [non-competitive] dinghy sailing will burn 284 Calories
[1] http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/calories-burned-sailing.php
Borrowed (with permission) from The Brightlingsea Sailing Club in Essex UK– they highlight the physical, mental benefits in their blog[2] as well as touch on the education benefits in that STEM education is abundant in every aspect of sailing better than I could.
Here are just a few of the widely recognised benefits of our sport:
Muscle strength and endurance: The many activities involved in sailing, like pulling and hoisting of sails to manoeuvre a boat or a yacht, adds to your muscle strength for your shoulders and back.
Cardiovascular fitness: Sailing can also improve your cardiovascular health and reduce the risk of hypertension, obesity and other heart illness. This is because of the large amount of oxygen uptake that happens when you engage in intense activities.
Mental wellness: Being out on the water puts you in a good mood not just because of the calmness of the water but because of the salty air. The saltiness of the sea air is composed of charged ions that aid in the body’s oxygen absorption, which in turn balances serotonin levels. The more balanced your body’s serotonin levels are, the happier you’re going to be.
Lowers stress levels: The swooshing and splashing of water, the rhythmic movement of the boat and the sound of the wind in the sails can all affect brainwave patterns. This relaxes and soothes a busy and highly stressed-out mind.
Increases agility: The various tasks associated with sailing also help improve your flexibility and agility. Activities like pulling lines and moving around and keeping yourself stable on a moving boat can significantly improve your hand-eye coordination and motor skills.
Improves concentration: Because many people today are chronic multi-taskers, they should develop a deep sense of concentration. With the ultimate goal of staying safe while on board, sailing enhances a person’s ability to focus even with multiple tasks at hand.
Improves communication skills: To effectively control a boat, the captain and his crew must act as a unified unit. To do this they need to learn how to communicate effectively, especially through non-verbal means. Everyone on board has a crucial role to play in order to keep the ship afloat.
Spatial awareness: Sailing requires the participant to be aware of the dimension of the boat along with the space required for the manoeuvring of the boat. By sailing, you can have an increased understanding of how much space something requires; this skill translates to skills required on land as well such as driving.
Organisational skills: Being on a ship requires that everything be kept in “shipshape.” After being exposed to this mentality, other aspects of your life begin to reflect this standard. You will become more organised in your personal life, which will boost motivation to eat healthier, exercise more and increase your quality of life.
Sailors Use Science, Maths & Engineering : Sailing is more than just who can be the strongest, you have to be a scientist, mathematician and engineer as well. You have to be able to read the wind, clouds and weather patterns to determine what side of the race course you will be sailing on. You have to calculate your moves and angles to the wind to make sure you are not sailing too far away from your next mark or intended destination. And you have to be able to put your boat together and perform simple maintenance tasks to keep your boat in good sailing condition.
[2] https://www.sailbrightlingsea.com/membership/the-benefits-of-sailing-1
https://www.thehealthsite.com/fitness/incredible-health-benefits-of-sailing-626024/
The preceding have been antidotal sources with limited citations, but the medical world also agrees that sailing provides mental and physical benefits to people of all ages. Of particular interest to us is the mental and physical stimulation provided to school-aged children.
In the conclusion to their study “An exploration of the perceived health, life skill and academic benefits of dinghy sailing for 9–13-year-old school children” Cotterill & Brown state the following:
The current study suggests that engaging in dinghy sailing can be a highly beneficial activity for 9-13 year old school children. In particular, this study supports the potential for sailing participation to develop personal feelings of confidence and competence; key personal and interpersonal skills (including social interaction skills, problem-solving, decision-making, planning, concentration skills, resilience, communication skills, and leadership); specific life skills, sailing specific technical skills; physical fitness; and good general mental health [3]
[3] Cotterill, Stewart & Brown, Hazel. (2018). An exploration of the perceived health, life skill and academic benefits of dinghy sailing for 9–13-year-old school children. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning. 18. 1-15. 10.1080/14729679.2018.1424001.
Development of “confidence and competence; key personal and interpersonal skills (including social interaction skills, problem-solving, decision-making, planning, concentration skills, resilience, communication skills, and leadership” as a side effect of sailing and being part of a sailing team….it’s no wonder that so many great leaders can list learning to sail as an early activity that would lead to success later in life.
Clinical research also supports that within groups of people with severe mental disorders sailing rehabilitation provided improvements to key markers measured by psychologists.
“Overall, the patients with severe mental disorders who received rehabilitation with sailing as an adjunctive treatment to a multi-modal protocol of rehabilitation showed a psychopathological improvement on both the BPRS and the HoNOS. Global functionality as measured by the GAF also improved. Controls with pharmacotherapy and traditional rehabilitation programs did not improve their BPRS, HoNOS, or GAF scores during the experimental period of the crossover trial.”[4]
[4] Carta, Maggiani, Pilutzu, Moro, Mura, Cadoni, Sancassiani, Vellante, Machado, Preti (2014) Sailing for Rehabilitation of Patients with Severe Mental Disorders: Results of a Cross Over Randomized Controlled Trial. Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. 2014; 10: 73–79. Published online 2014 Jul 23. doi: 10.2174/1745017901410010073 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4150377/
[1] http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/calories-burned-sailing.php
[2] https://www.sailbrightlingsea.com/membership/the-benefits-of-sailing-1
[3] Cotterill, Stewart & Brown, Hazel. (2018). An exploration of the perceived health, life skill and academic benefits of dinghy sailing for 9–13-year-old school children. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning. 18. 1-15. 10.1080/14729679.2018.1424001.
[4] Carta, Maggiani, Pilutzu, Moro, Mura, Cadoni, Sancassiani, Vellante, Machado, Preti (2014) Sailing for Rehabilitation of Patients with Severe Mental Disorders: Results of a Cross Over Randomized Controlled Trial. Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. 2014; 10: 73–79. Published online 2014 Jul 23. doi: 10.2174/1745017901410010073 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4150377/