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Adequate nutrition is a critical, yet often overlooked, component of high-performance sport in general, and sailing in particular.
This was the key message from the Nutrition: Fuelling for Sailing Performance webinar, the latest in Yachting New Zealand’s popular online series.
As the title suggests, the webinar focused on optimising eating and drinking before, during, and after training and racing.
The session was presented by Kelsey Paterson, a performance nutritionist with High Performance Sport New Zealand, and was attended virtually by sailors from all classes and age groups.
Paterson was joined by Greta Pilkington, who made her Olympic debut in the ILCA 6 class earlier this year in Marseille, and Jenny Armstrong, Yachting New Zealand’s women’s sailing lead.
“Sailing is such a complex sport that proper nutrition is absolutely critical,” said Paterson, who has been working with the NZL Sailing Team for the past two years.
“The first step is understanding why this is important – because not fuelling your brain well enough can significantly impact every aspect of your life, not just your sailing.”
In her presentation, Paterson highlighted the “bread and butter” of nutrition, offering useful suggestions for pre- and post-training nutrition, as well as what to eat during regattas.
She also emphasised key indicators of poor nutrition, explained the four Rs of recovery nutrition – replenish, repair, rehydrate, and revitalise – and discussed recognising hunger and thirst cues, alongside safe supplement use.
“Nutrition affects everything, from immune function and growth to performance, brain health, and decision-making,” she explained. “Yet, it is often overlooked by many.
“Knowing how to cook and feeling comfortable in the kitchen is essential, especially when you start competing abroad and must prepare your own meals. A good tip is to learn how to make five or six core meals really well. This reduces the stress of meal planning.”
Pilkington, 21, shared several real-life examples of how nutrition has impacted her performance.
“I remember one year at Oceanbridge [Sail Auckland], we had a really long day on the water, and all I’d eaten was a muesli bar and some watermelon,” she said. “It ended up being a lot tougher out there than it needed to be. These days, I always have snacks on hand – in fact, my car resembles a mini grocery store!”
Kelsey’s top tips
- Before training: Eat foods high in carbohydrates.
- During training: Keep muesli bars, bananas, or jelly sweets in your life
jacket while out on the water. - After training: Have a recovery snack ready for when you come off the
water – this should include both carbohydrates and protein. - Plan ahead.
- Learn to cook.
Click here for the full Nutrition: Fuelling for Sailing Performance webinar.
