Woman Of The Sea

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Sarah Ayton took on the high seas when she was six years old. Eighteen years later the young gun proved her mettle as a world-class sailing champion bagging gold in her solo run at the Athens Olympics in 2004. She topped it up with another Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008 before taking a short hiatus.

Now as team member of The Wave Muscat Sarah aims to continue her dream spell with the same steely determination. A win at the 2015 Extreme Sailing Series which took place over the weekend in Muscat is just what she had been looking out for. No surprises when it actually happened. 'But it's a lot of hard work' the British sailor admits adding that eight races a day with little breaks in between don't add up to being easy.

'You need to be physically and mentally very very tough' she says letting the words hang in there. Those exposed to the extreme sailing series are probably aware of what Sarah is talking about. But for Oman Sail's women's team that is yet to experience the thrill of this race the sailing icon's account was pivotal to setting its own future goals.

Five up and coming members of the women's crew along with sailor Raiya al Habsi went aboard the catamaran of The Wave Muscat before race time where they met up with Sarah for a quick master-class on sailing. Sarah who made her extreme sailing debut as the only woman on the team last year briefed the girls about her own experience on the boat while doling out a few sailing techniques during the 30 minute chat.

'I was rather impressed with them' Sarah later said about the girls who joined her on the boat. 'They are speaking the right language and they know their job. More so they have lots of questions and are keen to learn. You can tell that they are going to go on to be really good sailors' the double Olympic gold medallist said. Sarah's exposure on the sailing circuit is undoubtedly vast but the extreme race she claimed is a new challenge for her. 'The thing about extreme sailing is that there is a role for everyone on the team. The key is to find out where you can fit in and what you are brilliant at and making sure that you play to your strengths' she said.

Being the only woman sailor aboard The Wave Muscat has only helped her find her edge she said. 'A lot of what I do comes with my past experience... winning Olympic medals is tough and you learn how to be resilient and get the best from your body. Since I am not as physically strong as the men my role is to be all over the boat run around feed information and ensure that everything is right.'

Having said that Sarah maintains that there is very little difference to how men and women sailors fight a race. 'In all my years of sailing I've tried to figure out if there was any major difference. I think the intensity is the same but the men are just slightly as a whole more aggressive.'

That does not in anyway rule out the effort that Sarah has had to put in on the boat. To brace up for the extreme challenge Sarah had to push herself a lot harder in the gym. 'I had to be agile and quick on the boat and this required me to be aerobically fit and strong. I did a lot of interval training and explosive exercises like dead-lift and bench-press to try and replicate what we do onboard' she said adding 'It's tough. You are in the gym twice a day you need to eat the right food have enough hydration drinks and generally look after yourself.'

It does not end here. 'You need to be mentally tough too. When you are an athlete you need to know when to switch off and switch on. In the extreme challenge we have about eight to 11 races a day. So in between races you need to learn how to put a bad race behind you and start afresh.'

Raiya who was part of the team that had a chat with Sarah said 'I was so glad to meet Sarah and just see her movement on the boat. I realised how tough it is to sail in the extreme races. There is a lot of physical work and one needs to make quick decisions on the boat. It made me re-think on my techniques. Being part of the extreme race is definitely a future goal.'

Later Sarah also invited the girls to join her on the catamaran in between race to catch a first-hand glimpse of the action.