First results from Fit & Sail Project

Launched in 2005, the research project Fit & Sail aimed to examine the physical and mental effects of cruise sailing on older people. The European demographic trend of ageing population was recently observed in the practice of sailing too. In Germany, statistics showed that one-third of larger sailing boat owners are between 50 an 60 and another third are actually above 60.

Basic questions
In cooperation with the ECNI German member, Bundesverband Wassersportwirtschaft e.V. (BVWW), the Institute for Sport and Sport Science at the University of Kiel (ISS – Institut für Sport und Sportwissenschaften), the Institute for Boat Tourism (IBoaT – Institut für Boots-Tourismus), and the French sailing federation (FFVoile – Fédération Française de Voile), the Fit & Sail Project aimed to reply to two basic questions:

• Why do sailors give up sailing at an age of around 70, although they still enjoy sailing, are adequately healthy and physically fit to sail?
  
• How can the nautical industry adapt its products to the needs of older sailors?

The idea was to inform boat and equipment manufacturers and buyers about how they can optimize and adapt construction and technical options in the design and equipment of boats, making them easier to sail and manoeuvre for the majority of sailors.


The sailing sector needs to adapt to the demographic change

Innovative drive system
Product adaptation in general will not only benefit to elder people in keeping them active sailors. It will also help attracting new groups which are under-represented in the sailing practice: less experienced sailors and family crews. ComfoDrive, a 3-axis joystick to control boat movements in all directions, is the first concrete outcome from the Fit & Sail Project and a new innovative drive system for sailing boats. The concept was presented to the public using a remote-controlled boat model in a pool at the boot Düsseldorf in January 2008.

ComfoDrive
Since early 2006, the sub-project ComfoDrive looked at technical solutions for making it easier and safer to manoeuvre a sailing yacht under motor power. For technical, financial and ergonomic reasons, it was decided to pursue a concept of a main machine supplemented by a bow thruster and a stern thruster, with integrated control by one single 3-axis joystick. The aim of this concept is to be able to control the movement of the boat safely and in all directions as well as bow bearing at any time and under difficult conditions (e.g. side wind or current), with low ergonomic effort using only one single joystick. In 2008, the research is going to deal with winches, ergonomics and mechanics (e.g. developing electric winches).

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