A TRAINING EQUIPMENT FOR SAILING ATHLETES

Abstract: The training equipment is intended for training athletes in sitting out a sailboat, and comprises a frame, a seat pivoted to the frame and adjustable in angular position relative to it, means of adjusting the angular position of the seat on the frame, and means of holding the feet of an athlete accommodated on the seat. With this equipment, an athlete can train himself in postures substantially identical with those he would assume under varying conditions during a boat race.

Description: A training equipment for sailing athletes DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a training equipment which allows sailing athletes to exercise themselves in the sitting-out posture at gymnasium facilities. As is known, sailboat racing demands remarkable body fitness of its practicers. The ground work for this is primarily done afloat, of course, but this is not always practicable, especially in winter. However, duplicating on indoors equipment situations actually encountered in sailing has always been quite difficult. In particular, there is no indoors equipment available which can simulate the behavior of a racing sailboat such that an athlete can go through the same body exertions as on a boat engaged in a race. A very important and tiring exercise that sailing athletes are frequently expected to perform during a race is that of sitting out the sailboat to counteract the heeling moment of the wind on the sails. In such circumstances, a boat's crew usually sit along the gunwale and try to bring as much as possible of their body weight outboard, thereby subjecting their muscles (abdominals, quadriceps, etc.) to considerable strain for quite some time and depending on wind and water conditions. Thus, exercising these muscles is a factor of primary importance. There exist gymnastic equipments on which to exercise such muscles: this includes benches of various description on which an athlete assumes a sitting or a lying position and performs flexing movements with the trunk and/or the legs against adjustable reaction means. While actually exercising the muscles, such prior equipments cannot accurately reproduce the efforts that the sailing athlete is to make on the real boat. The underlying technical problem of this invention is to provide a device which allows an athlete to train himself in sitting out a sailboat at gymnasium facilities, so as to exercise his abdominal muscles in efforts similar to those encountered on a sailboat engaged in a race. Accordingly, the invention provides a training equipment useful to train athletes in sitting out a sailboat, characterized in that it comprises: a frame; - a seat pivoted to the frame; means of adjusting the angular position of the seat on the frame; and eans of holding the feet of an athlete being accommodated on the seat . On this equipment, the trainee can practice sitting-out by assuming postures which are substantially identical with those he would normally assume on a sailboat under different sailing conditions. By changing the angular position of the seat, the trainee can simulate varying attitudes of the boat relative to the water surface, and adjust the effort to be sustained to suit such attitudes. Advantageously, the invention further provides for the means of adjusting the angular position of the seat on the frame to comprise a first line or rope acting under a tension between the seat and the frame. Still more advantageously, the means of adjusting the angular position of the seat on the frame comprise a first jam cleat mounted on the seat and a set of blocks leading the first rope to the first jam cleat, the first rope being tied with one end to the seat . Thus, the trainee can adjust the angular position of the seat on the frame by just hauling the first rope taut and securing it in the jam cleat, i.e. by using fittings as are typical of a sailboat deck layout. Advantageously, the equipment further comprises sense means for assessing the trainee's athletic involvement, processing means connected electrically to the sense means, and indicator means connected electrically to the processing means. Thus, the trainee can have a measure of the effort he is sustaining. Advantageously, the sense means are connected to the first rope through one of said blocks . In this way, the sense means will sense the pull transmitted to the block by the tension of the first rope as generated by the trainee's athletic activity. Advantageously, the indicator means are either sound or visual indicators. Thus, the trainee can monitor the effort he is exercising by either reading a corresponding numerical value on a display, or by listening for a sound signal issuing from the machine as he attains a predetermined value of the quantity being measured. Advantageously, the processing means will process a force signal input thereto, and output for display a numerical value of the torque applied by the trainee to the seat with respect to the frame . In this way, the trainee is allowed to check the result of his effort directly. Advantageously, the equipment further includes reset means, mounted on the seat, for zeroing the value reported by the indicator means . Through such reset means, the trainee, after attaining a posture and applied torque value sought, may decide to monitor variations from that torque value rather than the torque absolute value. Preferably, the reset means comprise a pushbutton, placed on a side surface of the seat and connected electrically to the processing means . This allows the trainee to operate such reset means comfortably by just depressing the pushbutton. Advantageously, the seat includes a flat surface footrest for the trainee. This allows the trainee to place his feet in the same position as on the boat. Advantageously, the means of holding the trainee ' s feet comprise a footstrap, a snap shackle for securing one end of the footstrap to the seat, a second rope tied to the other end of the footstrap, a second jam cleat mounted on the seat, and a further block also secured on the seat to lead the second rope to the second jam cleat. This allows the trainee to hold his feet by the same means as would be used on the boat, thereby assuming the same posture as on the boat . Advantageously, the equipment also includes a cushioning pad mounted on the frame as a protection for a trainee fallen off the seat. Advantageously, the seat has, in a cross-section taken on a plane perpendicular to the pivot axis of the seat on the frame, substantially the same shape as a portion of a tranverse cross-section of a sailboat. This allows the trainee to train himself for specific boat designs . Advantageously, the equipment further includes elastic tension stays, acting between the frame and the seat against the means of adjusting the angular position of the seat on the frame, for holding the seat at selected positions. The features and advantages of a equipment according to the invention will be more clearly apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof, to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the equipment of this invention. Figure 2 is a rear view of the seat of the equipment shown in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a side view of the equipment of Figure 1 at different working settings thereof. Figure 4 is a perspective rear view of the equipment shown in Figure 1. With reference to the drawing views, generally denoted by 1 is a training equipment for sailing athletes. As shown in Figure 1, the equipment 1 comprises a frame 2 and a seat 3. The seat 3 is mounted on the frame 2 for pivotal movement about a horizontal pin 4, so that it can take different angular positions relative to the frame 2 (Figures 2 and 3) . Arranged to act between the seat 3 and the frame 2 are means of adjusting the angular position of the seat 3 on the frame 2 (Figures 1, 2 and 4) . These means comprise a first rope 5 which is made fast, i.e. tied, with one end to the seat 3 and led through a set of blocks 7 to a first jam cleat 6 mounted on the seat 3. As shown in Figures 2 and 4, this equipment 1 also includes sense means 8 for measuring the pulling effort exerted on the first rope 5 by the trainee. These sense means 8 are connected, through one 7a of the blocks 7, to the first rope 5, and by electric cables 11 to a processing unit 12. The processing unit 12 contains processing means 9 adapted for processing the force signal from the sense means 8, to compute a numerical value for the torque applied to the seat by the trainee. These processing means 9 are connected electrically to indicator means 10 which show the processed numerical value on a display. The visual indicator means 10 may be complemented or replaced by sound means, such as a horn or alarm which would emit a tone upon a given value of the measured quantity being reached. In a more elaborate modification, not shown, the processing means could be a computer complete with a display screen, in addition to or instead of the indicator means; in this modification, the computer could be utilized to display more sophisticated information, such as diagrams, graphs, etc.. The seat 3 is provided with reset means for the processing means 9. Specifically, a pushbutton 14 is provided on the side surface 13 of the seat 3 which is connected to the processing means 9 by electric cables 15, and allows the trainee to zero the display of the indicator means 10 whenever appropriate. The seat 3 has in cross-section, taken on a perpendicular plane to the pivot pin 4, substantially the shape of a portion of a transverse section of a sailboat, in the example shown, of a Laser Class sailing dinghy. Means are provided on the seat 3 for holding down the feet of the trainee accommodated on the seat 3 with his feet resting on a flat surface 16. These means comprise a footstrap 17 secured with one end to the seat 3 by a snap shackle 18, and connected with the other end to a second rope 20 led by a further block 19 to a second jam cleat 21 (Figure 1) . Also mounted on the frame 2 is a cushion pad 22 as a protection for a falling trainee. Arranged between the frame 2 and the seat 3 are elastic stays 23 effectively acting against the means of adjusting the angular position of the seat 3 on the frame 2 to hold the seat 3 in position when no athlete is sitting on it . The operation of the equipment according to this invention will now be described briefly. In the rest condition, the seat 3 of the equipment 1 is held in position by the elastic stays 23 acting against the means of adjusting the angular position of the seat 3 on the frame 2, specifically the first rope 5. When an athlete wishes to perform the exercise, he first adjusts the angular position of the seat 3 on the frame 2 by hauling in or out the first rope 5. Once the desired setting is achieved, the first rope 5, now taut, is secured in the jam cleat 6 to lock the seat 3 in the set position. The athlete takes his place on the seat 3 and adjusts the footstrap 17 by pulling the second rope 20. This second rope 20 is then secured in the second jam cleat 21. At this point the athlete on the seat 3, with his feet held down by the footstrap 17, can begin the exercise by leaning with his trunk "outboard" in the typical sitting-out posture. In this posture, the athlete's effort is reflected in an increase of the tension on the first rope 5, which is transmitted through the block 7a to the sense means 8, and thence to the processing means 9 and indicator means 10. Thus, the athlete can read, on the display of the indicator means 10, the numerical value for the torque he is applying to the seat 3. Once the corresponding posture to a desired torque is attained, the pushbutton 14 can be depressed to reset the display and begin to measure the torque variations. The athlete can then practice to keep a selected sitting-out posture. It is also contemplated that the seat 3 of this equipment 1 may be exchanged with other seats to the patterns of other sailboat hull designs, so that athletes can be trained in sitting-out exercises for specific sailboat classes.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A training equipment useful to train athletes in sitting out a sailboat, characterized in that it comprises: - a frame; a seat pivoted to the frame; means of adjusting the angular position of the seat on the frame; and means of holding the feet of an athlete being accommodated on the seat. 2. A training equipment according to Claim 1, wherein the means of adjusting the angular position of the seat on the frame comprise a first rope working under a tension between the seat and the frame . 3. A training equipment according to Claim 1, wherein the means of adjusting the angular position of the seat on the frame comprise a first jam cleat mounted on the seat and a plurality of blocks leading the first rope to the first jam cleat, the first rope being tied with one end to the seat. 4. A training equipment according to Claim 1, further comprising means of sensing the athlete activity, processing means connected electrically to the sense means, and indicator means connected electrically to the processing means. 5. A training equipment according to Claim 4, wherein the sense means are connected to the first rope through one of said plurality of blocks. 6. A training equipment according to Claim 4, wherein the indicator means are either sound or visual means. 7. A training equipment according to Claim 4, wherein the processing means are adapted to process an input force signal and output for display a numerical value for the torque exerted by the athlete on the seat relative to the frame . 8. A training equipment according to Claim 4, further comprising reset means, mounted on the seat, for zeroing the value displayed on the indicator means. 9. A training equipment according to Claim 8, wherein the means of zeroing the value displayed on the indicator means comprise a pushbutton placed on a side surface of the seat and connected electrically to the processing means. 10. A training equipment according to Claim 1, wherein the seat includes a flat surface footrest for the athlete. 11. A training equipment according to Claim 1, wherein the means of holding the athlete's feet comprise a footstrap, a snap shackle for securing one end of the footstrap to the seat, a second rope tied to the other end of the footstrap, a second jam cleat mounted on the seat, and a further block, also mounted on the seat and leading the second rope to the second jam cleat. 12. A training equipment according to Claim 1, further comprising a cushion pad mounted on the frame as a protection for a falling athlete. 13. A training equipment according to Claim 1, wherein the seat cross-sectional shape in a plane perpendicular to the pivot axis of the seat on the frame is substantially the same as that of a portion of a transverse cross-section of a sailboat. 14. A training equipment according to Claim 2 , further comprising elastic stays acting between the frame and the seat against the means of adjusting the angular position of the seat on the frame to lock the seat at a selected position.

Inventors: MADAFFARI ANDREA, MERELLO ANDREA, MADAFFARI, ANDREA, MERELLO, ANDREA
Applicants: HARKEN ITALY S P A, MADAFFARI ANDREA, MERELLO ANDREA, HARKEN ITALY S.P.A., MADAFFARI, ANDREA, MERELLO, ANDREA
Application year: 1997
Main classification: A63B69
IPC codes: A63B23, G09B9