WHAT IT TAKES...
TO BE A
GRINDER
COMPETING IN SAIL GP REQUIRES A CORE OF STEEL, UPPER
BODY STRENGTH AND STAMINA FIT FOR THE HIGH SEASattGotrel,30,started
sailingwhenhe
waseightyearsold,
alongsidehisfather
andgrandfather.At
university,however,heswitched
disciplinesfromtheOlympic49ersto
take up rowing. Three years later, he
joined Team GB Rowing and, with two
World Championships to his name, he
won Olympic Gold at Rio in 2016. Now,
though, Gotrel is back where it all
began, and here he reveals to MF the
unique challenges of being a grinder.REGIME
“A grinder requires a lot of upper-body
strength: to power the winches that
trim the sails to the optimum settings
and help to manoeuvre the boat,”
Gotrel explains. At 6ft 5in tall and over
100kg – but with an Olympic rower's
engine – the man his teammates call
Shrek is ideally suited to the role. “The
biggest difference in SailGP to rowing
is the use of different muscle groups.
Rowing involved a lot more leg power,
which I already had, but as a grinder
you need the fitness. There are a lotM
“ e boats race at
over 40mph and
you’re virtually ying
out the water a lot
of the time”
WHAT IT TAKES