http://www.bicycling.com/news/2011-tour-de-france/tour-features/you-versus-pe...
These 'average' Riders are close to my stats. My average speed on flat terrain is 30 km/hr (or 18.6 miles). My average speed on mountain terrain is about 10 miles an hour (if the climb is super short, I can sprint of course, talking sustained speed here), I wonder how true the rest is...
I ride between 75 to 140 miles/week in the low sailing season - a lot less in the high sailing season.
(for everyone - biking replaced running as my cross-training for fitness for sailing. I really find the combination of endurance sport that strengthens the lower part of the body and a semi-strength/semi-endurance sport that puts heavy demands on the upper part of the body working pretty well. Tabarly also used cycling as his cross training sport of choice. I also do some weight work (pullups and such) to improve my arm strength and general upper body strength.
That way I can trim spinnakers and main sail more effectively in heavier air and that's just a million times faster than grinding it on a winch. I have noticed a real difference in how much wind I can do this in. I just added 5 knots to my top strength compared to last year :)
I read a book about how to train on a bike (not for top speed necessarily, just so that I can build fitness, avoid injuries, etc...) - very similar to how you train for running. You train to be fast by riding fast (over very short distances). You train on hills by sprinting uphills (over very short distances). So high intensity low volumes workouts combined with long rides seem to be working.
However, what I found fascinating while reading this book is the understanding of nutrition on performance both when to take food, (before, during, after) and what to eat at these specific moments (this may be key in short-handed sailing to ensure sustained performance), and the importance of REST in fitness level. This is during rest that the body actually adapts and builds fitness. And the fitter you are, the less recovery time you need for a given effort....
Hence...
High levels of fitness in sailing has a major advantage for me - it allows me to recuperate much much faster. Sailing as bursts of activity - for instance you do a sail change - and the faster/easier you recover from those, and the less energy you spend of those, the better as you can do more things/better.
If you are not tired physically you are less likely to be tired mentally :) If you don't waste too much energy or if you have a body that is used to assimilating energy efficiently, you may need less food, or less sleep for the same amount of effort - or you can increase the amount of effort depending on whether the goal is conservation of energy or all out.
The other thing that I am thinking is a disaster scenario. If something went wrong and I had to work hard to say bring the mast on deck - that would be hard work, and it would take a long time. Well, if I am fit, I will be better able to sustain that effort which makes me safer.
The other thing that I found interesting is that athletes or fit people are actually more likely to develop a cold than the average person...hmmm..that kind of sucks...
On a long distance short-handed race where sleep management will be key - there is obviously another dimension to this. Definitely not the whole picture but I can see how it helps.
Lastly - cycling and sailing share the need for a strong core (abdominal or lower back muscles).
To quote someone that was overheard on my hill today 'if I lived at the top of this hill, my ass would look so good!'
