Improving comfort while hiking in a sailing boat

The paper presents the changes in perceived comfort while hiking in a sailing boat (in this case the Laser, a single-handed Olympic dinghy) due to a new design of hiking pads. The project used a ‘research by design method’. The aim was to improve sailing comfort which leads to lower fatigue and therefor improved performance. While hiking, a large force is exerted on the thigh of the sailor by the boat rim while existing hiking pads only partly distribute this force over the upper leg. In order to find directions for improvements we analyzed the interaction between upper leg and boat rim and forces involved, studied the anatomy of the upper leg and quantified the pressure distribution over the upper leg using an experimental set-up. A new hiking pad was designed and tests showed an improved pressure distribution over the upper leg. First field test showed positive results. The hiking pads will be made available to the Dutch Olympic Sailing Team in order to improve their competitiveness at the 2012 Olympics in Weymouth.