A special thank you to everyone that came to see us at stand D18. We really enjoyed meeting you all! .........Press release

The adjustable hikingbench™ for dinghy sailors to exercise and keep race fit

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Our hikingbench's have been tried and indeed purchased by members of many different dinghy class associations. From listening to their ideas and comments we are now able to offer three versions, shown above. The types of dinghy listed are a guide only, not a definitive application list and are largely made from sailors’ opinions.

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Improve your efficiency on the water by using the hikingbench™

Practise your hiking technique and good posture off of the water, so that good posture becomes a habit on the water! Just 5 or 10 minutes a day on the hikingbench™, is the easy way to strengthen your hiking muscles and abdominal core muscles.

The hikingbench is ideal for sailing clubs to teach good posture and correct hiking positions on dry land.

About the bench

The hikingbench is constructed from aluminium extrusion which provides a strong, yet light weight assembly. The whole unit is held together with ergonomically designed hand wheel nuts to allow for easy assembly, transport and storage and was awarded design registration number 4012136

The hikingbench is fitted with the Sailing Solutions adjustable toe-strap and has a sliding seat position to match most dinghies.

The seat (designed to simulate the deck section) is made from a special grade of polycarbonate plastic which is designed to give a similar amount of flex to that of a real dinghy.

The history of hiking out

Paul Elvstrøm Olympic gold medallist transformed dinghy sailing by pioneering the technique of hiking out. He was the first to fix toe-straps, in the bottom of his dinghy, so that he could hook his feet underneath the straps. Thus enable him to get all his body weight, from the knees upwards, outside the boat. This provided significant leverage to enable the boat to remain level in stronger winds and hence go faster than his competitors. This revolutionised dinghy racing and quickly became the norm in all dinghy classes.

This technique required significant fitness. Elvstrøm built a training bench with toe-straps in his garage to replicate the sitting-out position in his dinghy. He then trained on dry land hiking out on the bench at home.

The hikingbench development story

During the early part of the 2009 sailing season prototypes were shown to Topper squad sailors at a number of Traveller and National events. During this period we have noted the sailors' comments and the product has evolved to meet sailors' and potential retailers' wishes. From this the original flat hiking version for Toppers and Lasers was made and extensively tested.

During September 2009 hikingbench.com was launched and the product advertised on Yachts & Yachting. Since then we have exported hikingbench all over the World. The original style hikingbench is currently being used by a large number of sailors who sail dinghies including Laser, Topper, Solo, Star and RS100.

We then moved on to create a taller version suitable for the Finn dinghy. This needed considerable reinforcement to the structure due to the hiking style and forces involved. Without the help and encouragement from members of the Finn class this would not have been possible.

On the 6th and 7th March 2010 the hikingbench was exhibited at the RYA Dinghy show. Many sailors form different class associations tried the demonstration models on the stand, and we received enquiries regarding the possibility of mounting the Finn style seat on the flat hikingbench by RS500 & Supernova owners. Hence a third type has been added to the model range.

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