But after a couple of years away form dinghys i'm thinking of getting back into one and i am worried about hurting my knees, over extending the joint or what ever it is that we do through poor technique.

Any one any good advise on how I can protect them?

Ian

A good pair of hikers will help reduce fatigue as will getting the toe straps set up correctly (I moved mine all the time in the Blaze and never really got it quite how I wanted it).

There is a 3rd option.....possibly the most comfy hiking single hander at the moment..... ;-)

would we call an IC a hiker Jim..... 

But yes something like that is always an option.....if wet.

Ian

There seems to be a gentlemans agreement amoungst our Blaze (mini)fleet to not do anything that may be considered leaning out.

I wondered if the fleet had jury boats at national events dishing out 720's to anyone who put their toes anywhere near the straps?

 

Buy a Contender, better boat all round.

Nope, definitely the d one.

Fitness is the only way to protect the knees.  Cycling is probably the best form of exercise to achieve this.  I finished off my knee cartilage at the Dutch contender nationals last year - marginal trapezing followed by pivoting under the boom. The resultant damage meant surgery.   I hasten to say all this was preceded by a lifetime of over exercise, basketball and sailing 470s wearing a weight jacket.

I made it bad again last week bring forced to sail picos and crew an rs vision in light winds and have resolved to get out the balance board and the bike, as well as sell the contender and focus on the knee friendly d one.

Well thats bound to get a reaction but true or false, its not better in a fleet of Blazes

Do they work, and is there nothing like that which will help us?

Ian

My 3/4 length hikers do a good job of supporting my knees though and the give an essential bit of knee padding too.

Totally agree.

FWIW - and it could be the boat as much as the hikers, but I had no knee trouble at all in my Solo.  I always wore my Sandiline Hikers- which are compression grade 'kneeoprene'  for superior support.  Yes, they are more expensive than the usual brands, but 1) they actually work really well 2) they are very well built so won't fall apart in a season 3) the weigh very little (weigh a set of Magic Marine hikers and tell me if you want to add the dead weight!)

Honestly, I can't recommend them highly enough.

http://www.suntouched.co.uk/suntouchedsailboats_002.htm#hikingpants" rel="nofollow - http://www.suntouched.co.uk/suntouchedsailboats_002.htm#hikingpants

Looking around, I see lots of people getting perfectly acceptable results without doing much more than perching with no load on the knees at all.  Currently rehabilitating my hip (broken in a bike crash), I'm finding the Miracle I'm borrowing seems to go just fine with me sat on the side.  I'd like to hike it, but am now not so convinced it would bring a lot, especially when the big gains are made by spotting wind shifts and gusts, and sailing in the right direction, something that is appreciably easier sat upright.

Frankly, I'd be more concerned about twisting my knee tacking, especially since I tore my cartilage on a Laser 2 and had to have an op. (21 years ago and all fine now with the right exercises).  I'd really urge you to get a good physio (or two) and learn a good set of exercises to develop the muscles all around the knee - the ones on the sides are small but critical, and easily overlooked.

I was hoping for information from someone who had had a knee replacement or knew someone. What advice did they receive from their ortho. surgeon (OS).  I cannot recall experiencing any twisting on my knee in any singlehander (Laser, Moth, 300, Vortex, Contender, Supernova). Can't believe that my OS made it up however. He is a great guy.

Not that you would notice !  Racing even at club level and certainly above requires the helm to 'use' the  width advantage or lose out to at least any other Blaze that does use it as intended.  The wing system does weight something like 8-9kg in total and there is obviously additional windage... so you need to use it or lose out.    It is however pretty comfortable and as someone who has had an occasional nagging knee problem following a motorbike accident several decades ago I rate it better than any other singlehander I have owned/raced... might be different for other folks of course.