Australia is lucky enough to have many sailing greats, but none are bigger than Australia II's skipper.  This week one living legend interviews another as Double Olympic Champion Malcolm Page talks to John Bertrand AO about Etchells sailing, fitness and on shore training.  While Bertrand is a big supporter of sailing in Australia, he also supports another Olymnpic sport as the President of Swimming Australia.

MP: What fitness do you need for Etchells and what exercise do you do?
JB: Primarily it’s sailing fitness, it’s always best to go sailing.  You get all the little muscles from each wave or manoeuvre.  But to keep up to a level which is acceptable for Etchells, I train 3x times per week with a group of friends.  This includes an ex Footscray footballer, so there is no slacking off.  Within the current times this has moved over to Zoom/online and we are having just as much fun and keep trying to inspire each other to higher heights.

MP: What is your favourite drill in the Etchells? Do you have any on land drills?
JB: On land, I find it important to use this time to talk about expectations and what will happen on the water.

On water, doing too much of the one drill can get boring.  So fundamentally our day consists of Straight Lining as this is a great way to warm up and remember the ropes.  Then get into the manoeuvres around some buoys and work on that higher heart rate work.

I must say, Etchells sailing is amateur to current Olympic Sailing.  But the beautiful thing of the class is we have a lot of sailors whom use to do Olympics, so the level and ability within the fleet is very high and makes for great battles and competition… It’s just that we all don’t sail as often as Olympic programs.

MP: What is your top tip for Etchells Sailing?
JB: Balance, balance, it’s all about balance.  Jib is the accelerator and mainsail is your rudder.  Make sure your helm is neutral (or very close) and get a good neutral average helm through the waves. Remember use your sails to make the boat go forward and for steering!