How Olympic Sailor Hans Henken Educated for the 2025 SailGP Season
Whether or not he’s crusing in a light-weight 49er dinghy on the Olympics or reaching excessive speeds in a formidable F50 catamaran in SailGP, Hans Henken enters every race with a physique, thoughts, and soul that’s attuned to the insane circumstances that he should climate on the water.
Not too long ago, the rugged athlete sat down on land with M&F to element his preparations for changing into considered one of Crew USA’s most distinguished sailors, and we quickly came upon that there’s just one time that he permits himself to change off from crusing.
Hans Henken was first launched to crusing by his mother who was a leisure fanatic however by no means competed. “Each my dad and mom had been hardworking and labored full time, and I’ve a brother and a sister, so it was additionally a sport wherein she may drop us all off on the similar time, and we may all do the very same sport, regardless of our age distinction, and be capable to choose us up on the finish of the day,” explains Henken. “I believe it was a double-edged factor. I believe it was simple for my dad and mom. After which, clearly, the affinity with water and the particular connection that it had with my mother. I believe that performed a very massive position in it as nicely.”
Later, Dad would encourage Hans to compete, and each he and his sister Paris have now reached the Olympic video games. Extremely, Paris really competed with Hans’ spouse, Helena (Scutt) on the 2016 Olympics, whereas Hans made his personal Olympic debut by taking Bronze in 2024. Nonetheless, each champion has to start out out by going through their fears. “I keep in mind being deathly afraid of being eaten by a shark,” shares Henken of his first reminiscence within the water at Dana Level, Southern California. “All I may take into consideration was falling within the water or flipping over and getting eaten by some massive shark. So, I used to be undoubtedly afraid. I got here in for that first session probably not having fun with crusing very a lot as a result of it was windy, it was moist, it was chilly, however afterward I actually form of grew to like the game from a aggressive perspective, and from the racing perspective. That’s the place my love for the game actually took off.
Hans Henken Believes in Thoughts Over Matter
With the hull weight of a SailGP F50 vessel weighing upwards of 5,000 kilos (2,332 kilograms), Henken used his time at Stanford College to finish a Bachelor’s Diploma and Grasp’s Diploma in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. The truth is, had he not been a profitable sailor, Henken says his subsequent selection was to be an astronaut. “So, lots of what I studied in college was to grasp the physics behind rockets, the physics behind airplanes, but it surely performs such a very massive position within the crusing world as nicely,” he explains. “I imply a sailboat, in lots of methods, has many similarities to an airplane in the way in which that the physics work with the wind over the sails… the identical approach which you could perceive how breeze flows over an airplane wing to generate elevate. There was lots of crossover that I may apply to my sailboat racing and having the ability to apply that and get a aggressive edge out of that has been an enormous side of my potential to extend my studying curve and form of get forward of the remainder of the group.
Hans Henken Construct Power and Agility With Pull Day Exercises
Idea is one factor, however being match for the water is basically one thing else. “Each kind of sailboat is totally different, so that you make the most of the whole physique, it doesn’t matter what boat you’re crusing” explains Henken. “For certain on the F50 you are feeling like a rag doll on the finish of the day as a result of the boat’s going so extremely quick.”
Certainly, F50 catamarans are among the many quickest vessels with ever growing prime speeds of greater than 55 knots, that’s 63 mph or 101 km/h. As a flight controller, Henken finds himself predominantly pulling. He goals for five health club classes per week along with different actions similar to boxing and coaching on the water. When the sailor can’t get aboard a ship he likes to surf or ski, maintaining himself agile. This elite athletes’ health club routine is focussed on energy constructing to help with these pulling motions which can be so important to his sport, and core stabilization is one other essential exercise. “We don’t usually do Olympic lifting due to damage prevention,” he says. “However we perform a little little bit of deadlifting, and we do some back and front squatting simply to maintain our weight on and to assist facilitate that muscle progress within the massive major muscle teams.” Henken shares that explosive energy is essential, so he works quite a bit with dumbbells, and strengthens his again with machines similar to lat pulldowns. “We do lots of pulling on machines, lots of pulling on rope.”
Henken Makes use of Gentle Primarily based Response Work to Be Exact
To hone his response instances, Henken works quite a bit with tennis balls, however has additionally been coaching on the Pink Bull facility in Santa Monica on mild based mostly response work. “We now have the sunshine fixtures that form of blink on and off, and random patterns that you simply’re capable of observe and cross,” he says. “Loads of what we do within the boat requires actually exact motion and actually exact response instances to totally different synapses and to totally different inputs. So, to have the ability to acknowledge one thing, transfer rapidly to it, and to regulate to it’s one thing that we’re making an attempt to copy as a lot as we will. We now have just a few totally different methods and some totally different methods that we arrange to have the ability to facilitate that. Day by day we’re making an attempt to discover new choices and get nearer and nearer to replicating the boat in actual time.”
Switching Off from the Sea
Henken readily admits that being a part of a crusing household signifies that they speak about little else, and he wouldn’t have it some other approach, however the one time that he understands the necessity to swap off from the ocean is following a race. “I believe that’s the toughest half,” he admits. “I believe there’s a lot adrenaline pumping. There’s so many feelings that run excessive. You come again to, more than likely, a resort room and you realize there’s an extended bathe, after which there’s a stretching routine. It’s whenever you’re off the clock that you must flip your thoughts off and attempt to simply let it settle. After having a superb sleep and clearing your thoughts, you’re then capable of form of have a look at issues with a brand new lens and be capable to be extra pragmatic with the choice making.”
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