It’s GTS, Baby

Spring Training takes place once a year in the US. Baseball players gather with their teammates and have a couples catches. They swing a few bats and have a few games. During training, they prep while sparing themselves from overexertion, keeping their batteries charged and muscles unstrained for Opening Day.

Our sailors have no such luxury.

Taking it easy when training is not an option—unless, let’s say, you want to be stranded in the middle of the Atlantic. For the PUMA Ocean Racing team, the boys follow a strict GTS regimen: gym, training, sailing. Rather than a few dinghy races in the harbor, their summer training consists of the Transatlantic Race: the most extreme of all pond-hops, spanning from Newport, RI to Plymouth, England. Once the team has completed the Transat they will head to Lanzarote for training until the end of September.

The boys recently travelled from their respective motherlands to Newport for the start of their “quality time” together. Once again, the PUMA Ocean Racing team is under the leadership of Read (Newport, Rhode Island, United States). The core includes: Tom Addis, Navigator (Sydney, Australia); Ryan Godfrey, Trimmer & Driver (Adelaide, Australia); Kelvin Harrap, Trimmer & Driver (Napier, New Zealand); Brad Jackson, Design Coordinator & Watch Captain (Auckland, New Zealand); Rome Kirby, Trimmer & Driver (Newport, Rhode Island, USA); Michael “Michi” Müller, Bowman (Kiel, Germany); Tony Mutter, Aerodynamics Coordinator & Watch Captain (Auckland, New Zealand); Casey Smith, Systems Manager & Bowman (Brisbane, Australia); Jonathan “Jono” Swain, Helmsman & Trimmer (Durban, South Africa); Arden Oksanen, Media Crew Member (Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA); Kimo Worthington, General Manager (Venice, California, United States); and Tim Hacket, Shore Team Manager (Sydney, Australia).

But make no mistake, these guys are still up for fun (they recently took up on board “planking”), and have every intention of squeezing in some laughs along the way. We think this race is just the start of more extreme sailing antics to come. Stay tuned.