Vesna Zailac, Marketing Assistant

Due to compete in 2013 Extreme Sailing Series, Red Bull Youth Americas Cup and World Match Racing Tour (WMRT), team FMJRACING comprises a group of dedicated and passionate sailors set to make a name for themselves in the world sailing arena.

FMJRACING comprises William Tiller, Brad Farrand, Harry Thurston, Stewart Dodson, Shaun Mason, Ash Hammond and Matthew Steven. The majority of the team are graduates of the Royal New Zealand Youth Training Programme. After spending years competing against each other, this driven group of elite athletes began training together in 2010 set to take on the world.

Making waves

After two years on the international sailing circuit, the seven-man squad is currently ranked number five in the ISAF World Match Race Rankings; they are the number one team in New Zealand and the youngest team inside the top 20 worldwide. And now, I am proud to announce that they are also our newest USANA Sponsored Athlete Team!

FMJRACING have a hairy moment as their bows go down in a manoeuvre on San Francisco Bay

2013 is already proving to be a very exciting time for this young team whose age ranges span 19-24 years. They have already qualified for one of the most prestigious events on the sailing calendar – the Youth Americas Cup – which will be held in San Francisco during the first week of September. And, they will be powered by USANA the whole way!

But the next event on the agenda is the Extreme Sailing Series, an adrenaline-fuelled world circuit.  The next event is to be staged in Porto, Portugal and the boys will be in action from the 25th of July.

Catching up

I caught up with Matthew Steven recently to see how the team is preparing for the momentous events ahead of them this year.

‘We tend to take part in around 15 events per year and in every way, our training and competing is helping us to get closer to our ultimate goal – to win the Youth America’s Cup. We all feel that winning this will open up the pathway to an even greater sailing future,’ says Mathew.

So what supplements do the team take? ‘We take a range of USANA nutritionals including daily Essentials. But for me, Rev3 Energy Surge (sachets) make a real difference. Just yesterday, I had a really good training session; I took one before training to give me an energy burst and one afterwards. And I really felt the difference – it definitely picked me up.’

The team also take SoyaMax and Dutch Chocolate Nutrimeal especially after a hard workout to help build lean muscle.

Healthy eating

As far as the rest of their diet is concerned, the boys’ go for healthy options like sushi and fish with low GI carbohydrates for sustained energy tend to be on the menu. ‘We’re pretty careful with what we eat,’ says Matthew.

Working part time for a company that makes sails for boats. Matthew says, ‘The team only exists because we have sponsors like USANA!’

Good luck at the extreme sailing series which is coming up later in July!

Shaun, Matt, Will, Harry, Ash and Stewart.

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