Is there an answer to my question?
How does one stop the backs of ones thighs from getting crushed and sore from leaning out?
Having been to Hayling for the weekend and done far to many races!!! my legs today are sore from all the hanging over the side.
What is the answer?
With all you hot shot crews, you must know the answer or are you are all super macho??
With salcombe looming and the Bag acalling should I call in the masseur  now?

I was wearing the Rooster Pro hikers (without optional pads) my thighs are fine and I was hiking all Sunday!

If you were wearing shorts, that's your answer. I wear a full length race skin.

Nop,
Was wearing wetsuit on Saturday and race skins on Sunday. Thanks for some answers.

I've found a decent neoprene wetsuit offers better padding then a rooster race skin.  Try adjusting your Toe strap length to acheive equal pressure on joints and leg muscles to aid a comfortable flat upper body hike-this spreads the loads to more muscle groups.

Theres also several stretches you can do before and after a heavy wind sail, I also find jogging around the boat park warms down and stretches out the hamstrings and calfs really well.

Just a couple of ideas, hope this helps.

Last year, really for my Laser (which I sold) I got some standard rooster hikers (the link below works getting to the product).

I don't know why I didn't get something like that years ago - they are great at increaing comfort and the amount you can hike. If it is a bit chilly I wear a race skin under.

I vote for the Rooster hikers. Going without the extra pads is a good idea.I find they hold your legs a bit rigid and the flex transfers to your back with painful results (but then I am approaching 50). We stretch after every other exercise, so why don't sailors do so? It would make such a difference to the post sail aches. 
I found post Hayling that a brisk walk to and from the Indian helped and I'm fine this morning. 
I think Olly is onto something and we all need to join him in his jog round the dinghy park!
Celia C

Looks like the hiking Shorts are similar to a shorty wet suit - surely not good on hot summer days? Please beg to differ?? Cheers Student Bum??

hiking shorts come beneet the knees Guy, shorties stop above. Means you don't rub the back of your knees red raw.

I generally wear a long wetsuit, that seems to do the trick although hikers are a bit cooler and harder wearing i think.

No Pain no gain, and you get 5days to recover before the next weekend :)

I cannot contemplate the hikers ever since my wife labelled them as "gut bras", although this was when the first types appeared in the Phantom class. It was not a pretty sight.

Non of the skin hugging sailing kit is exactly flattering to all but a very few exclusively female sailors is it!

Thanks.
Maybe I will try and get my helm to hang out more instead. It's only fair!!

What is sore - do the muscles ache, or did you make the skin itself sore from sliding around the sidedeck?

DEFINATELY stretch before AND after sailing. Only when you've done it once to prove me wrong, will you realise what a massive difference it can make. You need to do each leg muscle for at least 20 seconds if not more.

Uhmmm not according to recent research
"Conclusions: Stretching before or after exercising does not confer protection from muscle soreness. Stretching before exercising does not seem to confer a practically useful reduction in the risk of injury, but the generality of this finding needs testing. "

It doesn't tie in to my personal experience - when I did Yoga every day (for those that don't know, Yoga is about 75% stretching, 25% balance) I never ever got stiff muscles after sailing of going to the gym.

Well done Alan, you got in there before me, I had read this one in the BMJ.  I think the practical answer is that SOME stretching beforehand is helpful if you do a sport like sailing where there is not that much of a warm-up on the court or pitch beforehand but the elaborate and lengthy warm-up warm-down routines that were being tested in this study didn't really seem to make a big difference.  The conclusions were pretty firm about the uselessness of stretching after exercise but more cautious about pre-exercise stretching.

Of course you can always just shorten the toe-straps and perch!

On open water sailing I find the issue is that you spend a while in a fairly fixed position while jilling about waiting for the start and it then takes a bit of time to get mind and body into action for the 1st beat.  Jogging in the dinghy park isn't going to help this one and it's hard to do stretches in the boat.

Is it the skin that is raw or the muscles that ache?
If its the muscles then practice and correctly adusted toe straps are the answer.
To prevent the raw skin I have found that a Race Skin with a pair of over trousers works, the friction of moving happens between Race Skin and trousers rather than my skin and the wet suit/race skin.

I know for sure, what ever I do, as I get older it hurts more and takes longer to recover! Hats off to our older talented sailors that remain right up there on the results list. But isn't that the strength of our class. Respect!

Personally my thighs don't get sore, but its the top of the feet around the ankle joints which gets painful from hiking a merlin.

Given my aching knees and chaffed legs I'm thinking that maybe we are missing something here.  Clearly there must be a duty of care on the part of the Sailing Club - HISC in this instance.  Perhaps they have failed to exercise this duty correctly setting courses that are too long and racing in too much wind so that we HAVE to strain our bodies - to preserve our "health and safety" which would be affected by falling in the water.

In that case maybe we can launch a class action and sue them?  Nothing too exorbitant you understand - just enough to defray the entrance fee.  Perhaps a return of �26 taking HISC to something comparable to Hampton - where I guess crews dont have this problem as it is impossible to sit out for any length of time and thus inflict these sorts of injuries?

I am surprised at the medical papers quoted above (by Alan and Andrew). I have found time and again that lots of stretching means I can laugh at everyone else who moans the day (or second day) after hard exercise! Whether it's gardening, running, or sailing....it works for me!

Sadly I can also confirm that standing on one leg, to stretch your quads, is very difficult before the preparatory gun - even on flat water.

I believe a point of view expressed by more and more sports coaches is the idea of warming up by gradually increasing the intensity of the excercise you are about to take part in. This warms up and stretches the relevant areas. 
Perhaps we could compile a list of reccomended pre sail routines for the boat park, maybe an RYA instructional video opportunity? Merlin sailors in hikers and leg warmers?
I'm also told it is possible to 'overstretch' before excercise, rendering the muscles less able to cope initially. 

Warm downs would presumably be similar to warm ups, and not to overlook the importance of being properly hydrated before any excercise. 
Sadly, alcohol does not promote better hydration, pre or apres sail.

Another recently-discovered 'warm down' is to leap into a tank of freezing cold water. Really! It's been proved to stop the aching...although I don't fancy trying it.

Therefore, jumping into the sea when landing after a race is good for your muscles. Just gotta get the wetsuit off as you approach the beach.