I hate this thing.

[US 1214]

Went to the club a few days ago, except there was no wind. None. Coach had us rig all the 420s “in case the wind picked up”. It’s a 1/4 mile walk to the docks, so the coach said he’d have a “suprize” for us back at the clubhouse when we returned. This was the “suprize”:

It’s apparently a hiking bench... that you sit on and pretend to hike... as flat and out as you can... for as long as your alive . How useful are these things? Or are they just painful?

After our “suprize” we got to walk back and derig the boats .

 

[LaLi]

How useful are these things? Or are they just painful?

I have the Laser model: Dinghy hiking exercise bench

They are quite useful as a part of a good physical training program for sailing a hiking boat. It's tougher to hike on these than on a boat, because there is nothing else to do, and a solid floor is much less forgiving than wind and water... Real-life hiking on a Laser feels noticeably easier, and on a Lightning even more so.

If you're training for a 420, 470 or similar, you'd spend your time and effort better by concentrating on upper-body strength, though.

 

[DanDepew]

There's a great article about hiking benches here:
Improper Course: Search results for hiking bench

Upper-body strength is important but a bulky chest and arms are useless if your legs are shaking and you're exhausted after a minute of straight-legged hiking. Every inch of weight off the boat increases leverage and speed.

Spend 10min a day on that ugly thing, keeping your butt of the ground, and you'll be driving over everyone off the starting line.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Straight-legged hiking is the only way to go... but that bench still looks like a medieval torture device, LOL. Somehow it reminds me of a climbing gym: useful to a degree, but no substitute for the real thing. And what's small craft sailing without a little muscular burn now and then... I think back to the good ol' days when I sailed all the time, and in those days I was bulletproof as far as fitness goes. Nowadays, not so much, but I'll chalk it up to old age... not the man at double-nickel that I was in my 20s or 30s, but WTF, even at double-nickel I still got a frontside grinder at the local skatepark, LOL. I also picked up a nasty hipper (stiff for a week) and slammed my shoulder on the concrete (that one lasted about a month). After reliving some of my youth (including the painful parts), I gave the costly & specially-ordered fat poolriding stick to a local kid before I broke my friggin' neck, 10-4? Kid was stoked, and I DID get to relive some of my youth, though the maneuvers weren't quite as stylish as they were in the old days. Meh, some old goats waste money on Viagra & Grecian Formula... moi, I bought a skateboard, LOL.

I DO STILL RIDE MY ADULT BMX BIKE AT THE SKATEPARK, JUST CARVING THE BOWLS AT SPEED... AT MY AGE I'D PROBABLY SKIP THE HIKING BENCH/MEDIEVAL TORTURE DEVICE AND SIMPLY GO SAILING.

Edit: In a way, I still miss those days of hardcore Laser sailing, hiking out all day while thrashing hard, only to hobble around like an old man later because I was so stiff and sore, LOL. Meh, nothing a few beers, a meal, a hot bath or shower and a good night's rest couldn't cure. Now I get to hobble around without enduring the punishment, AYE??? What a deal...

Edit #2: That shaking you mention in the previous post (which I liked, BTW) is not limited to sailing... in the vertical world of technical rock climbing, it's called "sewing machine leg" for a reason, and it'll eventually knock a climber off thin edges and whatnot. Seems to happen more frequently with bent-legged hiking aboard a boat... straight-legged hiking is definitely better.