Summary: This is the sixth in a series of videos describing the roles of crew members aboard the BMW ORACLE America's Cup Racing Yacht. In this episode, we learn about the "work horses" of the crew: the grinders. It's like working out on a gigantic exercise machine for 10 hours a day. Physically demanding, the grinders work in pairs, using a variety of winches to shape the sails in coordination with the trimmers. Sailing upwind, the loads are huge: about 4 tons on the headsail sheet and 5 to 6 tons on the mainsheet. During the pre-starts and tacking duels, the grinders work like demons to keep up with rapidly changing sail settings. "You need to remember to breathe," says veteran grinder Graig Monk. "If you keep your breathing rhythm right, you recover quicker." You can view the entire 22-minute BMW ORACLE Racing Crew video on Sail.TV. For updates and coverage of the 32nd America's Cup from Valencia, Spain, tune into Sail.TV. Be sure to subscribe to this free video podcast series and our other sailing podcasts at TheSailingChannel.TV.
