MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ELITE U23 SAILORS-FINN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP, SPLIT 2015

The aim of this study is to determine morphological characteristics of U23 Finn sailors and to establish relations between their morphological characteristics and situational efficacy at the championship. Therefore, 18 elite U23 Finn sailors (mean age was 20.80±1.27) were measured in 16 morphological variables during the week before the Finn European Championship. It was established that U23 Finn sailors on average had: body height of 188.09±5.80 cm ; 92.07±5.66 kg of body mass with 13.01±4.02% of fat mass ; and body mass index of 26.06±1.76. Compared to Laser Standard sailors, U23 Finn sailors had higher values in all the aforementioned morphological characteristics. Independent samples T-test between two groups with different levels of situational efficacy (more successful group and less successful group of sailors) yielded statistically significant differences in two variables: body height and sitting height. Sailors from the more successful group were taller than sailors of the less successful group. Multivariate discriminate analysis yielded no statistically significant difference between these two groups. The results obtained indicate that morphological characteristics independently do not cause situational efficacy of U23 Finn sailors and that the reasons for success in Finn class could be partially attributed to better physical fitness of sailors. It is recommended to repeat the same measuring on a larger subject sample with additional monitoring of meteorological conditions in the sailing area.