YACHTING - Ferris baby weighty issue for her sailors

DIETS often go out the window during the festive season, but the Northland yngling yachting crew now have a compelling reason to watch their waistlines: Skipper Sharon Ferris is pregnant with her first child.
Rather than being a threat to the crew's Beijing Olympic Games campaign, the main concern about the pregnancy is about the combined weight of the crew at the upcoming Yngling World Championships in Miami, Florida.
The "Team Inspiration" crew hope to win a medal to confirm their place on the New Zealand Olympic team.
They need to stay under the 205kg combined weight limit imposed on the teams in the yngling class.
Ferris said that was being "managed" by the other crew members over the break.
"I'm personally not expecting the weight thing to be an issue; I got as heavy as I possibly could before the worlds (last July in Portugal) because we were at a windy venue and we wanted the weight to be at the back of the boat ... so I've been transferring that fat to the baby and I've only put on two kilograms so far," she said.
Crewmates Raynor Smeal and Olivia Powrie would have to balance things and lose a kilo apiece before the world championships, which follow the Miami OCR regatta at the end of January, Ferris said.
The baby is due in May, allowing mother and child time plenty of time before the Olympics start in August.
"My husband I are so excited, I can't wait for 2008 to start, because we're so looking forward it," Ferris said.
"I want to qualify the team for the Olympics and then we have this precious precious parcel arrive in May ... and then go and do the damage in China, so it doesn't get much better than that in a year."
There will be some disruptions to the crew's preparation, naturally, but Ferris is determined to keep them to a minimum.
Rod Davis, YNZ's Olympic coaching director, said he had known about Ferris' pregnancy for a while and he had looked closely at the matter.
"We're aware of it and we're trying to get as many people as near to medal-winning potential as we can and Sharon's pregnancy shouldn't be a factor, looking at the timing of the whole thing in the campaign," he said.
"There will be a weight issue that the nutritionists have taken on ... It's going to be up to two of the crew to lose weight but it's a manageable thing if it's being addressed," he said.
Davis will be in Miami for the world championships and said he hoped to watch the crew earn a top five spot.
"A top-five spot would be a good start but I can't guarantee that that will be enough [for Olympic selection] ... the selectors as a group make that decision," he said.