By JULIE ASH
Spending day after day out on the Hauraki Gulf, it's no surprise that sailors have healthy appetites.
In a game where money is often no object, most syndicates opt to employ chefs to ensure their teams are eating the right foods without the hassle of cooking it themselves.
At Prada,
Adriano Berloni and Maurizio Sarigu are the men charged with making sure the team have enough energy to burn off their opposition.
Berloni, from Pordenone, a small city north-east of Venice, joined Prada in 1999 while Sardinian Sarigu has been with the team for two years.
Prada stay at the Heritage Hotel and their chefs work in the ballroom on the seventh floor, where they have their own kitchen and self-service area.
They cook all the meals for the team as well as dinner for their families.
"The crew follows a typical Mediterranean diet, which is naturally well-balanced and rich in carbohydrates, proteins and includes lots of fresh fruit and vegetables," said Berloni.
"Our athletic trainer, Vernon Neville, gives us guidelines for the crew menus; however, the whole team eats the same food - only in different quantities," he quipped.
"Our diet is very varied and caters for all tastes. We also have a Japanese chef who cooks for us a few days a week."
Prada eat breakfast and dinner in the ballroom and lunch at the base or on the boat. Lunch is prepared in the ballroom, carried in big coolers to the base and distributed in small lunchboxes.
A typical breakfast offers cereal, fresh fruit, smoothies with added protein supplements, fruit juice, milk, yoghurt, tea/coffee, eggs, ham, cheese, focaccia bread/toast/croissants/biscuits, jam/honey/chocolate spread.
For lunch it is a selection of pasta/rice, potatoes/cooked vegetables, sandwiches (ham, cheese, eggs, tuna, jam/nutella/peanut butter), parmesan cheese, fresh fruit, crostata (Italian cake with pastry base and jam on top)/muffins.
An afternoon snack may be a selection of protein (chicken breasts/lamb/hamburgers/steaks), yoghurt, fruit juice, dried fruit, hot soup, creamed rice and hot coffee.
Dinner, which is served every night between 7.30pm and 9.30pm, consists of a first course of pasta/rice/soup/pizza. The main course will be either meat or fish with a selection of cooked vegetables and salads and cheeses. Dessert is always ice-cream and, almost every day, cake and a selection of fruit.
Berloni says the team's diet doesn't change whether they are racing or not. "When the crew is not racing they have a long gym session before sailing, when they are racing they go to the gym at night. So the amount of calories burned on a training or racing day is very similar."
At Oracle BMW Racing, New Zealander Mark Reihana is responsible for ensuring his team's appetite is satisfied.
A typical day for Reihana starts at 6am. While one of his team of Harry Lynskey, Scott Foley and Hakim Farqhat poach or scramble 180 eggs, Reihana is busy packing lunches.
"The busiest period for the kitchen team is in the morning, when we have to make up the lunch boxes for the sailing team, tender and weather teams. But we have managed to work to a set format over the last couple of years and make sure that everyone receives the right amount of food," Reihana said.
Like Prada, Reihana has built a special menu for the sailing team, based around the type of fitness programme devised by trainers Bill Taylor and Stu Harrison.
With a daily order of 21 chickens, 20kg of potatoes, 10kg of onions, 36 litres of milk and about 30m of baguettes, not to mention the 6kg of peanut butter a week, 5kg of jelly and a 6kg bag of jet plane lollies - compiling a shopping list is a full time job for Reihana.
"No one's meant to know where I hide the chocolate bars and biscuits but they always seem to find them."
Contrast that with Sweden's Victory Challenge. They deemed a chef was not necessary for the campaign. The team at Victory Challenge are responsible for finding their own breakfast and dinner but the team hire a catering company to organise the lunches, mainly sandwiches, pasta and fruit.
"These guys are professional sailors so they know what to eat and what not to eat," said spokesman Bert Willborg.
"We are still a lean, mean sailing team."
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
By JULIE ASH
Spending day after day out on the Hauraki Gulf, it's no surprise that sailors have healthy appetites.
In a game where money is often no object, most syndicates opt to employ chefs to ensure their teams are eating the right foods without the hassle of cooking it themselves.
At Prada,
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