Media Releases

Sailors benefit from "appliance of science"

Twenty sailors at this year’s Skandia Cowes Week (Isle of Wight, 30 July – 6 August) will have a distinct advantage over the other 8,000 competitors in the form of a scientifically formulated energy drink.

Called Skandia Cowes Juice, the drink has been created by the University of Aberdeen. Unlike off-the-shelf energy drinks, Skandia Cowes Juice has been specifically formulated to maximise brain, as well as muscle, performance.

“We looked at several existing sailing studies and calculated the approximate carbohydrate utilisation in each,” says Dr Derek Ball, who was a lecturer at the University’s School of Medical Sciences when he led the research.

“We then formulated a drink that would match the energy demands made during simulated sailing and examined the effect on two markers of cognitive function: reaction time and propensity not to make errors. The results showed that, over a three hour period, the reaction time improved and the average number of errors decreased among those who consumed our formula. This was not the case for those who consumed a placebo drink.”

Racing in the crowded waters around Cowes is challenging for any crew and during Skandia Cowes Week up to 1,000 boats compete in up to 40 different classes. Add to this around 1,000 other boats out on the water to spectate and it’s plain to see why crews need to have their wits about them.

Twenty sailors from the five boats that make up the Skandia Squad will be given Skandia Cowes Juice every day of racing. For maximum effect, the sailors will need to drink half a litre of the energy drink per hour of each race.

“We give our customers a performance edge in long term savings and we want to give our sailors a performance edge at Skandia Cowes Week,” says Skandia’s Jo Rimmer. “This spurred us to ask the University of Aberdeen to create a drink that would help the Squad crews cope with the eight days of racing. It will be interesting to see if it does the trick.”

For all the latest news on this year’s Skandia Cowes week, log on and bookmark: www.skandiacowesweek.co.uk

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

For further information or to arrange an interview with Dr Derek Ball, contact Jo Rimmer on 023 8091 6597 (email jo.rimmer@skandia.co.uk) or Alex Jones on 203 8072 9516 (email alex.jones@skandia.co.uk). A photograph of Olympic sailor, Steve Mitchell, sampling the drink is available by visiting the Media Centre at www.skandia.co.uk

NB: Dr Derek Ball is now based in the South of England, not Aberdeen.

Skandia Cowes Week Press Officer - Peta Stuart-Hunt on 01590 679621/07711 477707 (email peta.stuart-hunt@skandiacowesweek.co.uk)

About the Skandia Squad:

The Skandia Squad comprises five crews who will sail in the Sonar class. Each crew represents one of five different regions of the UK: South, Midlands, West, East and North. The crews were selected following a nationwide competition to find people who would like to race at Skandia Cowes Week but either do not have the resources or experience to do so.

Each Skandia Squad crew comprises four people: three competition winners and one qualified instructor from the United Kingdom Sailing Academy (UKSA). The UKSA is supplying the boats and the accommodation for all the crews for the entire week of racing.

About Skandia:

Skandia in the UK launched in 1979 and is now one of the UK’s leading financial services groups providing pensions, investment and protection products through intermediaries in the UK and overseas. Creators of the multimanager approach, Skandia has teamed up with the world’s top fund managers to create a range of funds tailored for investors’ individual needs.

Parent company, Skandia Insurance Company Limited, is one of Europe’s oldest insurance companies. It has developed and evolved constantly over the years to reach its present position as one of the world's leading long-term saving companies with operations in over 20 countries and assets under management exceeding £56 billion (as at 31.12.04). For more information on Skandia Insurance Company Limited visit www.skandia.com

For more information on Skandia in the UK visit www.skandia.co.uk

Issued by Skandia Life Assurance Company Limited. Registered Number: 1363932 England.
Registered Office: Skandia House, Portland Terrace, Southampton, SO14 7EJ
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Issued by the Communications Team, Office of External Affairs, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen. Tel: (01224) 272014.

Issued on: Tuesday 26th of July 2005

Ref: 1749skandia
Contact: Jennifer Phillips

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