The Extremes of Sailing and Blood Sugar Levels At The 2015 Series

It was shaping up to be a beautiful day today, so after I finished work this morning, my Dad and I decided to make our way to Cardiff Bay to have a walk around and enjoy the sunny weather. When we arrived, we realised that the Extreme Sailing Series was on, as the Cardiff leg was being held at the bay. So luckily we got to enjoy the weather and the sailing competition. My Dad and I both share the interest of amateur photography, so we decided to name our outing Camera Club (the first in what we hope will be a series of photographical adventures) and take our cameras along to the event too, to see what we could capture.

This is the fourth time that the Extreme Sailing Series has returned to Cardiff, but the first time that I've had the chance to enjoy it. The aim of the event is apparently to make sailing more interesting for spectators, and I have to say that it definitely did that! The commentary on the day was excellent, and perfectly explained not only what was going on. But a bit of a background about the teams and their countries of origin, we even got the opportunity to watch an Olympian sail! I was absolutely captivated by the speed at which the boats moved and how gracefully they manouvered the tiny turns in the bay.

The particular race we were watching had about 8 participating countries all completing a 30 circuit race, using '40-boats'. Which I learnt from the commentary means that the boats measured 40ft in length, with a 19ft mast weighing in at about the same weight as a Mini Cooper - 1400kg. This size boat is fast and apparently easy to transport from country to country, helping the teams travel to the next destination in the series. There were competitors from all over the world who were represented at the Extreme Sailing Series in Cardiff, from Russia and the UAE to Norway and Great Britain. But the windy conditions in the bay presented the same tricky challenge to them all.

After taking in the sailing we made our way across the Cardiff Bay barrage to the Penarth side area. It was a sunny day, but not a boiling hot day. So I was really surprised when I started having a hypo, typically,  at the furthest point away from where we were parked. I treated the hypo which was 3.4mmol with fast acting sugars straight away and for the first time in 7 years, I suspended my insulin pump. This was to enable me to walk about safely to the nearest shop, where I could buy a sugary drink and a carbohydrate based snack to ensure I didn't have another hypo. When I got home I mentioned it on Twitter- that the weather seemed to be causing an unusual amount of hypos. Apparently I wasn't alone in this, some of my fellow tweeters had experienced the same thing of late. So I'll be keeping a very close eye on my blood glucose levels, especially whilst the warm weather is here to stay, as it hasn't been plain sailing of late!