About Emma

LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT ….. WAVES ARE FOR SURFING.
It was recently said to me: “so you are one of eleven girls out of the world population to have attempted a non stop around the world record attempt in a sail boat.”
That is 1 in 3/4 of a billion!!

Emma Westmacott is the strength behind Biospheric Performance.

She is a professional athlete who has excelled at the cutting edge of sport, individually and in team situations, in the national and international arena, both as a competitor and coach.

She has experienced first hand what it takes to compete at a high level. The challenges facing teams and individuals to pull through in order to achieve, using determination, drive, passion, planning and efficient training regimes, working from a solid base of good posture through to sports-specific training to improve performance and avoid injury.

She is aware of the importance of mental strength and how this differs between individuals and has worked to bring out the best in everyone to make a stronger winning solution. Her experiences in racing high-performance yachts has given her access to understanding what makes a successful individual.

She has an all around approach to her training as a Coach, with qualifications in many areas in order to accelerate her clients from all angles to succeed in their dreams.

Addressing psychology as an NLP master practitioner (2011) – these techniques have developed and are used widely by many working in the sports field to facilitate individuals to reach their full potential.
Approaching fitness by systematically working from the basis of good posture using specialist knowledge as a Biomechanics Coach (2013) – assessing individuals in order to find movement restrictions.
Working on stabilising posture – through qualifications in Pilates Instruction (2002)
Strengthening as a qualified Personal Trainer (1998), so looking at every angle to get the best success in a rigorous programming regime.
Attended many additional courses in coaching, personality profiling, leadership and furthering education
Worked as a facilitator in management/ leadership and change programs

Emma has come from a competitive sports background, where she has mostly had a position of responsibility and leadership on various round the world racing campaigns as well as captaining many other sports teams:

England and Australia Territorial Lacrosse Teams spanning a 12 year period
International Yacht Racing circuit
- 4 x Around the World Races (Volvo/ Whitbread), including one non-stop record (Jules Verne Challenge) attempt (1998 – 2005)
- Tour of Arabia with Oman Sail mentoring 4 local Omani women, working alongside other notable female sailors (2012)
- Regular racing to the present day on a Maxi Yacht in the Mediterranean and Caribbean
Sprint Triathlon Series’ in Australia
Open Water Swim events
Sportif Bike events since 2004, the average challenge was 100mile – the pinnacle of success was Etap du Tour covering 200km with 5 mountains and the Cape Argos in Cape Town.

Crew works showing the single female crew member — Soinnaker trimmer

The Sailing achievements were in an era of limited female participation at this level, the achievements, commended by fellow male sailors, have pioneered the way forwards for women today. The non-stop record attempt at the Jules Verne 1998, onboard the 90′ maxi catamaran “Royal and SunAlliance” with Tracy Edwards – had never been done before and never been attempted since – in fact, not many men have attempted this record.

Aside from competition, Emma has had an interesting and full working life. She was born and grew up in Hertfordshire, went to art college in Cambridge and travelled overseas to Australia, aged 19. She was one of the first female Captains back in 1990 to hold a position in the Professional Yacht circuit, travelling through the Caribbean, Mediterranean, USA and Central America in her 20’s. In 1998 she emigrated to Australia where she started to work as a Personal Trainer but returned back to the UK in 2003, over the years she has grown in experience and knowledge. She moved to the South Coast and set up Biospheric Performance, aiming to cover all angles of health and fitness with the qualifications laid out on this website, merging this in with her professional sailing commitments.

This constant attachment to sport and training works two ways

Keeping the coaching skills current and fitness up to date.
Working in the industry, with athletes as well as high net worth individuals, keeps Emma up to date with research, changes and developments.
This helps increase the competitive edge for performance and keeps a continuation in transferring the lessons learnt through mentoring others.
She is constantly looking to improve her knowledge and ways to achieve results, which adds more strings to the bow in developing all-around performance preparation.

Her commitment to sport has led her to be a member of various committees, most notable is the Racing Committee for the Royal Yachting Association – the National Body of Sailing for the UK.

Her Qualifications include:

Qualified Personal Trainer (1998) in Australia to understand the anatomy and ways to get people fitter.
Pilates instructor (2002) to understand the core better and to stabilize the joints and avoid injury, have done various specialist workshops.
Biomechanics Coach (2013) to get a greater understanding of body function and be proactive to performance training and injury prevention
NLP Master Practitioner (2009-2011), helps improve the understanding of the mental approach and importance of mind and see what stops us from doing things; this is used for personal development plus to help improve the teamwork in high performance sports teams and individuals
Coaching Skills Course 2012, London
Writer for Fitness section in Yachts and Yachting Magazine, plus Local Newspaper articles on fitness and lifestyle.

Our achievements and experiences give us our credibility to give advice, coach and mentor people.

The stories from sailing reflect the need for teamwork, leadership, commitment and determination. Racing around the world in some of the toughest conditions and oceans, facing challenges of steering gear failure, halyard breaks, electrical issues, mechanical problems, the need for a vigilant eye out to avoid floating obstacles of wildlife and debris, surviving 70 knots gales around cape Horn and huge 90′ waves off Cape of Good Hope, experiencing the loss of a couple of masts – all add to triumph of some great results.

WHAT MOTIVATES EMMA:

She has always pushed herself beyond what she thought she could do and is inspired when being part of a team and achieving as a group, encouraging others to do more than they thought they could is one of her strengths as a Coach.