When Nikola Girke and Luke Ramsay travel, it can be like a rock band on tour.

Unlike track and field athletes, Olympic sailors need more than a pair of spikes. Competition often means boats and a truckload of other gear have to be transported great distances.

A sample of their itinerary in advance of the Rio Games had them in Florida with two of their Nacra 17 class boats. A trailer, packed with a team car and other gear, hauled the two boats by road to Vancouver where the Olympic boat was readied.

A friend's father then drove that boat to Toronto, where it was packed in a container and shipped to Rio.

"For the most part, it's a logistical nightmare," said Girke, a 38-year-old from West Vancouver who is competing in her fourth Olympics. "We've had a lot of regattas in Europe. This year we chartered a boat, but in the previous years you had to have a boat there and then a car and a trailer and you drive it around from competition to competition."

Several boats are needed so one can be shipped, say to Rio, for a regatta, while another is in North America to allow for training.

Finances also have to be juggled, given each boat costs around $34,000.

"Absolutely, it's been more difficult," said Girke, which is pronounced GER-kee. "We've had no support from Sail Canada financially. So that basically means Luke and I take on the whole burden of the campaign. And being the Nacra class that we are in, it's one of the most expensive boats. So it's been really quite expensive."

The costs mount. They ordered two Maple Leaf Olympic spinnakers at $2,900 apiece only to get sails that were more orange than red. They had to send them back.

Dannie Boyd, a 26-year-old from Kingston, Ont., and Erin Rafuse, a 27-year-old from Halifax, are racing in the 49er FX class, which like the Nacra 17 is making its Olympic debut.

They got their Rio boat in March. Dubbed Maple, it cost $35,000 and was shipped to Brazil in May. They also have boats in Canada and Europe -- the Canadian one is named Toonie with a toonie glued to the foredeck -- although they were looking to sell the British-based one.

"There's been ups and downs," Boyd said of the fundraising.

Boyd and Rafuse, along with coach Mark Asquith, have done a lot of their training in Europe.

The Canadian Sport Centre Atlantic has been very supportive, as have sponsors like local businessman Chris McGaffin. Not to mention their parents and their hometowns of Halifax and Kingston.

They are also carded athletes, which means they get funding from the federal government.

But support can be hard to find. In today's 'what have you done for me lately' Olympic funding model, money is linked to medals.

Canada has won three silver and six bronze medals in Olympic sailing, but none since 2004. Own the Podium funding for both Olympic and Paralympic sailing in the Rio quadrennial was $640,000, down from $2.877 million in the four years leading to the London Games.

Olympic sailing is not a level playing field.

"I'd say probably most teams get more support than us," said Girke. "There's many countries that are fully funded. They basically get their itineraries handed to them and they don't ever have to worry about coaches or paying for coaches or paying for their flights."

There's more than a touch of MacGyver to the other Canadian Olympic sailors in how they make it all work.

"It's something you get used to," Girke said. "And I guess as much as you can complain about it, you can look at the positives as well ... You come out with a business degree from doing this, because you have to do it all yourself. No one is going to do it for you.

"So you figure it out along the way. I think it sets up for life after sport much better than if it was kind of served to us on a silver platter."

Still, it means that what little time off they have is essentially spent keeping everything on the rails.

In the Olympic buildup, they had two boats in Rio -- their Games boat, which only arrived in June, and a backup.

They chartered boats for regattas in Europe, which saves money but it is a gamble because different boats have different setups.

Girke and Ramsay, who were 15th at the world championships in February and sixth in June at the last World Cup race before Rio, get donations from Wind Athletes Canada, a registered amateur athletic association that has the same status as a charity. Donors can give to specific crews or campaigns.

But Girke and Ramsay get the bulk of their help elsewhere.

"Most of our support comes from the people we know and the connections we have, the relationships we build with people over time," Girke said.

They do have sponsors but most of that is in the form of product although they get some cash that helps with plane ticket and other expenses.

Girke hopes they will emerge from the Games without being in the red. Support from the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club has helped.

Coach Ian Andrews has also been a key member of their team.

Girke made her Olympic debut in 2004 in Athens in the 470 class before switching to windsurfing for Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. She was 10th four years ago.

Ramsay, a 28-year-old from Vancouver, was 25th in the 470 class in London.

The Nacra 17 boat weighs just 130 kilograms and is the fastest in the Olympic fleet. Learning to race it is "like taming a beast," according to Girke. Racing one is an adrenalin rush that can come with a cost.

"This boat has many things that can hurt you," said Girke, who has mangled fingers and has suffered cuts.

Canada is sending a nine-person sailing team to compete in six events: men's Laser, women's Laser Radial, men's Finn, men's 470, women's 49er FX and mixed Nacra 17.

Girke believes anything can happen in her class in Rio, with anyone in the top 10 having a podium chance.

Boyd says the same for her class, which has seen a variety of world champions.