tophatyachts.com

Hi all
Started sailing a few years ago but just purchased my Tophat last year would consider myself an a novice but my plan in retirement (6to7years away) is to go cruising as far afield as possible .This is where my thoughts have taken me how old can you be to go into the great void of ocean cursing .

Here's a great topic for you Greg ? Retired etc .

Cheers Bear

My old mate Jack Earl, blue water sailed well into his 70s and provided you keep reasonably fit I can not see why it would not be possible to sail even longer (look at old Sid Fisher still doing the Sydney Hobart at 84 yrs old). Ending up on the bottom of the sea would be a better way to end your days than in a nursing home anyway. "Do not go quietly into the night, but rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Too right, 'do not go gentle'! There's also a great poem by Roger McGough (Liverpool beat poet) 'Let me die a young man's death' about getting mowed down in his barber's chair by a rival jealous of his moll, at 103, or something like that.

I bought Stardust from John Marsh of Williamstown. He was 87 at the time & for the test sail came down to the marina in his electric cart, got ferried out to the mooring & hunkered into his helming spot from which every single rope & instrument on the boat was accessible. He'd bought the boat when he retired, in Botany Bay and did a lot of blue ocean stuff out of there. Stardust was permanently on second reef when I got her but he was regularly out - & there are dozens of sailors here who have sailed with him over time.

So although he was set up as a solo sailor (& Stardust is really easy to sail singlehanded) part of the trick is to have plenty of 'tars'.

Good luck, 'just start' & go for it!

Sean

Excellent question, and one that will elicit a number of excellent responses.

Chichester was 71 when he died, quite some years after he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Apart from his solo circumnavigation in an ill-equipped vessel, he also In 1970, attempted to sail 4,000 miles in 20 days, in Gipsy Moth V, but failed by one day.

My Father in Law, who is now 83 and gravely ill with prostate cancer was surfing on a surf ski until he turned 80. He only gave it up, because he had trouble carrying the thing across the beach....

Providing you have an easy boat to handle, there is no reason to think you couldn't just sail until you karked it....

I sail with Jim Orrell who is 71 years old and has bad arthritis.
The deal is he steers and pays the bills and I do all the grunt work.
There is an arrangement for everyone. Just do it.
There is a Cherub sailer here at Belmont 16s who is 70 plus, they back the boat up to the concrete wall and he steps on. He steers.

If you think you are too old, then you ARE too old. I sailed a Laser last year and this year, I'm 58 Its the first time I've raced dinghys. Like any problem, find the problem and find a way around it. You're only too old when you're in the box.

50 is the new 40, etc.

I want to die quietly in my sleep like my grandfather, not yelling and screaming like the other people in his car!

You young blokes are making me feel old!

Well I hope to do as well as Jack Earl, Sid Fisher, Jim Orrell and John Marsh, but a hell of a lot better than Chichester!

Don’t think that you cannot do it out there, just plan and go for it. I did the Whitsundays in 2011 and I am planning to go to Tasmania next year.

I went for a scuba dive [been diving since I was 12] today off Forster, great viz, warm water and plenty of fish. Oh, and I brought a new wet suit today as the old one had shrunk, well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Saw one yacht [about Top Hat size] go pass today heading north and he was fair flying along. He was well inshore of course as there is a bit of southerly current out wide at the moment. Seas were flat with about a 1.5m swell. Beautiful. May catch up with him at Laurieton on Sunday when I go down to Seaka if he's still there.

Greg, you got it wrong, 60 is the new 40!

I suppose I had better fuss up, I’ll be 66 this year.


Phillip.

You guys really are a great cheer squad !!
I have never thought old and at 60 I still feel 35 but it's just others that get into my head when they ask "what are you going to do when you retire " when I tell them I have a dream to sail around the world ,have a picture taken with me at the helm of my own yacht with Cape Horn in the background
I get that look and a comment of but you'll be nearly 70 .But I always thought if you don't have a dream in your heart your already dead it's that just still breathing .
Thanks for all your moral support and in the words of the ancient prophets "bugger them all "

Cheers

The way I see it is few of us have a chance to become the youngest person to circumnavigate, but while breathing we've all still got a chance of becoming the oldest!

Hmmmm, should probbly have added my 'Hi I'm a new member' post first. I'lll get onto iut in a couple of days.

Cheers,

Robert Menzies used to put his head on the pillow each night and say, "To hell with the lot of them!" before nodding off for a restful sleep. I was no fan of his politics but you have to admire his ability to put things in perspective. I also liked the way he described himself as "the last of the amateurs". Bob Brown is probably the only one of the current crop that could be described in this way. So the bottom line is, who cares what other people think as long as you are doing what you love you should ignore them and keep the dream alive.