How old is too old to go sailing

[Gramps]

Age is a figment of the mind. If you start thinking about it then you are already too far gone!

Since others have been fessing up their age, I will let on that I am supposed to be 78.5 but I reckon that they got the date wrong on my birth certificate - and my driving license - both bureaucratic bungles!
I have had quite a few boats over time (whatever that word means) so I have got a lot of experience sailing different types and sizes. The reason I had so many was that some were wrecked in the sea of matrimony and I had to sell up and start again.
The Top Hat was the first object of my desire and I visited the factory when they were being built at Narrabeen but never had the money to buy one. When I scaled down from bigger boats I came back to the Top Hat because it is without doubt the best pocket cruiser ever designed (especially the original, classic, Mark 1 - good on yer Bear!).
There is no relationship beween the skipper's age and the qualities of the Top Hat, but since age is under discussion I will make a few points about handling that exemplify the facility of sailing the boat. The steering position forward in the cockpit is ideal. With full headroom under the boom, the mainsheet and all control lines brought aft to above the companionway and the sheet winches readily to hand on either side, the solo skipper has full control of the boat at all times. In addition, the boat sails like a dream. Get the set of the sails right and she will sail herself on the wind and even offshore in reasonable conditions before taking a knock as you go over a wave. This ability allows the solo skipper to go forward to make liitle adjusments or clear a trapped lazy sheet without rushing forward and back to the tiller.
Many Mark 1 boats have the winches on the mast, but I brought mine back to the companionway and fitted self tailers. I also replaced the sheet winches with self tailers. It was worth every cent to facilitate single handling.
Down below I have standing head room for my 6 feet (shrinking a bit now with - well you know - that age word. I can sit on the front berth without hitting my head on the cabin top, the galley is ideal and I have the enclosed head version. I also carry a porta loo in what used to be the engine compartment and is now a great stowage area. After having had diesels, I am afraid that I prefer the outboard on the stern because it is a sailing boat first and foremost! My boat does not have a dinette, but before you Mark II and III guys start to feel smug, I have a dinete table that slides out from under the cockpit - another use for the old engine compartment - and I can sit on the bunk to eat and then slide it away.
So what does age have to do with it? Nothing. You are never too old to sail a Top Hat. It is the boat for all seasons and - more to the point - ALL REASONS!
Sean
AZZURA

[storm petrel]

Well said Gramps! I was interesting in your rating of the Tophat. At the risk of sidetracking the thread, how do you rate the Tophat compared to other well respected old Aust made pocket cruisers, for example; Compass 28, folk boat, Swanson 28, contessa 26, walker herreshoff 28? Oh, and I should also confess to being a young fellow with only 58 summers under my belt.

[Gramps]

Hi Storm Petrel,
Opinions are personal so they are not always shared and mine are those of a single hander. I found the Folkboat a lovely boat to sail but the lack of headroom etc below did not match the Top Hat altghough the Stella's were better for that, but their clinker hulls could be very noisy at anchor with the water lapping the hull. The Contessa has lovely hull lines and I like Peter Cole boats. It is almost a minature of its Bruce Fairlie built sister the Cole 43 with the swept back keel and rudder configuration - but I would prefer more freeboard offshore and the cockpit coaming is too low so the lack of back support becomes tiring when sailing all day and the Top Hat scores again. The Compass 28 is very similar in style with longer waterline and interior space and I once considered those, but I still favoured the Top Hat for ease of single handing. I did not like the ketch rig on the Walker H28 compared to the Kiwi sloop version. I also found them to be so heavily built (not a criticism!) that they needed more wind than the Top Hat to get up to hull speed. The full length keel also meant that she was not as responsive in tacking as the Top Hat. The Swanson 28 that I remember had the flush deck and dome cabin (not the later cruising double ender). I liked that configuration and had a smaller version in the Swanson Dart 22. The hull lines were the same and she sailed beautfully, but space is limited down below and the 28 footers had worse than average osmosis problems. I have not seen one around for many years.
That is my six pennyworth and having run these boats through my mind, I have no regrets about my Top Hat!
Cheers,
Sean

[bearmcnally]

Hello hatters


My uncle Mac would have been 98 and still sailing today .The only thing that stopped the silly old bugger achieving this was that his heart stopped working and he died ! So as long as you can keep your organs moving there is no age limit . The old grey matter isn't a problem either, as you should see the fossils and lunatics sailing on Lake Macquarie. The only other thing that scares me with the age thing is that the older some people get the bigger the boat seems to get and that can be a problem

Cheers Bear

[SeaLady]

My dad is 79 and says he is too old for sailing now.
Main reason his legs have grown longer and his knees refuse to do what they are told.
So everything on the ground is further away and he can't reach it.

The disobedient knees makes getting into and out of dinghy, cabin, climbing over things more difficult.
How do you train knees?

All that said he still managed to join me on Sydney Harbour overnight for NYE and managed quite well.

So I think it all boils down to motivation.
And having a younger wench around to do all the work.
Sadly all he had was me his daughter.

[Killick69]

Once again a great conversation and very interesting. I am 61 and hope to be sailing my Top Hat for many years yet. Hell, I will have to work till I drop, so may as well sail until I drop (or flop). Cheers John

[bearmcnally]

Hi Diana

My Dad turns 81 this year and has sailed since he was a boy .He too is also finding it difficult to board his beloved Swanson 38 due to knees and joint problems .I guess what you do in your younger years from skiff sailing and rugby back in the 40' and 50's will in later years catch up with you. And I agree with you it's all about motivation and passion and thank goodness my Dad still has that.

regards Bear

Hello Gramps
Regarding the Swansons ,the 27 had the flush deck with the bubble coachouse basically a small 32 the Carmen 31 was a canoe stern with a stepped deck and bubble doghouse which Swanson and Wally Ward designed, won Hobart with one .It also had a trunk coachouse designed back in the early 80's . The 28 was also a canoe stern with a raised deck and box coachouse and they love 15 knts plus and very sea kindly vessel yet all the Swansons are ! .The Dart was scaled down off the Swanson 36 .

Gotta love Swansons

Cheers Bear

[storm petrel]

Bear,

I raced on a Swanson 22 in the Sydney CYC winter series for a few years in the early 80's. It was a fast little boat that pointed high and had a good turn of speed, especially with a kite up in a stiff breeze. I have fond memories of racing down from the bridge to South Head in those strong winter westerlies with the little boat throwing a bow wave like a speed boat.

As to the Swanson 28s, I heard they suffered from a lot of weather helm (like the Compass28's) and had a tendency to round up in strong gusts. I think they tried a bow sprint on some but I do not know how successful it was.

Sadly my father is no longer with us but like a lot of professional sailors, after a life at sea, he retired to his dream- a little hobby farm up the coast (Mind you, he had a tinny moored near the farm until ill health forced him onto land full time.)

Cheers,
Mark

[Gramps]

Hi Bear,
Yes, thank you for the correction on the Swanson 27! Because I don 't count the years of age I must be getting the length of the boats out of sinc too. A boat's freeboard can certainly be a problem when stiff knees make climbing aboard from the dinghy difficult - I don't have that problem yet - but sailing the Top Hat is a lot easier than handling a Swanson 38 without a crew. My current problem is waiting on the Maritime to allocate me a mooring site on the Lake so I can move my boat out of the berth at LMYC. It is too difficult managing that with a breeze on the beam.
There is one other thing about being an aging sailor. Even if time does get the better of you and you can't sail, it is great to have a boat where you can go down and potter - there is always something that needs fixing and the best shed of the lot is one on the water!
Sean
Azzura

[bearmcnally]

Hi guys
Regarding the Swanson 28 and rounding up in gusting winds.Swanson designs where headsail yachts and required their mains to be reefed and more headsail than main used .This would drive the boat and would stop the rounding up.Next time you go past a Swanson(an older one ) have a look at the mast and you will notice they don't carry big rigs. The problem with some of the Swanson yachts was that the backyard/weekend warrior designers decided they needed bigger rigs in the belief they would sail faster ?
(Idiots ) There is a very good example of this, in a Swanson 36 sitting of Folly Point on Middle Harbour.
Another interesting thing about Swansons all their early yachts where drawn with Oregon masts in them and single spreader rigs.

Bear

Hey Gramps regarding a mooring ? I know there is a spot in Croudace Bay as the mooring beside me was removed 2 months ago and nothing has appeared in that spot .It might be worth a call to Maritime ? that's if you want a spot in Croudace Bay and near me ? Look at the plus factor ?Two Mk 1's side by side double beauty ! oh the mind boggles !!!


cheers Bear