How to go sailing (while having fun and safely) if you’re Over 60

Through the account of our 61-year-old Marco Cohen*, in these pages. we show you how sailing is perfect for all ages, especially the third age. E’ one of the very few activities where the “physical decline” due to age is largely offset by experience

Sailing and the Over 60s

Avvertence for readers: article banned for those under 60…as I am 61. In fact no, all of you read it, so you will know what to expect, but have mercy on us, differently young people who with a physique battered by injuries do not give up the beloved sailboat. I will start right away with a brief classification of the ailments that rage for those who are in the “anta” and more precisely in the second part like me… Spoiler: to give an example understandable by everyone, it works like for iPhones that have perhaps never given a problem and then at some point, when you should upgrade, accuse every day small problems and dysfunctions that never appeared before.

The top three Over 60 ailments

Here is my personal ranking and podium of best of, so to speak:

1. In first place, undisputed prince of ailments, the dear old witch’s stroke. Characteristics: it always appears with unchanging timing after the subject goes through a period of decent mental and physical condition. Which clearly causes defenses to drop and athletic gestures to be made, which, as they used to say, are bad for sports. I celebrated the cruise of my 60s by lifting the 25-pound Code Zero bag placed at the bottom of the square. Then I cracked up after attempting to go to dinner by getting off the tender. I’ll spare you the photo out of pity!

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Against the wear and tear of modern sailing, nearly 100 miles in a Hobie Cat!

2. The most bastard and difficult-to-treat pain, epicondylitis. Known to most as tennis elbow, it presents in a bastard undertone, but then you try capping a sheet on the winch if you have it. Invalidating, not even that painful but not very prestigious and … still disabling.

3. The noblest of diseases. I thought it was extinct in the 16th century in the court of Henry VIII, amidst loving wives and game food: gout. But instead, past 60 and accomplice to a working lifestyle that forces me to eat night and day in my favorite office (restaurant) I got that too.

The perfect sail for every age

But don’t worry, sailing is still perfect for all ages, especially the third age: as I have been arguing for some time now, you find me a sport that can be done while sitting and especially with a glass of wine in hand. Of course, I’m not just talking about dinghies and the more athletic skiffs but the very large ORC/IOR/ racing/cruising cabin cruiser fleet that grants a minimum of comfort on board and on deck.

I am writing this article on a rainy afternoon in Milan. A few hours earlier, I was in the rheumatologist’s office peering wryly at my less than athletic physique and the scale with a large figure. I appeal to the privacy law not to declare it.

“He will no longer be able to go on long walks/hikes in the mountains, he will have to give up skiing and other traumatic sports…”:I understand that he did not understand what kind of sportsman I am and I hug him gratefully, “it’s a big sacrifice for someone like me, but I feel that I can do it,” I reply, smiling. What I could never give up, besides Inter, family and drinks with friends, are the boat trips.

And when it comes to boats, let me be at least for once a fundamentalist, I am talking about sailboats. I do not make it a matter of ecological superiority but simply philosophical. Only sailing teaches us, which is very useful for sailing in old age, that we cannot sail against the wind. But if we know where to go with patience, tacking we will arrive at the desired destination. Of course, with a motor boat it is quicker and you can pull straight but, and here speaks the philosopher in me, one of the nicest things to do when you are old is just to waste time, to throw it away, so to speak … taking as much time as you need to sail, to enjoy the sunset precisely because you have not arrived in port sooner.

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“This is why I think Meridians and Parallels should be abolished.”

Then again, didn’t one of the legendary sailors of my generation, Bernard Moitessier, not give a damn about racing around the world (the Golden Globe Race later won by Robin Knox-Johnston), to slowly continue on to Polynesia “to save his own soul”?

I admit only one exception to this rule, which is regattas, but even there I try to apply and adapt it as best I can. On the other hand, our motto is not to arrive first, but “on the aperitif we are strong.”

Sailors with a smile

Two examples of âgé sailors, absolutely at opposite ends of the spectrum but with the same common denominator: a smile.

– Sir Gerry Hatton, born in 1937 in the middle of the English countryside, where his only contact with water was canoe racing. I met him when he was a guest two years ago with his family at one of Australia’s finest clubs near Sydney, where he moved in the 1960s and a fortunate owner of a series of boats called Bushranger… I was impressed by his joy, the naturalness with which he moved in the boat (far superior to mine, moreover), but most of all his thoughtfulness. When I asked him who made him change boats at his age–Mark Mills’ new Mat 1220 with square-top mainsail–he said, “The boat is a toy (certainly an expensive one–my note) and come my age you should never stop playing and having fun.” And his smile (see side photo) at 18 knots speaks volumes.

– The other was an old gentleman whom I used to meet punctually a few years ago when I went out in my J/24 from Chiavari Harbor. By the time I arrived at the boat with a hot bun, he was already back from his morning sail with the tramontana and tidying up his boat, a wooden dinghy, always with small repeated gestures and a big smile. He was reminiscent of the character in Wim Wenders’ beautiful film, Perfect Days, when he tended to his bonsai trees every morning. This is to say that often even in the small boat lies happiness.

Advice for the over 60s

And now: five tips for boating in old age.

1. Always look for people whose age is less than their size–this will lengthen your sailing career. And to satisfy your curiosity, I achieved perfect balance at age 56. Paraphrasing the advice of the great Miles Davis, when asked the secret to his long career, “I always try to play with younger musicians.”

2. Don’t stop dreaming big. In fact, one of the secrets to traversing this complicated age is precisely not to abdicate one’s dreams and to keep traveling with imagination. Then sure, maybe not everyone can accomplish the feat of the Atlantic crossing either for reasons of money, time and energy, but it is essential to keep planning trips, vacations or regattas with one’s own boat or even better that of friends. Having said that, when I sacrificed myself this Christmas to follow the arrival of the ARC for the GdV, several crews were very âgé…after all, at this age it is easier to have time on one’s hands and new technologies help to reduce efforts. And besides, in these kinds of adventures, wisdom and experience gained over the years often help solve the unexpected more than any other skill.

3. Simplify your life by going back to smaller boats that require less physical strength, money and worry. I close my eyes and see my father in the height of the 1970s, always going out in his beloved wooden dinghy Fiesta. And here I am talking about one of the most elegant men, often dressed in white linen with his ever-present panama but also one of the “dogs” of the whole fleet…a fleet that continues to grow worldwide also as the number of seniors, just to testify that sailing restored to its simplest and truest terms is a pleasure for all ages and technical abilities.

4. The other alternative for those lucky few who can follow the British saying that the standing measurement of one’s boat must be greater than or at least follow trend of one’s age, is that of easy sailing. Winches and maneuvers that are done at the push of a button within reach of all ages certainly, but not all pockets.

5. Hang out with friends with expertise in medical and first aid.

And in this regard I end with the two best pieces of advice from Nicolò Caraffa, the osteopath who got me back on my feet to allow me to complete the gift I gave myself for my 60th birthday: the Middle Sea Race, a tough race that has to be tackled in decent conditions…

Balancing exercises on one leg

– Execution: standing, lift one leg while maintaining balance on the supporting leg. If necessary, increase the difficulty by closing one or both eyes.

– Series: 3

– Duration: 30 seconds per leg

– Pause between series: 60 seconds

– Goal: To improve leg stability and balance, which are essential for moving safely on the boat.

Stretching of the trapezius

– Execution: standing or sitting, gently tilt your head toward one shoulder until you feel a slight stretch. Hold the position without forcing or feeling pain.

– Duration: 2-3 sets of 30-60 seconds per side

– Goal: To relax the neck and shoulders, which are often strained during long sailing trips.

If you want to look for more exercises, you can find them at www.osteopatacaraffa.it.

The right boats for the over-60s

1. Dinghy, perfect for seniors, gentlemen and sailors with a passion that is never “demodé.”

2. New First 30. An instant hit, essential and with glide at your fingertips.

3. JPK 1050. Another knockout. Perfect for two-man regattas.

4. New generation catamarans. They do not heel, they are stable, and even for us seniors it is easy and comfortable to be in the cockpit.

5. I turn my euros into paperdollars and buy throwing my heart and wallet over the hurdle: a nice Wally 100 complete with sailor and easy sailing inventions scattered around the boat. it’s just a dream. Too bad.

I conclude, with a somewhat sadistic warning to younger readers who will have read this article, as if none of this belongs to them. Always remember that sooner or later You will be like them, the elders. In fact, no. Like us.

*Who is Marco Cohen

The author of this article is film producer and sailor Marco Cohen, pictured here at the helm of a small boat (in that case a Cape 31, designed by his “fetish” designer Mark Mills).

Owner of a MAT 12 (designed, indeed, by Mills) tours the Mediterranean for regattas (losing almost all of them but having a lot of fun). A keen humorist and sailing philosopher (“I re-embraced sailing at age 37 after yet another soccer injury, when I realized it’s the only sport you can do sitting down and with a glass in your hand”), his articles are always a big hit. Below you can read some of his “pearls”:

• How to slow down a racing boat. 10 secrets to not winning
• Phenomenology (semi-serious) of the Winter Championship.
• The owner’s syndrome or how to be happy despite the boat
• How to participate in offshore racing knowing you will lose
• Guide to Dreaming Sydney Hobart
• The boat change syndrome
• Small boat vs. big boat
• Nice Giraglia, with the Maxis it would have been even better