Episode 2 - Damn I'm Old

“I think as you get older, you definitely notice that the things that you used to do, you may not be doing as well. And that's okay! I mean, what's the great saying? ‘I
may not be as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was.’”

Welcome to the second episode of the Sailing Anarchy podcast, where we delve into the fascinating world of sailing with our host, Scot Tempesta, founder of Sailing Anarchy.

In this episode, Scot talks about his experience with aging as a sailor and offers encouragement to aging sailors. He emphasizes that although some things may become more difficult with age, sailing is a sport that can be done well past one's prime.

Timestamps:

1:10 - Aging as a Sailor:
Scot begins the discussion by talking about how boats always demand the same mental focus and attention from sailors, regardless of their age. He shares that although he has done well with his current boat, he has noticed that he is not as sharp as he used to be.

5:30 - Choosing the J/105:
Scot shares why he chose the J/105 as his boat and why he loves it.

6:14 - Physical Demands of Steering a Boat:
Scot talks about the physical demand of steering a boat and how it requires a lot of focus and attention.

8:05 - Reflections on Working with Mark Reynolds:
Scot reflects on his time working with Mark Reynolds and how he learned a lot from him.

11:28 - Aging and Sailboat Racing Abilities:
Scot shares his takeaways on how aging affects sailboat racing abilities. He talks about how some things that were once instinctual may become more difficult with age.

14:24 - Encouragement for Aging Sailors:
Scot offers encouragement to aging sailors, saying that it's okay if they're not doing things as well as they used to. He reminds listeners that sailing is a sport that can be done well past one's prime.

15:40 - Sailing within Your Capabilities:
Scot advises sailors to learn to sail within their current capabilities and not to push themselves beyond what they can handle.

18:00 - Sailing Doesn't Have to End:
Scot reminds listeners that sailing doesn't have to end just because they're getting older. He shares that he's trying to buy a J/105 because he loves it, but also acknowledges that it may be his last racing boat. He emphasizes that he's not quitting, just slowing down.

Quotes:

“Boats are always the same in terms of just what they demand from you mentally.”
“And while we've done fabulously well with the boat, you know, I noticed that I'm just not as sharp as I was.”
“It's just an example of the things, you know, maybe it hurts to crane your neck up there and look at the sails for a length of time. You know, maybe you just forget to do some of the things that were just so automatic, so instinctual.”
“I think as you get older, you definitely notice that the things that you used to do, you
may not be doing as well. And that's okay! I mean, what's the great saying? ‘I
may not be as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was.’”
“It's not the fact that you're not doing it as well. You're out there doing it and you're doing it to your capabilities.”
“Sailing is a sport that you can do well past your prime.”
“I'm trying like hell to buy a J/105 because I love it. I mean, frankly, I can't imagine not doing it. But I also am at the realization that this may be my last racing boat.”
“I'm not quitting, I'm just slowing down.”

Calls to action:

Any thoughts, comments, or questions, please email scot@sailing anarchy.com

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hey there, Scott Tempeste Sailing Anarchy, episode two of our new podcast series. I'm dumber than usual today and slower than usual, a little hungover from the Super Bowl yesterday. Must admit, and I don't rebound as quickly as I used to, that's for sure. Which leads me to the topic of today's podcasts, and that is getting older while sail.

While racing specifically, I think, you know, sailing and racing clearly two different endeavors. But since we are race fiends and that's kind of what we all do, let's focus on that. So as I mentioned in in episode one, and I'm none too happy about it, I'm now an elder sail. Meaning old meaning north of 60, meaning closer to 70 than 60, meaning 66.

Okay. I [00:01:00] just turned 66. Well, you know, you can't stop the, uh, the salt in the egg timer, as it were. So what do you do about it when you're sailing, when you're racing? Of course it depends on everybody and the stage that they're at. Right? And everybody's level of fitness. You know, mental acuity, the different types of racing, you know, that we all do.

Obviously some are going to be damn near impossible to continue at some point. You know, I'm not gonna limit things or have people like, oh, you're full of shit. You know, I, I still, I'm 82 and I still windsurf. I get it. . I doubt you race, but you know, understood. Wealthy big boat owner probably race till they die, you know, because everything is virtually done for them on the boat, you know?

They just have to get there and steer and. , frankly, a lot of 'em don't even steer and you know, they're just happy to be there, happy to be on board a boat, you know, enjoying all the things that we enjoy about racing. Big boat racing in particular, in this case, [00:02:00] camaraderie, crew work, et cetera, et cetera.

Right. It's all so much fun. I'm neither wealthy. I am a boater, but I'm changing the direction I'm going partly because of my age. First episode, I talked about getting a J 1 0 5. And, uh, by the way, before any go, I go any further on that endeavor. If anybody knows anything about J 1 1 0 5 s who's listening, unfortunately, I think I've learned way too much in the process.

But if you're gonna be an. You know, an educated or semi-educated or less of a dance when you're buying a boat, you know, you want to try to get as much of the history and the backstory of the class and the boats and desirable whole numbers and, you know, ad nauseum. You guys know how this goes. So, you know, because the, uh, the huge desirability of the pre scrimp J 1 0 5 s, you know, people are looking for 'em all the.

They're hard to find. I mean, I, they're findable, [00:03:00] but they're usually just beat to death. And so I've found one, you know, it's been redone. It's had all the core, the wet core taken outta the boat, rerecord, you know, repainted. It looks good. It's a relatively fast boat as I understand things. I'm sure it's in the, you know, the weight range that I'm looking being a pre.

But of course, given, you know, my luck, the boat is in Nova Scotia. Okay. Literally could not be further away from San Diego geographically. I, I mean, I think it's like 3,600 miles. It's ridiculous. So, you know, the notion of finding a, uh, a relatively inexpensive. Transport method for the boat, you know, it's almost nonexistent.

And so, you know, even though the boat might be semi attractive price-wise, especially, you know, given the, uh, the strength of the dollar and the exchange rate, you know, with Canada, you know, it's, I wouldn't call it a bargain, but it's, you know, in the ballpark [00:04:00] of what, uh, these boats are worth. But, aye, you know, I've gotta.

I gotta get it out here. So I'm trying to figure out ways to do that, but it's not really looking that likely or probable. But you know, I'll keep searching. And so one reason, as I touched upon last time, while I'm getting a 1 0 5, is because, well, it's a great boat for sort of where I'm at as a sailor in terms of my age and all that goes along.

The boat on its face, on its surface by itself would be a pretty awful choice for San Diego. They're not good light airboats. They've never been good light airboats. I mean, you can sail them well and you can be right in there, but. compared to real lighter boats. You know that sail in San Diego, you, you wouldn't have a chance.

I mean, realistically, but there's a one design class, you know, and that's what I like about it. That's what I'm gonna do. If I get one, I'm gonna sail one design, you know, so I can avoid all the nonsense of P H R F and all that. You know, all this that goes along with all that shit. So it's a bit of a [00:05:00] detuned sport boat, right?

I mean, I guess you could loosely call it a sport boat. You know, it's heavy, it's wide, you know, it's under rigged, you know, listen, it's a 1992 boat or something. So, you know, you can't expect miracles from boats, especially JBoss when they try to make their boats, you know, appealing to a wide range of conditions and buyers and sailors and racers.

Obviously they've done a great job. 1 0 5 specific. I like it. It's not going to be a demanding boat for me to sail, you know? It's not gonna be demanding for the crew. I mean, yes, like every single boat and particularly one design, you know, it has to be really well sailed if you're gonna do well. It's just the way it is.

So you try to get a good boat and do all the things, you know, the new sales and all that sort of stuff. By the way, I'll be putting, just in case anyone knows, uh, wants to know or. Both unlikely. I'm putting quantum sales on the 1 0 5. They're the best sales in the class, and I like them the best [00:06:00] anyway. I mean, I don't care what boat I'm getting, I'm getting, I'm putting quantum sales on my boat and um, so there, so it's not gonna be a super demanding boat.

physically, mentally, you know, boats are always the same in terms of just what they demand from you mentally, right? Whether you're a helmsman or a tactician specifically. I mean, tremors and everybody else, yeah, they've gotta be on the ball, of course, and thinking about the game and the next step and all that kind of stuff.

But truly, when you're steering a boat, for me, it is really exhausting. I mean, yeah, you're just wiggling the, the tiller around. I understand that there's not a lot of physicality to it. I mean, I don't even trim my own main sheet. That's how lazy and, you know, veal like I, I am, but. It's just the concentration, you know, that's required when you're steering.

It's much different than calling tactics. You guys know that tactics are brutal mentally. I mean, that's your really only [00:07:00] job. But when I'm steering, you know, I do like to look around much to everybody's chagrin. You know, like, what are you looking at? Just steer the boat. Well, I just sort of grew up that way, and so I've always been a, uh, helmsman slash looker or tactician, you know, , but it's the steering part that just kills me.

I mean, at the end of the day, uh, certainly in these, I don't know, I don't really know when the change as it were took place. But, you know, it really takes its toll on me. I mean, I'm exhausted and, uh, I feel physically tired, and I'm sure it's just because of the mental, you know, strain and the, you know, you're kind of sitting in a certain position a lot, so your body's maybe a little locked.

You know, I don't pretend to know any of the physiology or you know, any of the medical aspects of the things that happen to your body. As you're steering, but as I've gotten older, I've definitely noticed that I [00:08:00] just, you know, I'm just not as good as I was. That's for sure. And I'm good friends with Mark Reynolds.

I was fortunate enough to work out of his loft back, uh, when. Quantum was sobs. Dad and I worked there for about 10 years, which of course was a fabulous time because that's when Mark Reynolds was really hitting his stride In terms of sailing Starbucks, there's almost no question that Mark Reynolds, well, there is no question that Mark Reynolds is one of the greatest star sailors ever.

I mean, just look at his resume. The Olympic medals the world. Right. And Mark is, was a really fascinating guy to watch. You know, I'm in his little loft and a little, little, little desk and I'm selling big boat sales. You know, I'm dialing for dollars and, you know, I'm in my own big boat world. And Mark's Loft was truly, and mostly is to this day, although it's the Quantum corporate Loft now.

Uh, Mark's been bought out, you know, and good for him. But it was a one design fleet, I mean, I'm sorry, a one design loft. And, but [00:09:00] it was fascinating to me. As they start to, you know, know who Mark Reynolds was and watching his, just the methodic way he went about improving the Sotta sales, you know, to the point where they were the.

Sale maker. I mean, everybody had TED sales. I mean, sure. Vince Brun, you know, and the north guys, right? Great. Phenomenal sailor, great guy. You know, good sales. But at the time, the sales that Mark was making were the best. Absolutely. And you know, mark was great too. I mean, just a great sailor. But it was, I don't know, it was a few years ago, I asked Mark when he was still sailing in the, in the Star class.

Not quite as actively as he had been, but still he was hitting, you know, some of the, the bigger. and I couldn't help but notice that Mark's results, you know, weren't what they had been. I mean, mark was just virtually a lock for a top three in any regatta, winning a ton. [00:10:00] And you know, he's finishing fifth and seventh and, you know, I don't know, maybe a 10th or 11th.

I, I don't really know, but it was noticeable. So I asked Mark one day, I said, mark, what do you like? So your results aren't what they. So what do you attribute, like, and, you know, Mark's, I think a year or two older than me, so we're kind of in the same boat, a rickety leaky boat, . But I, I flat out asked Mark, cuz it's a topic that I don't think ever really gets brought up.

Like, so what are the things that, that have made you, perhaps not what you were just a few years ago and, you know, maybe some guys would take offense to that. And you know, I knew Mark wouldn't and he was, he was truth. He goes, you know, , he goes, it's just a lot of the little things and I'm just recalling. I could be a little, you know, off on some of this, but mostly the gist is, is as follows.

He goes, I don't see as much as I used to on the water and also on the boat. In the [00:11:00] boat. My reaction time is a little different. I e slower, I, I do remember that. And he said, you know, the physicality obviously sailing a. You know, it's a physical endeavor for both the crew, you know, just endless hiking and you know, you're resting with that main sheet and that huge main sail and you know, all that goes, the kinetics, all of that, that goes into star sailing.

And he said, you know, and that's a part of it too. And you know, my takeaway was this, it's the cumulative of effects of maybe the aging process and the things that, that represent that, right, that I just mention. For my own sailing, you know, my last couple years I've been racing. Uh, after I sold my flying second, flying Tiger 10, I bought a Erickson 35 Mar two.

Forgive me if I've gone over this ground. I'm just trying to set backstory, and some of you guys don't, you know, you're not listening to every episode, et cetera, because I wanted to, I wanted to go back in time. The Erickson 35 [00:12:00] Mar two is a boat for my youth that I just loved. I thought, I thought it'd be really fun to do Racer Cruise.

and, um, be a, a very competitive P H R F boat, uh, which it is, and it will always be, but you know, it's a, it's a, uh, bit of a monster to sail. You know, the helm is really heavy. I mean, you have to muscle the thing around. It's not very rewarding. And while we've done fabulously well with the boat, you know, I noticed that, you know, I'm just not as sharp as I was now.

I think that's a really good way to put it. Just not as aware of some of the things I. You know, I'll sail almost a whole race and sometimes I forget to even look up at the main sail. I mean, I've always have been blessed with, you know, really good sailors that for whatever reason, I'm not sure what those are, will sail with me.

But, you know, I've always had good main sail tremors and you know, I really don't worry about it too much, but it's just an example of. Maybe the things, you know, maybe it, it hurts to lift you crane your neck [00:13:00] up there and look at the, at the sales for length of time. You know, maybe you just forget. And I, I think I've just sometimes forget to do some of the things that were just so automatic, so instinctual and so factoring this into sailing, I mean, I'm just giving it from my perspective, right?

The kind of sailing that I. and you know, my history of sailing of various boats. It leads me to the J 1 0 5 as a really good, I'm not gonna say compromise, even though it is every boat's a compromise, but I don't look at it that way. I think it's more realistic to the kind of sailing I do now for people.

Of those of you out there, that sail may be Mels 20 fours, you know, J 70 ties, you know, all these kind of. , you know, and I, I think the bulk of those fleets, sailors are significantly younger. But I would tend to think that even for, you know, Maybe thirties and forties and maybe even early fifties. I mean, people probably notice that they aren't quite [00:14:00] as good as they were.

You know, I, I don't want it to be ridiculous in terms of, well, you're 30 and you're washed up. It's not that. It's the little things that add up. And if you're on a really physical boat, it's very demanding. You know, injuries are not, Uncommon aches and pains are just simply part of the deal, and I think, you know, they have a bit of a cumulative effect and to the negative, I think mostly.

So addressing primarily people that are big boat sailors, but everybody, I think as you get older, you definitely notice that the things that you used to do, you may not be doing as. And that's okay. I mean, there's, what's the great saying? I may not be as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was.

I mean, I think we can re all reach in and like get a, a facsimile of our prior. Ability, right? I mean, you just, it's not the fact that you, you're not doing it as well. You're out there doing it and you're doing it to your [00:15:00] capabilities. Your quote, new capabilities or new limitations. And I wonder how many of us actually think about that.

I know when you look around the yacht club, It's full of nothing but young people, seemingly younger people. And you know, of course that base of younger people widens as you get older, right? I could talk to a 40 year old, oh man, you guys, it's so great to be that young. And a 40 year old might go, man, what?

Like, I'm old, I can't even sail J seventies anymore, or that kind of stuff. understood and granted that it's all relative, but relatively speaking, these aging effects creep up on us. Right. And how do they affect you? That's really kind of, I mean, I'm telling you my story. I really welcome the J 1 0 5 because it'll give me a chance to really focus on learning how to sail this boat as, as well as I can within my limitations being able.

Have some younger people on board, you know, that are maybe a little more hip, you know, to some of the [00:16:00] more, you know, modern sort of sailing techniques or innovations or different ways of doing it. Let's face it, the sport is a constant evolution and for the betterment, for the most part, unless you talk about America's Cup boats, and I don't believe those are a development for the better.

Uh, they look fucking ridiculous to. . I mean, it's interesting, but Wow, really, and I think that's what I'll talk about next week. I, I kind of want to get into the Americas Cup. I'm not a technical guy, I'm not an engineer. I'm just gonna spray like a dogwood urine on the tree of observations and I'll, I'll, you know, I'll just let that lay where it will, but I think it's worth talking about and I'll get, I want to get into that in the next episode.

So that's where I'm at. And so I guess what, uh, what I was talking about there, uh, uh, just a second ago was, Where are you in that spectrum? Are you aware of you getting older and your [00:17:00] place maybe doing what you used to do, and is it different? You do a different kind of sailing. As an owner, will you buy a different kind of boat like I'm doing?

where you simply do less of it. Is it still enjoyable? I mean, that's one of the things about this sport. It's one of the only few, I think maybe even more so than golf, because golf, you know, you do have to swing the thing. And you know, as we get older, that's a real limitation. But sailing is a sport that you can do well past your prime.

And uh, it's safe to say that I'm in that t. Somewhat spoiled and cured milk, but it's still fun. We still want to go out there. I mean, there's a reason why I'm buying a, I'm trying like hell to buy a J 1 0 5 because I love it. I mean, frankly, I can't imagine not doing it. But I also am at the realization that this may be my last racing boat.

I mean, it might be, I'm 66. I usually keep my race boats two to three years. Um, on average, I think. [00:18:00] So if I kept it three, I mean, damn son, I'm looking at seven. Oh yo. And not that sailing ends there, but you know, as we get older, you know, things sort of shortened up. I mean, they, they just do. And I wonder if that's something.

We think about, uh, as we get, I, I think for me, I just had to hit a certain age and then it dawned to me like, oh shit, I was off today and I was off the other weekend too, and like, Hmm, not as good as I was, but, . I want to do it. I love it. I'm like, y'all like this sport is really, it's just our passion. Some of it, you know, it's been our profession and, and certainly our passion and entertainment and something really fun to do in life.

And so I'm not, I'm not quitting, I'm just slowing down. And on that note, I'll sign off and I'll thank you in advance for listening and, um, [00:19:00] Tune in again for the next one. For Sailing Anarchy, I'm Scott Tempesta. We'll see.