Dear readers,

Statistically speaking, in Germany, people start to withdraw from active sporting life at the age of sixty. At seventy, you’re just glad if your knees are still holding up and your back isn’t playing up too much. At eighty? By then, you’re quite happy to call it a day.

Word of this clearly hasn’t got round among sailors yet, as a glance at the crew lists for numerous wooden boat regattas reveals. One of these – the Hamburg Summer Classics – took place last weekend on the Außenalster in Hamburg, and the YACHT was there with the first ‘Zugvogel’, built in 1962.

Anyone who was sailing along or standing on the jetty watching as Dragons, H-boats and dinghy cruisers from a bygone era sailed towards the starting line on the Outer Alster may well have rubbed their eyes in disbelief. Not just because of the beautiful old wooden hulls, which, on those summer days, glided across the city’s inland waters like a floating museum. Gaff sails stood perfectly trimmed in the light breeze, and the highly polished mahogany veneer of the freshly restored classics gleamed in the August sun. But also because of the people sitting in the boats.

The owners and crews clearly enjoyed the sailing, even though the action was extremely intense after the starting signal and there was a fierce battle for every position round the marks. Nils-Geertsen Schildt, in particular, caught everyone’s eye. The sailor, who is just shy of 80 years old and a member of the Blankenese Sailing Club, sat in high spirits in his 3.66-metre-long 12-foot dinghy – a boat that has been built and sailed for over 100 years – dressed in red Cowes trousers and a polo shirt. He has a long sailing career behind him: in 1972 he was part of the Olympic squad, followed by 40 years of Dragon sailing, before he entered the wooden boat scene ten years ago and restored two 12-foot dinghies himself. Whilst others switch to motorboats as they get older, he chose the opposite path.

Nils-Geertsen Schildt is a splendid example of how sailing knows no age limits. No other sport combines physical exertion, mental focus and social interaction so naturally throughout all stages of life. And no other sport rewards experience so consistently. The wind doesn’t care when you were born. But it rewards those who have learnt to assess the weather and choose the right course.

The Hamburg Summer Classics demonstrate this year after year. Around 70 sailors on 31 boats took part this year; four races were held, and twelve classes were entered, ranging from the Hansa dinghy to the Flying Dutchman, via the Holzdach. The ‘kangaroo start’ – with the slowest boat starting first and the fastest last – creates an exciting dynamic. In the end, it’s not raw power that counts, but cleverness, timing and, sometimes, patience. Qualities that don’t fade with age, but grow stronger over the years.

What also defines the classic yacht scene is its atmosphere. There’s no cut-throat competition on the jetty, no awkwardness between the generations. Instead, there are stories of painstaking restorations, of past regattas, and of boats that have been owned by several generations and are still sailing today. Sailing forges lasting social bonds – bonds that endure for many decades. It is no coincidence that people in this scene have often been part of it for half a century.

Perhaps that is precisely where the real secret lies. Sailors don’t stop because sailing isn’t a sport that comes to an end at some point. It is a way of life. One that is physically demanding, keeps the mind sharp and provides a sense of community. And it lasts a lifetime. Anyone who, at the age of eighty, is still sitting in the cockpit of an old wooden boat – alert and focused, with a contented smile – proves that age is really just a number.

The Hamburg Summer Classics will be taking place again next year. It’s well worth taking part – we promise.

Martin Hager

Editor-in-Chief of YACHT

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