wrote in message
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Do you think at 54 I am to old to become somewhat proficient at sailing.
I am in good health and in fairly good shape, but I am certainly not 25
anymore.

The helm of the boat I crew on is 74, and only has one arm (well, 1.5 arms).
When we sail two-up, and fly the spinnaker, I do foredeck while he handles
everything in the cockpit - minds the tiller, drops the jib, releases the
spinnaker pole up/downhauls, gets the pole up, and works the spinnaker
sheets to start it drawing until I come back to take them off him. Don't ask
me how he does it, but he usually has a sheet clamped in his teeth and
another wrapped around the end of his short arm (turning it blue as the
circulation gets cut off...).