"Bob" wrote in message
...
My honored poster,

I agree however I would also suggest an alternative: A much large boat
with a crew. Say 80'+ with a crew to do all the work. The problme as
I see it is the infirm and unable simply want to live beyond their
means. so they get the biggest boat they can not handle. Another case
of unrealistic expectatoins. Such as ," im 57 years old and have the
back of a 30 year old." DENILE............the sinker of boats.
Bob

How right you are, sir! But add the word, "competent." Take my Swan 68, for
example. My crew can handle her and win races with her. But, they do so
because I've chosen them wisely. If they do not demonstrate competence,
strength, endurance and finesse they are not allowed to participate. I
insist upon a crew that delivers what I ship them for - winning. If they
don't win they don't ride!

People get into bad habits. In the typical boating lifespan individuals
(Bobsprit comes to mind) often buy boats that increase in size, purchase
after purchase, simply because the individual is more concerned with
imagined prestige, comfort and convenience than reality. Never mind they
already couldn't competently handle the smaller yacht because it was already
too large for them, they imagine that a larger yacht will solve all their
self-imposed problems while the opposite is true - it magnifies all their
existing deficiencies! It's the water-borne Peter Principle. The owner and
crew rises to the level of greatest ineptitude.

Elderly folks and the infirm need to use good and common sense and at some
point reverse the trend towards larger and larger. The yacht needs to fit
the abilities of the crew and an elderly couple should realize that they
need to downsize at some point or they will find themselves, like Bruce in
Bangkok, stuck in some backwater with their cruising plans on permanent
hold - defeated by size and complexity that's beyond their limited means to
handle.

Wilbur Hubbard