It was the third race of the Laser’s New England Masters in Newport, RI. I had been aiming toward this regatta for the second half of the summer and now I was quite literally hanging on by my toenails, and that was with my radial rig set board flat and eased. The committee boat said that gusts to 30 were overlaid on top of steady wind of 24 plus. I was keeping the boat upright by easing the sheet and hiking off my toenails, or so it felt, but my energy was evaporating.

Does an older Laser sailor really have to let go of dreams that require physical prowess?

Someone once said the way you knew you were an adult was when you had to give up certain dreams as unrealistic. Now, many people give up dreams before it may be necessary, but there is no doubt the athletes have to face the reality of age related limitations. How does this affect Laser sailors?

At a regatta a few years ago I watched one of the top Laser skippers amble off to a patch of grass still damp from the morning dew. For the next five minutes he worked his way through a routine of stretches that focused on each major flexible joint in his body. Bit by bit he reached, twisted, bent and folded; then he ambled over and launched his boat and won the regatta.

Solstice seems like a good holiday for sailors to acknowledge. It’s all about the ebb and flow of our natural world. It names a background phenomenon that both ignores our desires and affects our lives.

 Sailing has a popular reputation as a sedentary sport. We Laser sailors do all we can to disabuse people of that notion, but most of us do too little to prepare ourselves for the aerobic aspects of the sport.

So, what is so aerobic about Laser sailing? Swimming, the shock of cold water, anxiety about where you’re falling and what is wrapped around your ankle and repeated maneuvers, like roll tacking can all get you breathing hard.

I've designed an exercise tracking sheet to help motivate me to get to my aerobic and resistance sessions done each week. I find I get a little boost in by having a blank column expectantly waiting for me to fill it in.

I have a home gym, a big, wonderful room in my basement with a treadmill, elliptical machine, rower, spin bike, trainer for my road bike, ski machine, complex weight machine, roman chair, leg-lift machine, stretching mats, five-foot mirrors and clocks.

I’d rather be sailing! Actually I’d rather be sailing my Laser or riding my road bike.

A Laser can be sailed with minimal conditioning and low-grade muscle power, but if you plan on racing, and you want to be competitive, you need to consider investing time in getting more fit. Lasers are raced at all levels of intensity from beginners to quite advanced, but one significant difference separating members in each ability level is their fitness.

Which rig is right for you? If you’re thinking of Olympic glory in the Laser you’d best be around six foot tall or better and 180 lbs or so for the standard rig, and 150 lbs seems to be about right for the Radial rig. For the rest of us, the need to match our physical attributes to the boat is probably secondary to developing great boat handling and solid strategy and tactics.

One cool day recently I was leaning against the car waiting for my wife to mail a letter at the post office. The trees along the street were in the various end stages of mid November leaf dispersal. In New England this stage commonly means that the few individual leaves that still cling to branches, are doing loopy the loops in the breeze at the end of their curiously long stems.