Dubai: Andy Wilkins has decided that he has had enough of sailing.
Something that started back in 1952 when he was a sea scout in Barry, Wales, turned into a passion for the affable 73-year-old member of the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club (DOSC). And now after more than six decades of pursuing this passion, Wilkins has decided he wants to "ease out".
Yesterday, Wilkins pushed his Laser boat one last time out into the water for the Aggreko Laser League Sailing Championships at the DOSC, Jumeirah. And even then he has his doubts whether he would stop sailing after all.
"With all this stress and tension at work, sailing has a sense of therapy. I would be grumpy if I did not go sailing. It's wonderful to get out there where there are no phones, no faxes, no e-mails. It's just the wind that takes you away. It's just you and the elements. It's a unique feeling," Wilkins told Gulf News as he rigged his boat in preparation for what he called his "final race" here.
Wilkins plans a holiday with his wife Janice in France later next month, something that will keep him out of the final race of the Aggreko Laser League. "It's a great atmosphere to be here at the end of the season, but I need to get some rest as well," shrugged Wilkins, also a registered consultant engineer.
Since getting involved with the sea scouts on the Bristol Channel, Wilkins's journeys on the seas has seen him sail practically all over the world.
Australian passport
He even has an Australian passport, and plans to make one final port of call there when he decides to settle in his Chapel Hill residence outside Brisbane "sometime when I feel like".
He arrived in the UAE 1992 as a power and de-salination project engineer on a two-year contract "and never went back". "But one thing stayed constant and that is my love for sailing. I have no regrets. I've had everything I ever wanted especially the company here with these nice jolly bunch of people who have been very friendly and the facilities have been second to none," he said.
"I came in Dubai in 1992, and the first thing I did was to join the club, think about our accommodation and then get a boat, strictly in this order.
"But now I find it an effort to do the full course due to my age. I realise I've got to ease back a little bit. The energy level is going down and I find I am a risk at this age to continue. I am as fit as any of them, but the eyes are giving away a little bit and the knees are creaking a bit too. And after 60 years I thought it best I ease a bit now," he added.
"I had a lot of chance to go out on the bigger cruisers, but that somehow never attracted me. The smaller boats are better as you are doing something every minute."
