Alan Warren, who won a silver medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, still sails regularly at Shoreham Sailing Club.
The 88-year-old, from Worthing, now sails with the crew including his grandson Will Carroll.
They topped the participation leader board after completing 33 races this year in their Merlin, a sailing dinghy.
Now Alan and his grandson are going on to Chichester Yacht Club to race in their Snowflake series.
Alan said: “I have always been very competitive, way back I was a mad car driver, but fortunately I had the sense to resist a motorbike or I would not have lived long, I was bad enough on a bicycle.
“I then discovered dinghy racing where all your efforts were channelled into going as fast as possible and winning, it suited me fine.
“Well now my age has caught up with me, but there is still a glimmer of my old self left and once I get back in the boat I can accomplish something of my old self despite my age, so I haven’t stopped.
“Fortunately, I have my grandson as a crew (I call him my carer) and he knows my shortcomings, which are many, and holds me back when I should know better. We do okay, we have the occasional success which is a bonus. I am excused duties at the sailing club, I no longer am expected to haul the rescue boats up the slipway.”
Will said: “I have been sailing with him for almost 18 years, he’s always been keen to rush out in any conditions and he still has a stable hand in the windiest conditions.
“In the beginning he was often dragging me around and telling me what to do but in recent years the roles have somewhat reversed, he calls me the mechanic in the boat because I do everything else while he focuses on steering and playing the main sail.
“During Covid he was finding that he was getting unfit so instead of just going for a long walk he decided to start his Olympic training again, but jumped straight into it and did his back in. He was OK and we all laughed about it.”
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