Never too old to sail….

At 86 years young, Fred Barlow, a Darwin Sailing Club veteran and club member since 1986, is still enjoying cruising on his S80, ‘The Cleaning Lady’.  Fred and wife, Lyn, originally from Toowoomba, Queensland, arrived in Darwin in 1985 and haven’t looked back.  They have spent much of their time enjoying sailing and racing in the tropical waters of Darwin Harbour and surrounds.

Fred, as a kid, cut his sailing teeth mucking around on the water in canoes.  His sailing passion elevated in the 60’s where he crewed aboard a lightweight Sharpie on Lake Tinaroo in the hinterland of Cairns for a few seasons.

After arriving in Darwin in 1985 it wasn’t long before Fred and Lyn bought their own yacht, a Boomerang 20 trailer-sailor named ‘Mimpi’, which is when he really learnt how to sail.

A couple of years later Fred and Lyn upgraded to an S80, and aptly named her ‘The Cleaning Lady’, which for those people who weren’t around in the 70’s, is named after a song ‘Sadie (S80), the Cleaning Lady’.

Fred has competed in the Darwin Sailing Club racing program nearly every weekend since 1985 and even raced ‘The Cleaning Lady’ as far afield as Abbott Shoal, a mere 128 nautical mile race and enjoyed various other overnight races and adventures to Fish Reef and raft-ups in Smiths Creek, Mandorah.  He didn’t particularly enjoy losing a mast in the Howard Channel during one of the off-shore races, however survived to tell the tale.  Fred was also the Inaugural President of the ‘Under 30’s Association’ which was one of Darwin Sailing Clubs largest Associations for many years.

Over the past few years Fred and Lyn have been incredibly generous in loaning their yacht to some of the Darwin Sailing Club female sailors who have been in training for the annual Australian Womens Keelboat Regatta which is held in Melbourne every year.

Fred has recently retired from racing his beloved ‘Lady’ completing his last race in October, however he still enjoys cruising and regularly assists with the management of the Darwin Sailing Clubs weekly races on the start/finish boat and is still very much involved with the Club. He also enjoys watching his ‘Cleaning Lady’ being raced regularly by a group of Darwin’s up and coming female sailors, to encourage more women on water.  This has been assisted by Australian Sailing as part of the ‘She Sails’ program.

When asked what he liked most about sailing, Fred responded “I love it best when the motor is turned off and you can only hear the wind in the sails and the water rushing past.  I also love the fact that I can relate to all sailors, from the youngest Minnow sailor to mature veterans.”
Thanks to Fred and Lyn, ‘The Cleaning Lady’ is raced regularly and cared for by many, and there’s still much more cruising in store for Fred and Lyn.

Above images: Lyn & Fred in 1986 and in 2018