In the twilight of his stellar career Jock Bilger still loves being out on the water.
The Auckland man has been sailing since he was 12 and in the following six-plus decades the sport has taken him to five Olympic games.
He's also been attending the Masters Games in Wanganui since 2000 but this weekend was likely to be his swansong in the event.
"I grew up in Auckland by the harbour and my parents had a T class yacht," he said. "I always hankered to have a boat of my own."
Jock was given a Z class yacht when he was 12 and began to acquire some top level yachting skills.
He represented New Zealand at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and 1976 at Montreal. He was also selected for the 1980 team to Moscow before the boycott.
"I was approached after I got out in 1980 to be a coach. In my day there were no coaches."
He coached the team at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics, the hay day of New Zealand Olympic yachting, he said.
In 1992, the team won four medals and four fourths out of 10 classes.
"In my 79th year, I find that my mind and body are not what the they used to be a few years ago. It's just a great sport. Look at how long you can do it for."
His favourite sailing spot over the years was La Rochelle in Franc,e where he won silver at the World Champs, a year before the 1972 Olympics.
He has also passed on his talent to his son who was involved with four Americas Cups as a weather man, including working for Russell Coutts' Alinghi in the early 2000s, when they lifted it off team New Zealand.
Jock has won gold or silver at every Masters Games he has competed in and was in line for the podium once again.