Sailing in your 80% Healthspan

Originally posted by Neptune

   Recent, but not specific, topics and other influences have had me thinking how dinghy racing can be accessible for older people.

This topic ran and ran on the wooden boat forum but was aimed at self builders casual sailing. 

There is clearly a very wide spread of fitness as we age so rather than get all hung up on a particular age it is easier to refer to ‘healthspan’ (the part of a person’s life during which they are generally in good health). I don’t believe that a person who has reached 80% of their healthspan has many dinghy sailing options. 

Speaking very generally the retirees are willing to splash the cash (lump sum from pension etc) but shy away from going out when the wind becomes moderately interesting. I don’t believe this is about ability but that capsize recovery is such an ordeal. The options I believe are:
Low freeboard boats that are easier to right but require greater athleticism.
More traditional boats that are more stable but even with the addition of righting lines high freeboard and swamped hulls make  capsize recovery challenging.
Boats with additional stability, multiple hulls and keels, cumbersome on land and generally require additional help.
What I think is required is:
Light boat for independent launching
Good stability and comfortable in all conditions without great athleticism 
Easy to reef, adjust sail area for different conditions.
Recoverable from a capsize with ease.
I am sure there are people who believe that they sail the ideal class for an 80% sailor and though some classes have some good attributes nothing I know of is ideal. 