Tongue firmly in his cheek
You cannot tar everyone over 65 with the same brush. Whilst there may be a few in the ‘contact sport' category, you cannot deny the wealth of experience and ability that has been built up over years.
Experience gets others moving
Very often, that experience gets others moving when the creaking infrastructure causes hold ups at ‘broken' locks and swing bridges, and it can educate other users to prevent a logjam of boats in low pounds, when less knowledgeable individuals blindly plough on without a thought for the consequences.
There are times when I have come into contact with another boat, but never under full power, and never head on to another boat. Sometimes the younger element do not see the problem caused by inappropriately moored craft, or the situation they put other boaters in when they travel too fast into channels they have no visibility of.
Give up our craft
Finally, if we all have to give up and have our craft compulsorily purchased, who will pick up the bill for such actions, and who will bear the brunt of lost revenue from licence fees. Perhaps Jon Nicholls is a cyclist who is frustrated by boaters on the towpath who slow down his time-trials, or maybe an angler who feels his sport is compromised by the boats he has to share the water with.
[Jon is a fellow boater whose tongue was indeed firmly in his cheek when he wrote about banning those over 65 from steering. Our apologies for those who took it too seriously.]