If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.
Former Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Shane Connelly recalled the wise words that carried him through his public duty as he braced to take on the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on Boxing Day.
A relaxing retirement to reward a rewarding but tough 33-year career was never an option for Mr Connelly when he left the AFP in November - at least not until he could tick Australia's most famous yacht race off his bucket list.
His passion for sailing sparked in 1993 after growing familiar with deep water as a police diver early in his career.
The hobby developed through memberships with various yacht clubs and he would make the fortnightly commute to Batemans Bay with other Canberra sailors.
"I was a keen surfer but I figured you can't surf forever and as I got older I needed an alternative for an ocean sport so sailing was the supplement," Mr Connelly said.
"It was hard to balance it with work but in every job you need respite to focus on yourself and certainly sailing helped me as a police officer."
The former cop competed in several small races and trained with skipper Roger Hickman who won the 2014 event before he passed away earlier this year.
About two years ago he was he was approached about entering the Sydney to Hobart race by his friend and skipper of the Pelagic Magic yacht, Simon Dunlop.
He had not yet joined the mainly Canberra-based Pelagic Magic crew when they missed out on finishing in the top 20 spots at last year's 630 nautical mile race by just once place.
After months of strenuous training, Mr Connolly said he was ready to represent the capital.
He was not fussed about the event being widely considered one of the most difficult yacht races in the world due to rough conditions.
"You might not be able to control the weather, but you can't control a lot in life," he said,
"You can't control whether you are going to catch cancer, bad things happen to people on the roads who follow the rules," he said.
He said it all came down to good management, good crewmanship and little bit of luck, as no amount of the former two could prevent strong winds causing breakage.
One could be forgiven for thinking he'd have had enough of the ocean after crossing the finish line, but the veteran sailor says he'll always be drawn to "what is both a beautiful princess and a wicked mistress".
"Believe it or not, I'm already coming back in January to prepare my own boat and then I'm sailing back to Tasmania to sail around the beautiful east coast," he said.
"It's better to live a crowded hour of glorious life than a lifetime of namelessness, and I'm certainly enjoying that crowded hour."