Maiden Gully's John Carroll - Jack, as he's known - started sailing at the invitation of a friend in his mid-teens.

Now 90, Mr Carroll's love of and involvement in sailing has not abated, and it is this lifetime of service to the sport that has seen him awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.

Mr Carroll lived in Melbourne until 1990, when he and his late wife Evelyn moved to Bendigo.

He'd had a long association with the city's yacht club: it used the Australian Sailfish boats he and his late best friend, Bruce Scott, designed in the 1950s, for its juniors.

Over the years, Mr Carroll has competed in sailing championships, winning national titles and medals in Masters Games, and has held numerous positions in various sailing organisations

He has also long mentored and coached young sailors and that is something he continues to do to this day.

During the season, he can be found on a Saturday morning at Lake Eppalock, teaching his proteges how best to sail - one so happens to sail the boat in which he won silver at the 1990 Masters Games.

Mr Carroll said it was the satisfaction of helping people that motivated him to continue lending his expertise and knowledge to the sailing community.

"That's been my life, just helping people with sailing," he said.

He said sailing had brought a lot of friends from across Australia into his life.

"I had a very big life because of it," he said.

His son Brian (he also has a daughter, Lynette) inherited his love of sailing and became a top-class world sailor.

"He turned out a lot better than his dad," Mr Carroll said.

Mr Carroll is also a life member of the Cocker Spaniel Club of Australia, having been a breeder of the dogs.

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