sexist outboard motor?

I don't think there's any physical reason why women would have trouble starting outboards.

I agree with the John the Kiwi that it's about feel for the machinery, and women may tend to have less knowledge of this than men, so need to learn.

There may be some diffidence as well: chainsaws were mentioned earlier. My other half is a very experienced chainsaw operator and has several, but I would never want to go near any of them, as I am frightened of them. I am not frightened of outboards but I hate the noise. Stuff like that can stop you pulling hard enough and start looking around to see if anyone else'll do it!
 
As a child, myself and friends would always laugh at girls trying to throw - they just couldn't do it (as a general rule). Trying to teach my two daughters to skim stones, the old memories came back. I daresay that pulling the cord in the correct way is exactly the same thing - co-ordinating the rotation of the shoulders to amplify the flexion of the arm. Is this evolutionary? the women stayed at the cave and looked after the children while the men threw rocks at dinner?
 
I like the idea of teaching my daughter how to pull.......we tried some extra tuition like " we aren`t going ashore to the pub until you start the outboard or row me there"....I think it is a mind over matter thing....she is a bit frightened of the recoil so doesn`t pull the whole length, I also agree with posters that male and female thoracic anatomy differs, I am sure I needn`t go further. Her main worry is that she has permission to take the boat out midweek with her mates and doesn`t want to look a wally!
 
jwilson said:
Both my Seagulls were ultra-easy to start, low compression, and you were not fighting a spring on the cord.
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Happy days: dad heaving on the cord to start the Seagull and the kids cowering in the bows hoping to avoid the worst of the rope's end. ;)
 
john_morris_uk said:
I don't believe for one moment that its the recoil spring. Your question has got me wondering and I suspect that it IS something about the way that females are conditioned to use their bodies.

If that sounds sexist, let me explain as I don't think that the problem is insurmountable. I don't believe that there is anything sexist in my theory - its just about conditioning and how we do things.

My reasoning is from my experiences when I sometimes help coach children and young people to play cricket. In the 8-15 age group there is no distinction between the sexes in cricket; girls and boys all play and are coached together. Frequently, it is REALLY difficult to get girls to throw a cricket ball in any meaningful way because the action seems to be so alien to them. It was only when I watched a (very senior) coach working with some older youths that it made me think about what was going on. He got the players thinking about how a boxer is taught to punch. Its NOT just with the arm, but a full power blow starts from the feet with the weight transferred and the power coming from the twisting of the torso (core muscles) and the shoulders. It requires standing sideways and coiling yourself backwards.

Throwing a ball well has similar attributes but sometimes its REALLY DIFFICULT to get the girls to stand sideways on and twist and rotate as their arm comes through. They like to stand front on and throw with just the arm which is inaccurate and very ineffective in comparison to using their core strength and a big twisting of the torso and shoulders action.
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Dreadful thread drift, I'm afraid, but - in the days when Freddie Trueman's daughter was married to Raquel Welch's son - I used to imagine the scene after lunch on Christmas Day as FST taught his American relations by marriage the finer points of the English Summer Game. Somehow, there was an indelible image of Ms Welch struggling with line and length and Freddie's voice booming out: "It's a sideways-on game, Raquel."
 
I think I have to thank the men saying that us girls may not be designed to operate engines and suchlike, started the outboard with no trouble whatsoever, thanks again!

Actually thanks to the person who posted about the torso twist and engaging the core, really worked :)
 
I have just been working on a Seagull Forty Plus manufactured in 1972, belonging to another forumite. It starts first pull every time, hot or cold, and my step daughter has no difficulty with it. These motors are consistently better starters than more modern outboards when the points are clean and correctly gapped.
 
We have similar issue with our 3.5 hp outboard. Wife struggles to start it. She has no problem with the 9.8hp. Weird that pull required on the bigger engine is less than the smaller engine.
 
Had the same issues, but spent some time teaching the technique when sat in the Dinghy (correctly spelled for Twister_ken) It was not strength in our case either, it was just fear and technique. Grab the puller, prime the engine at resistence point and pull the cord right out using torso twisting motion. She can do it, but still avoids it if someone else is willing!
 
I have to say the anatomical argument sounds a bit far fetched to me. The main difference between male and female anatomy is in the hips and dangly bits. The later have very little use in starting an outboard and the anatomical difference in the former is not likely to be a significant factor in this case either. I think JM probably hit the nail on the head as it is likely a conditioning thing. Males are far more likely to be into ball games, throwing and suchlike. This encourages them to get past that early and inefficient stage of throwing where the hand goes behind the head and the ball is essentially pushed towards its destination. Boys learn early that they must use the pivot action of the arm and wrist along with the immensely greater strength of the core muscles. This is simply a practice and learned skill and there is no good reason why females would be unable to do it. There is, of course, a relative lack of strength in the female sex and often they lack the upper body weight but once again technique is probably key. There are quite a few guys that end up lacking these skills and even more that don't have the feel for mechanical things. I don't understand the argument re longbows other than the potential for bruising to a delicate area.
 
This thread is quite old now but anyway....

I think learning to overcome any natural difficulty I have with starting an outboard is just a matter of perseverance until I find the knack. At the moment I have intermittent success. The most disheartening point is when you're running out of time due to the weather and a very kind bloke, politely trying not to look puzzled at your inability, starts the engine without any apparent applied effort, while leaning over from a couple of feet away.

What exercise can I do to build up some strength to make that motion more natural? Is there an equivalent of my grandfather's chest expander, but that would be more relevant? I thought of an Ergo (rowing machine), but it's only similar, and I'm getting a lot of rowing practice already due to the outboard. I have plenty of strength already when I row. I know how to exert pull from the catch through a stroke but I can't apply that principle to the engine.

There's got to be a simpler method to practice or build up that strength than actually attempting to start the outboard in the water, which involves the engine being supported in the correct position, being in water for cooling etc etc. I don't have anywhere at home to set up an outboard, so "practice" means a trip to the Thames.

Thanks.
 
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One of the biggest bonuses to me of going electric was that I wasn't needed to go ashore for shopping trips unless I fancied it. My wife could often start the outboard but couldn't do it reliably so would not go ashore without me in case it wouldn't restart.

Now it's just a turn of the throttle and off she goes.
 
Mctavish said:
This thread is quite old now but anyway....

I think learning to overcome any natural difficulty I have with starting an outboard is just a matter of perseverance until I find the knack. At the moment I have intermittent success. The most disheartening point is when you're running out of time due to the weather and a very kind bloke, politely trying not to look puzzled at your inability, starts the engine without any apparent applied effort, while leaning over from a couple of feet away.

What exercise can I do to build up some strength to make that motion more natural? Is there an equivalent of my grandfather's chest expander, but that would be more relevant? I thought of an Ergo (rowing machine), but it's only similar, and I'm getting a lot of rowing practice already due to the outboard. I have plenty of strength already when I row. I know how to exert pull from the catch through a stroke but I can't apply that principle to the engine.

There's got to be a simpler method to practice or build up that strength than actually attempting to start the outboard in the water, which involves the engine being supported in the correct position, being in water for cooling etc etc. I don't have anywhere at home to set up an outboard, so "practice" means a trip to the Thames.

Thanks.
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Do you have a 'wheelie bin'? They're great for running outboards. When not full of rubbish, but half-full of water, of course.
 
Ripster said:
Had the same issues, but spent some time teaching the technique when sat in the Dinghy (correctly spelled for Twister_ken) It was not strength in our case either, it was just fear and technique. Grab the puller, prime the engine at resistence point and pull the cord right out using torso twisting motion. She can do it, but still avoids it if someone else is willing!
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Captain Pedantic says: unnecessary capitalisation of otherwise correctly spelled 'dinghy'. :)
 
StormNorm said:
Do you have a 'wheelie bin'? They're great for running outboards. When not full of rubbish, but half-full of water, of course.
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Or, if your Council bin is being used for its intended purpose, buy a normal plastic dustbin from B&Q (not expensive) and knock up a wooden frame to hold the engine. I have this setup on my patio for flushing the outboard after use.

Not much help if "Mctavish" lives in a 6th floor flat though :). "Location: London" might mean no outside space.

Pete
 
RupertW said:
One of the biggest bonuses to me of going electric was that I wasn't needed to go ashore for shopping trips unless I fancied it. My wife could often start the outboard but couldn't do it reliably so would not go ashore without me in case it wouldn't restart.

Now it's just a turn of the throttle and off she goes.
Click to expand...

The reason why my little (2hp) outboard is so useful to me is its lack of weight. I don't want to have the twinge in my back that carrying a heavier outboard causes. I found that a trolley didn't completely solve the problem as there were at least two points where I still had to lift the engine and the trolley. So I got a light ob which I like very much. I don't think I can get an electric start on a tiny outboard. Since my last excursion I've been looking.
I'd prefer to learn how to start it anyway.
 
I do have a tiny outside space, but I can't get away with starting an OB because of the building's noise restrictions.

I thought about the bin idea - take it elsewhere and practice. I originally thought it would be more enjoyable practising on the river and it has been, but the proportion of time I get to see the engine working compared to the amount of time I spend preparing for the trip, setting up, rowing back, clearing up, is tiny, so I don't get enough opportunity to learn why the engine has started. I've asked for help many times so I can see it done correctly, but I find I can't reproduce it. I find think "long, not snatch" helps, as does thinking it will start.

I know I can start the engine. Time to take a bin somewhere.
 
Mctavish said:
The reason why my little (2hp) outboard is so useful to me is its lack of weight. I don't want to have the twinge in my back that carrying a heavier outboard causes. I found that a trolley didn't completely solve the problem as there were at least two points where I still had to lift the engine and the trolley. So I got a light ob which I like very much. I don't think I can get an electric start on a tiny outboard. Since my last excursion I've been looking.
I'd prefer to learn how to start it anyway.
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Sorry I wasn't clear - we switched to electric outboard not electric start. The main reason was weight as the light LiOn battery is made in the shape of a handle and the shaft with motor weighs almost nothing and the two just clip together in the dinghy.
The secomd reason was having to hire a car or taxi just to get petrol.
The lack of any starting effort and thus my wife's confidence in the engine was a big and unexpected bonus.
 
Sexiest outboard motor?

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chubby said:
I like the idea of teaching my daughter how to pull...
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Something about that, makes me feel very uncomfortable. ;) Happy 2016. :encouragement:
 
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