What don't women like about sailing....

doesn't work! Me and a couple of other female forumites tried them out - all very well and good when wearing a skirt, but no good if you've got full foulies on. I did try - much to the hilarity of the other crew...
 
aroona said:
Very well said - I have yet to see anything on board that cant be done equally as well if not better by women.]

When I was running a charter boat some years ago I came back to the marina after a few days away. Went for a beer and the barman said "your crew were in half an hour ago." "How do you know they were mine?" I asked "They were three women and they drank pints!" He said.
Guess some Skippers get all the best crew.
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ArchieP said:
Women have long complained about how the world is dominated by men. Then it occurred to me that these questions are nonsense. Women sailors are no different from men sailors, except they smell better and seem to stay cleaner longer. Sailors are sailors, and if women are interested in sailing they’ll be learning all the same stuff that men learn. The truth is that most people don’t like sailing. It’s a minority sport.
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I think this makes good sense.

Replace 'sailing' with diving, gliding, hillwalking, parachuting and the argument holds firm.

Reverse the man/women argument and replace 'sailing' with horse riding, bingo, (sorry ladies...) etc etc and voila...

As for rude people...they are everywhere. Not on this forum of course....;)
 
Being a female member of this forum, have been ripped to pieces on many a post on here and given as good as I've got
Plus I have sailed with both male and female skippers in all weathers, each have thier own attributes and you learn as crew to adapt accordingly.
Yes, women don't have the physical strength of the male species, but we adapt often to the amusement of the males on board but it works
What do I hate about sailing is the sloshing around in pee in the heads in a F6+ cos the men can't sit down and pee even though they have been asked to. Thats it really.....

Would rather be out on the water than in a shopping mall anyday!
 
Champagne Murphy said:
The present Mrs Murphy is a great lover of sailing. Technical knowledge, well, quick to pick up a point. Hasn't got masses of strength though. I was once told 'hang on to that one , there aren't many like them'
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I think that's a good point; my wife enjoys being out on the sea, and generally likes the idea that we are self-sufficient and so on; she was even willing to regard one rather bad experience as proof that we could manage quite well when things went wrong. But, like many women, she is quite simply not very strong. I am no heavyweight, and have had to alter things like the purchase on the main-sheet to ensure I can handle it. But she really can't get a sheet tight in unless the conditions are benign, even with two-speed winches, and steering in heavy weather would tire her very quickly. I suspect that for a lot of women it is the strength required that puts them off. All generalizations are false, even this one, but generally speaking, women don't have the same strength as men, though they may well have greater reserves of courage and staying power.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
I think that's a good point; my wife enjoys being out on the sea, and generally likes the idea that we are self-sufficient and so on; she was even willing to regard one rather bad experience as proof that we could manage quite well when things went wrong. But, like many women, she is quite simply not very strong. I am no heavyweight, and have had to alter things like the purchase on the main-sheet to ensure I can handle it. But she really can't get a sheet tight in unless the conditions are benign, even with two-speed winches, and steering in heavy weather would tire her very quickly. I suspect that for a lot of women it is the strength required that puts them off. All generalizations are false, even this one, but generally speaking, women don't have the same strength as men, though they may well have greater reserves of courage and staying power.
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Hmm;

when I was married, my feminist " I can do anything better than you men " wife ran and hid down in the cabin when we had an electrical storm and lightning hitting the water around us, then refused to help when I and the boat went to the aid of a dinghy sailor in trouble...It's a matter of whether any person, male or female, has a willing attitude or not.

I've known girlfriends who were extremely plucky in severe conditions, it's just that for some reason I've never been able to fathom I married a wrong'un !

As for strength, I'm a strong believer that hubbie should pull up the anchor while the Mrs does the steering and throttle etc, but this should be interchangeable if need be; I once had a couple of broken ribs and was very glad of my girlfriend of the time helping out.
 
ChattingLil said:
I think I agree with this. I'm a female sailor. My partner (male) doesn't like it one little bit and has zero interest. Despite my best efforts very few of my family or my best friends or any of work colleagues are interested either. Those that don't like it, just don't get it and can't understand why we would want to be out in the cold and wet, working hard, thinking hard, spending hard.

I don't know why it's an activity that is dominated by men - maybe its as simple as a child-caring issue because despite what we may say, it is difficult to have young children on board AND have active and enjoyable sailing. (I said difficult, not impossible!).

I am also shocked by some of the behaviours of male sailors, iro shouting at the first mate. So if this is what women experience it's no wonder they don't want to return.

I don't know why it is so, but generally I find that women have a lower interest in the technical stuff - it is certainly true in my case - I am constantly baffled by the interminable discussions on epoxy, gelcoat, electrickery, gizmos and gadets, dyneema, wotnots. I just don't get a lot of it. I want to know what works on my boat and what is safe, but aside from that as long as the sails go up and it goes relatively forwards and I know what the depth is - then that's it!

So, I think the reason why most women don't like sailing are the same reasons that most men don't like sailing and these are the reaons that my HWMO gives: cold, wet, uncomfortable, doesn't like heeling over, heads inadequate, bulky uncomfortable clothing, takes forever to get anywhere, boring, and he can't get off if he gets fed up and wants to go home. Generally, he'd just rather be doing something else!
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Spot on. Incidentally if you changed "sailing" to "yachts" in your last paragraph this would apply pretty well to both my wife and daughter. OTOH one is a demon Topper sailor and the other enjoys racing her Comet
 
We get a lot of females who want to learn to sail out here in Greece but who are not interested in sailing in the UK.

The first time I sailed here was in the Ionian about 13 years ago. Five girl friends and I came on charter and couldn't believe the difference it made to be able to sail in shorts and T-shirts rather then in several layers of clothing and oilies (going to the loo when wearing waterproofs is a far more complex and time-consuming operation for us women). I've never really been keen on cold-weather sailing since ... although Scottish scenery makes up for it some.

The main things I've found women don't like are using the 'heads', lack of room in showers, some miss being able to use a hairdryer, and some are certainly worried if the boat heels too much.

But, as has been mentioned by others, male skippers are often the biggest problem. I'm frequently amazed by men who expect their wives to handle anchor chain and ropes when they come into port while they steer and shout orders. Most women I know are better on the helm and give instructions in a much calmer manner and men are often better at throwing ropes (although of course not if the ladies are taught how to do it properly) so it seems the wrong distribution of labour. I think a lot of men like to feel 'in control' even if they don't know any more than their wives do :)

Something else that surprises me is how many liveaboard wives I have met who are perfectly happy to live on a boat but are not interested in or capable of sailing it or navigating. I find that hard to understand. Personally it would make me very nervous if I didn't feel confident that I could not handle everything if my partner was ill or injured.
 
I'm interested in all this stuff about women not wanting to work winches, not being strong enough etc. Ever since I first stepped onto a boat sail trimming has been where I am most comfortable. You can't get me away from the winches. Whatever women don't like about sailing, it definitely isn't always that. Nothing makes my heart sing like a properly trimmed sail.

It is true that women can get diverted into boat domestics, like mopping up children and pets, cooking, and ministering to the seasick. I think looking after the people on the boat can be just as valuable as directly sailing it and don't mind doing a fair bit of this, but if you did nothing else, I can see you might get fed up in the end.
 
Merry Girl,

you have just made a zillion male friends world wide, either keen or just sighing like me as I think you're spoken for !

Top Tip; keep to the sails, though if on a boat like mine you might have to suffer curry with potatos chucked in, or as a snack cream crackers and cheese as sandwiches...

I once sailed with a chum who is an exceptional engineer, famous throughout British Aerospace, but boiling a kettle is serious cooking to him; when setting off across the Channel I asked him to make crackers and ( sliced Kraft or similar ) cheese sandwiches, then I found my teeth hitting something - he'd left on the plastic wrappers...

Stick to the winches, if they notice you can cook there'll be no escape !
 
What a fascinating thread! It certainly seems the most successful sailing relationships involve various levels of compromise!

But it is sad that there aren't more women in boating (though there are quite a few in our marina), but I do think getting into the sport earlier in life is better, with fewer pre-conceived ideas. Fortunately, HWMBO & I learned to sail together on a villa/flotilla holiday, so we both started off at the same level. Being a pilot, he is a lot more experienced with the navigation and instruments, but this doesn't mean he always skippers - we take it in turns (though I think he gets a kick out of having a chaffeur driven boat sometimes ;-). Admittedly, when we first started out, I was a little concerned when heeled right over, with the water over the gunwhale. But once that whole vanishing stability curve was explained, I had a better understanding of the boat's capabilities, which eased my anxiety. And the more experience and knowledge we BOTH gain, the better we work together. I think this is the key to a crew having fun - male or female - learning about the boat helps with your own capabilities and enjoyment.

But there's been some talk that mobo-ers might be an intimidating lot. Well, even though we are sailors, we're currently mobo-ers (got tired of the frustrating weekends of lousy weather and unable to go anywhere/very far)! So we mix with both the raggies & mobies - but, just like life on land, there are many from BOTH sides that have their bullying & shouting which does make it unpleasant for everyone else. Sadly, it is often down to poor planning or boat handling, and the majority of culprits do seem to be men. Indeed, they do come across as intimidating. And it takes a tough person (woman or man!) to stand up to a shouting bully, particularly if there's an audience. But we've seen this on both sail AND motor boats. So it's not surprising that women who experience this are put off, especially if they're not competitive or combative. Additionally, if someone doesn't calmly explain the mechanics/dymanics of sailing, then why do a sport that you don't understand, which scares you, & where people think they can bully you. Knowledge is surely the best medicine to help cure some of this reticence.

I am very pleased to say that we're now going back to the rags & sticks - for a year sailing around the Eastern Med :o There'll be very little shouting (though probably the odd grumble), but lLOTS of compromise, and hopefully many a G&T on a sunny trampoline :cool:
 
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In my view.......'times are a changing'

Almost 50% of the people attending my courses are female.....admittedly many are wife's of sailing chaps who want to become more confident and enjoy the 'sport' as an active partner not a passenger.

As for the results, in my experience there is no difference between the sexes, women are just as quick (or slow) as men to pick up the complexities of tidal curves, EP & DR, variation & deviation, course to steer, etc.

A lot of them do say their husbands shout at them, which is not the best way to achieve matrimonial harmony and general enjoyment on board.........but that's another thread!
 
Toilet facilities seem to be a recurring theme. That was my wife's top priority the last time I discussed a new boat with her. Other top priorities were that it not be tippy, and that she have a comfortable place out of the sun to sit.
 
I'm not bothered at all by the boat heeling, or the wind speed increasing (up to a point). If we're out and in a Force 6 or 7, I usually helm as I'm a lot calmer than Mr Sponge. He worries much more about the boat heeling as well. He's sailed dinghies for years, whereas I never have. We both believe that the number of times he's been swimming has instilled in him a gut reaction and that every time the boat heels he thinks we're doomed, lol. I've always enjoyed roller coasters and horse riding and I find sailing when it's a bit rough positively exhilarating rather than scary. We sailed back once from Ceuta to Gibraltar in quite big seas. I loved it and the other guys on board were surprised at how upbeat I was. Happy days.
 
Last summer, August, it was blowing a gale in the Gulf of Gioia, and we were creeping into Gioia Tauro container terminal with bare poles and motor, begging for shelter on the radio, beaten, humiliated and chastised for our arrogance, when a little boat hove into view, close hauled, main and genoa fully deployed, aboard were two 20 yr old French girls whom we'd met that morning ashore in Tropea. Obviously much better seapersons than we were! Even so I don't think they'd have got past Scilla that day.
 
What don't women like about sailing? well I'm a woman and I don't like it when:

-we haven't trimmed the sails properly and we're going slower than I think we could do
-we're on port tack- open the fridge and everything falls out -and my bunk is the uphill one
- we get to an anchorage after a long passage and it's crowded and I can't decide where to 'park'

Struggling to think of much, really, that I don't like. Good job really, as we're half way through a potential circumnavigation.

I love navigating, passage planning, being practical and mending things ( the heads/plumbing and carpentry are my specialities, but sailmending is good fun too), helming in boisterous conditions (although don't do much what with the aries and autopilot), foredeck work, going to the mast, getting the trim right, fishing.. well I could go on for ever about what I like, but that wasn't the question.

I don't always 'enjoy' really bad weather, dislike being cold and I truly hate being seasick (which does still strike me on occasions, infuriatingly) but I get a kick out of 'being brave' and toughing it out, I get exhilarated by overcoming problems.

I don't like it when people assume that my (male) partner is the skipper..
 
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