Sailing Class for Women?

[Red Charlotte]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Why would a sailing class for women be different than a class for men?

The issue of a more experienced partner making the learning more difficult (which often happens) is a completely separate issue.

Women often feel intimidated by men, especially in the sailing world. Having a class for women, by women would be empowering and is apparently what the lady is looking for.

[MarkJ]

I think its great for men that women get independent training.

Someone on this boat who doesn't happen to be me can sometimes question what/how I want something done.

If she we trained independently by someone she respects - another female - I think it would then let her make a decision: Marks 'right' or Mark's 'wrong'. Then she would either do it my way, or know a better, corrector way to do it. I don't mind change etc so if she says: "Hey I know how to do this" I'll let her!

Women do get intimidated by men, and by big blobs of machinery, and wolf whistling yard workers when they are manoeuvring the dinghy. (Hell, I even get intimidated at guys whistling at me sometimes!) The more empowered via knowledge and experience Nic is, the better.

PLUS!: I wouldn't mind doing a bit of wife swapping! Swap my girl for someone’s husband. So the girls could sail together and all the blokes could sail a bit slower so they can't see us drinking beer.
That would give the cruising girls a great eye opener of how other 'real' boats are doing it. And it would be easy to set up and free

Mark

[Red Charlotte]

Mark, I love the idea of swapping! I've sailed with just girls and it is such a different experience. The men could take one boat for the day and the ladies could chill on another. We'll have to try that if we ever meet up out there!

[schoonerdog]

I never understood the need to separate out the genders in sailing -- I hate perpetuating that stereotype that this is a man's sport and women get "dragged" in to it and have to scramble to learn or keep up. Blah!

I taught myself to sail as a little girl by sneaking out the neighbor's Sunfish on Lake Michigan and sailing off until my dad would scream from the shore for me to come back. When I was still figuring out how to sail upwind, sometimes I would have to jump off, tie the rope to my arm, and swim the thing back. Ahhh, youth.

When I got older I cut my teeth by racing in Annapolis. I didn't know a soul, but I showed up at some docks with beer and brownies and asked who had room. I got on a great boat with people my age early 20's at the time) to grandpas, all men, and learned more than I could have ever hoped for. It did NOT teach me how to cruise -- that you can only learn by doing it. But it DID teach me how to sail and how to get the mechanics of sailing to be second nature. It's free, it's fun, and you can keep going until you feel like you really have the hang of it. Gender has nothing to do with it, just find the way that's best for you and go for it!

Now if we're talking about sailing issues that TRULY ARE strictly female, I could teach you ladies how to tack a 44 foot boat while nursing a baby. Very carefully.

(Schoonerdog's wife - Cindy)

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by schoonerdog

I could teach you ladies how to tack a 44 foot boat while nursing a baby. Very carefully.

(Schoonerdog's wife - Cindy)

Which bit did you do very carefully?

The tacking or the nursing?





I hope it was the tacking! LOL

Mark

[Red Charlotte]

Originally Posted by schoonerdog

I never understood the need to separate out the genders in sailing -- I hate perpetuating that stereotype that this is a man's sport and women get "dragged" in to it and have to scramble to learn or keep up. Blah!

(Schoonerdog's wife - Cindy)

Hi Cindy, That is wonderful that you don't feel any pressure or intimidation from men in the sailing world. From how you described growing up around boats I can see how you wouldn't.

I don't think though, that a woman who is new to sailing and who wants to learn from other women, or around other women is perpetuating any stereotypes. If anything it is breaking stereotypes by showing that the woman is not being dragged along and WANTS to learn.

As a teacher I understand that people learn a variety of ways. If someone can identify a good way they learn, they're already ahead of the pack. If that way is with women, then good for her. Just because you can't understand this desire doesn't make it any less real or important.

We already get enough push back from men in the sailing community (see the earlier post by a man asking why it was necessary for women to learn from other women), so as another woman I think it's important to recognize how other women might feel and support their being here and trying to learn the ropes.

As to tacking and nursing, believe me, once I've had my first I'll be hounding you for advice!!

Many thanks,
Charlotte

[harmony80]

Different strokes for different folks, regardless of gender. Experience is the best teacher. I, too, learned to sail from men, and I still learn from others, regardless of gender, but mostly I have learned from experience. I taught sailing to both men and women, and one thing became quickly apparent...anytime a married couple took lessons, put them on different boats the first couple of times before putting them together...it really worked well. Most of the time I taught both women and men at the same time and I learned quickly that everyone learns differently with some similarities. As a general rule, men would ask more questions about the wind direction, and women would ask more questions about the wind direction...hmmm, not so different afterall. I found that I could explain the technical principles of wind to a man...they either got it or pretended to get it and it was the same with most women. But there were those women that learned best when told to close their eyes and feel the wind on their bodies and relate that to visual images of how wind from that direction would fill a sail then steer the boat with their eyes closed...it worked marvels! I suspect it worked marvels for some of the men too. Overall I found that mixed-gender classes worked best because everyone learned from the experiences of others too. In the end, experience, experience, experience is what builds knowledge and confidence. So just go sailing and get that experience anyway you can.