Sorry to go on so long about this. That's what happens when a woman answers a question
First of all, why apologize for going on so long? Ain't a forum for'em?(
for them questions, answers, comments, points of few 
)
As to the weight factor, point taken. I can see why certain types of boats are too powerful or too light/small.
As to
As far as long-distance cruisers and liveaboards, those are mostly couples or whole families.
This is probably where I got my perception. Nine out of ten times when moored alongside some new temp neighbours, whether it is in a harbour or waiting for the bridge to open .. Nine out of ten times, the man is the skipper and the woman just wants to get a tan or has her hands full on the kids.
And I do agree, there are plenty of good female sailors too. Such as for instance Ellen MacArthur who's a lot smaller than me, but a far more experienced sailor. Having sailed larger boats and under worse conditions, than I have up till now and probably for quite some time.
And yes, indeed there are plenty of 'coed' sailing teams, but if there's a women only boat, we (men in general or for instance the European Sports Press) do not expect them to win. Such as in the Volvo Ocean Race, where the 'women-only-boat' kinda hung behind the others all the time and had more of their fair share of (technical) bad luck.
So why is it that we (men) are not surprised when this happens?
