Flame me for it, but here are my answers. Based on my own experiences racing with a female crew and experiences with mixed racing crews at events

-1- Women often don't have the competitive drive equal to the men. This not to say they don't have it but just in a different shape and magnitude then men.

-2- Men quite often seek out sports that make them feel a little scared, women don't. Sailing a Tornado under full rig is definately on the scared side of control.

-3- It takes a huge investment in time and giving up very large chunks of your personal life to be competitive at the level that the Tornado guys are. Women often do not values victories as to be enough substitution for the "life lost". And then women have the issue of "building a family" in alot more profound way then men. Of course creating a family takes women of the scene st the ages where they should be completing the last leg to being compititive by sailing 4 hours a day or more. They simply can not do that.

-4- Women are very good till the age where men have their second growth spurt and start getting wider and stronger. Now the men can use their strength, stamina and sheer amounts of testoron to compensate for inferiour sailing skills. Women, often being more carefull sailors, loose out on taken less risks or sailing less agressively.

-5- The mindset of men on board is often fully incompetible with the atmosphere that inspires a women to perform optimally. I personally found that Women will get out and race very well in rough conditions when they have absolute faith in the other and know that the other has absolute faith and respect for them. It is my experience that men do lift themselfs beyond their personal limits because the are ashamed to not life up to expectations or because of personal ambition. Women on the other hand tend to lift themselfs beyond personal limits when they feel secured by someone ready to pick them up if things go wrong or when they see that a personal win (mind over matter) experience in within reach. Men overcome for their standing amongst other, women overcome for personal victories so to say but only if the environment is controlled enough so that it doesn't come with to much risk. One more point if women start to realize that are about to "stick it to the men" then you are hard pressed to see a better playing or better performing team. Then they are like a pittbul and won't let go of the grip they have.

-6- Women are a little more inclined to accept the status quo and race what they got, men contribute to this by thinking only in terms of their own personality or capabilities. What a mixed team should do and what a man must do if analyse the strong points and weak points of a mixed crew and start adjusting the setup of the platform and controls accordingly. I can't count how many times women were put off by the spinnaker because the men (always being the skipper !) just ingnore the fact that having 2 extra ratchets on board just makes sheeting the spinnaker a lot less tiring. Often the men on the sheet will complain once or twice and then go to the gym more often to build up muscle. This route, of course, is totally imcompatible with women. Therefor women and the male companions should work out alternatives or switch roles so that the specialities of either is applied to where it is needed. That is another thing men never want to hand over the tiller and often women don't REALLY ask for it.

Here I gave a few examples why it is difficult for a mixed or all female crew to reach the very top of sailing after the men have reached their adult size and mindset. Attacking these point directly improves the likelyhood of mixed crews moving up in the listings.

And remember afterall why Ellen McArthur is succesful and why 110 kg crews like Daniel van Kerckhof / Anna-Liese Byrne and 140 kg Andrew Williams + Petra Eiggl (Taipan 4.9 + spi crews) win their races. It has nothing to do with extra width and all with trim and adjusting the boat and crew to the limitations of a mixed crew. Also with the mindset that a mixed crew can win in such a class of boats.

So

Is your rig to powerful ? Get another main cut for your weight. Accept that you don't have the edge as you did in light air anymore over becoming competitive in the stronger stuff.

Are the sheet loads to high ? Redesign the systems so the loads are lower (cascade down system, F16 forum, is a good example of that)

Is the crew role to heavy for one ? Switch roles onboard. Mainsheet to highly loaded, hand it to the crew on teh upwind legs and train on making the boat go upwind as a team effort with clearly defined "I do this you do that"

Is one crew tactically inferiour ? Hand the tactics and decisions to the other, even when that means that the crew becomes the leader on the boat and the skipper the one that follows directives.

Is one crew getting nervous and feels to much in edge. Start talking to eachother and call out any action, reasons for decisions and projected path. This will often quickly settle the other down even when things get hairy.

If a women stays nervous then simply back-off and sail around the situation. When given time she will proces the specifics of the situation you just avoided and find a opening where she is comfortable with and in one of the next times she will surprise you by not backing-out in one of the next times. If you then keep your actions clear and controlled she will reinforce the trust she places on you and not back-off ever again in similar situation.

For the men, Trust needs to be earned and KEPT ! The one thing every male part of a mixed crew should learn is to never betray the trust of the female part. For them the trust that you'll be dependable and responsible is a very important part of their whole way of sailing. It is often, in my experience, what they use to overcome the limits they feel. They are not really shaken by bad luck, but they are really upset by irresponsible actions resulting in damages or injury. As a men you have the responsibility to always sail clean, never curse and make well founded decisions and balance gains to risks. You won't believe how far this will boost your mixed crew performance.

For coaches of all female teams these points in a way are the same. You are a ladder they use to get up in performance in different ways than men do. If a coach doesn't realize this then the gains are most likely (very) limited. This is also a reason why female coaches often don't work that much better. Men often don't respect them and women see their own limits reflected in them. It is actually extremely difficult to be a female coach supporting an all-female crew in a sport like this. Mostly because you'll need an exceptionally accomplished sailor for your female trainees to respect you unconditionally. Then of course women are women among themselfs and that is a whole world into itself. I don't understand it but I have seen the outward visible ripples of it. For some reason women and men react to eachother in more controllable ways in relationships like that. Sadly female coaches and male teams are even worse because the men often simply don't respect the woman in roles like that. That is our bad.

I think there is more genetic and cultural imprint then we often accept. Working cleverly around or even with that is I feel the road to gains. Not doing that will always result in the female crews underperforming in the male dominated sports.


Wouter