I don't see anything in the picture that suggests that women sailors aren't strong, competent, brave. I see a woman, looks to be single handing, possibly approaching an anchorage in the late afternoon, perhaps after a single-handed passage from, say, Cape May or the Chesapeake, approaching down east Maine. We've all motor-sailed in light air conditions so I couldn't possibly misconstrue that this woman is any lesser than any of us just because the conditions are benign. It looks like she was relaxing in the cockpit and got up to make some adjustments for the final approach to an anchorage, or perhaps home, after a journey. I think I might be offended if she were drinking a cocktail.
Missed opportunity? How so? Are you implying that the perception of women is that they are passive and lesser, therefore, there should not be a missed opportunity to boost their image? I've never had the perception that women are passive and lesser, so it couldn't possibly occur to me that a photograph of a woman in calm conditions represents a missed opportunity to boost the woman's image and the photo somehow reinforces a negative connotation. Beware the soft bigotry of low expectations. If a man can be represented in a photograph featuring benign conditions, then why not a woman?
Aside from that, the photo represents a boat that many of us sail, in the kind of comfortable manner that most of us really enjoy, I think it is a good photo.