The reason not listed yet
I am a woman captain and boat owner and I'd like to suggest the reason not yet given: how many of the men here are comfortable being first mate? (For more than the time it takes to go below and get a beer!) How many are willing to take orders from their wife/girlfriend/friend? I am lucky that my husband (who prefers to be addressed as chief engineer) doesn't (usually) have a problem with it, or we'd be spending a lot less time together! Of course, I bought the boat, and the one before (we now have a Catalina 320, previously a Capri 22, and we used to have a couple of Hobie Cats). We learned together after we were married and took a long lapse after our daughters were born, and a few years ago I wanted gung-ho to get back into it. I have been through all the nonsense with various boat salesmen, insurance agents, and equipment dealers. But I have too much enthusiasm for the sport to let any guy's attitude get in the way of my doing what I want to. It seems there's lots of wondering where the women in sailing are, but I have to say, when we're out on Barnegat Bay, I see tons of women besides myself behind the wheel. As with anything else in life, it's better if both partners have the same enthusiasm for any activity, but I just don't think that most men are fully willing to take the position of first mate. When a woman flips through nautical catalogs, there aren't any "captain's" items in her styles or sizes. Plenty though for the "first mate." Tons of galley & cookware items for her. And decorating items. When a woman reads sailing magazines, along with the "Where are the women in sailing" lament, are the articles about how women have ruined sailboat design with their insistence on more homelike interiors that make for slow, beamy boats. The women's sailing forums are full of info on handling children, cooking, and schooling on board, but not on sailing. "How to be a perfect first mate" books are written for women. And when this 5'5" woman bought the current sailboat, the top of the pulpit guard blocked her view from the helm (I manage). I must say, I find it funny how many of the answers here are by men and not women. I have seen quite a few women who just don't want to spend their so-called leisure time arguing with Captain Bligh. And so many guys do take that attitude the minute they step on the boat. For many women, "laying out" on the boat is the easiest way to avoid conflict. And yes, yacht clubs are as bad as golf clubs in the old-boy policies of membership. Just recently I read an article about a woman who had been a member of a club with her husband; when they divorced, she had to re-apply for membership--and was turned down! What makes me really happy is that my 20-year-old daughter has asked to take sailing classes so she can learn to handle a sailboat herself. The 14-year-old daughter, alas, is still happy just being ballast in the cabin. It was a pleasant surprise to find that handling a 34 foot boat (after a 22) was not too hard, and that a furling main eliminates all the "you're folding it wrong" arguments. My husband still gets bent out of shape when I re-do his cleat hitches and request changes in sail trim ... like any good captain, I ignore him, and he goes off to lay out and work on that tan.
). She has trouble sometimes with the electronics but keeps at it until she gets it. Has no problems with the radio, will jump right on it and call other boats. What I think happens to women (out on a limb here) is the man. For some reason the men think they have to be in charge, protect, be the knight. The women let them get away with it. For me - "Honey you have it I'm going to take a nap." I must be blessed with a great wife, she likes sailing and driving the boat. Our motto is "If it doesn't feel right - don't do it, don't force it, go around and try it again." Jim S/V Java
