Single handling both sexes?

Originally posted by Noah Originally posted by zippyRN Originally posted by Noah The fact is Graeme, that men and women are fundamentally different. Would you expect both genders to compete in sports where equipment is minimal (e.g. pick any track and field event)? So finding one boat that can be sailed equally well by either / both is a big ask. Mixed two-person is a different proposition entirely and there's no reason I can see why it shouldn't be a practical option. track events   no difference  ( possibly  hurdle hurdles are alightly lower)   field events  - jumping events no differences, throwing events   the women use the same  weight items  as  Para men and  the male youths But where both genders compete on the same terms, they are still separate events because women cannot compete with men on a level playing field. What's the difference between men's and women's long / high / triple jump records? Ditto 100 / 200 etc. metre times...

 
 however  you are not comparing  like for like -  as often  a man who is the same  weight and  height  as an elite female is 'too small'   compared to elite males ...    and in  none weight banded sports  -  this  promising but 'too small' lad is likely to be  directed to another sport -   it;s  official policy in many places that  a 'cascade' process  occurs  ...

same with the march of   performance  in both male and female  records ... 

 today's athletes  are  taller,  heavier, stronger,  better nourished  and the  AFAB athletes  in sports where there isn't 'side effect' reproductive retardation ( and  this has been  reduced by introducing minimum age limits  in the gymanstic events -  to prevent  the overgrown pre-pubescent 15 year olds  seen in the not that distant past) are likely to have  had some form of 'control' of their menstrual cycles / method of reducing   'weight' and frequency of periods ... 

it is also interestign to look at where the current  Female  record / winning times are in comparision with  male record / winning  times  ...  as  the 'convergence'  is less pronounced than   was thought but the   rate of performance improvement is equaling out ... 

Edited by zippyRN - 21 Oct 16 at 10:22am

Imho- a finn is probably easier to sail than a Laser, given optimum crew weight for the conditions.  There's less to fight with as progressive improvement and customisation is permitted within the rule set.

Originally posted by blueboy Originally posted by 2547 Only 11,000 RYA members are listed as dinghy sailors;  a tiny number ... http://www.rya.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/Pages/rya-statistics.aspx How do they know? I'm an RYA member and don't recall telling them what I sail. I tend to lie on demographic surveys anyway, as they annoy me.

When ou get your membership blurb from the RYA it categorises your principle interest.
Mine says 'sail cruising' IIRC.

If you say windsurfing on the RYA main sport thing, you get 3rd party insurance, don't you? So maybe many dinghy sailors who dabble in windsurfing would tick that box?

Originally posted by zippyRN track events   no difference  ( possibly  hurdle hurdles are alightly lower)