🌺PBΩ🌺

I sail on Long Island Sound and the Connecticut River.  I’ve sailed for about 2 years, practically every day.  I’m pretty good at it, better than some around here.  I started sailing through UConn, and it was mostly co-ed.  The teacher’s J29 has almost entirely female crew and they are all very good and he is supportive of everybody.  I raced on a J24 last summer, again mixed crew with lots of support for everybody.  I was the bowman, and pretty good at it.  Then I started racing in jy15s with a guy who calls his one female crew member on his C&C35 a ‘bow ornament.’  He also has had other sexist comments, and he stopped talking to my friend after she started beating him.  He’s getting better, now that I’ve been sailing with him for a while, takes my suggestions seriously.  He asked me to crew on is big boat this summer, and during a practice he let me steer, which was very different.  But he says I’m too small to do bow work.  And then he needed extra crew for a race and I brought a lady from the teacher’s boat, the bowman, who is even smaller than I am, and e had her do bow.  Maybe its because she is older, or has more experience.  Another time we saw this attitude toward female sailors was last summer.  My friend crewed for a few races on this boat and they kept on making comments about how strong she is and how good she is even though she is a girl.  Its just so weird going from one environment to the next and seeing so many changes in how people treat you.  But its mostly been fun, I learn a lot, its a sport that I can do.  I have a bad back and was never allowed to participate in any sports.  Most of te people are really nice and friendly and want to teach you and help you out.  

Sounds like you have quite a bit of experience on different boats, which is awesome! I'm glad you have found something you can do and you like it. Good luck this summer!