Scuttlebutt readers share their take

For 25 years, Scuttlebutt has been providing sailing enthusiasts with their daily download of news, and when you report on the sport for that long, spending each day looking at the activity, you see a lot more than race results.

And while we have our opinions, we are always learning from our readership. We want to hear views other than ours, particularly when we can engage in conversation. It may not change our mind, but it will open it.

Following the report, Overcoming hurdles for women in sailing, we received an email stating that, “If you are going to write a disparaging article about Gov Cup and BYC, you should at least get your facts straight.” While we found the article accurate and not disparaging, this person would not explain their position. Nothing learned.

However, we became a fan of Kira Munger when she shared her opinion on this same report and went back and forth with us. Here’s out it went:

Kira Munger:
Ridiculous to require a women in each boat; it’s not an accomplishment to be a token team member. It’s also discriminatory to allow all female teams to participate but not all male teams.

Scuttlebutt Sailing News:
It is a conundrum, as women are often excluded from crew positions because they lack experience, yet they lack experience because men exclude them. As the article states, that is why there is a trend in the sport for mixed crew rules.

Kira Munger:
My bad, I was misinformed that women are allowed to buy boats and enter regattas; that also explains why most women don’t frostbite (the easiest/cheapest way to gain experience). Thank you for clarifying! Also, where is this part of the country where there is such an abundance of crew at the club racing/local/regional level that women CAN be excluded? If they came here, all the local fleets at Real World Yacht Club would double or triple in size!

Scuttlebutt Sailing News:
Ouch… don’t shoot the messenger. We are on your side, so why aren’t more women doing what you say?

Kira Munger:
All good… ultimately sailing is a niche sport to begin with so I just find this recent need to force an equal gender ratio absurd.

Scuttlebutt Sailing News:
You are right, everything is better when it organically occurs, though in the report, Why is diversity in global sport so vital?, it stated: “Around the world we are living in a more diverse society, and sport must be representative of our society for us to have a bond with it. Sports that are not fully representative will ultimately alienate our changing society and fail.” Based on that, helping to make the sport less pale and male should be a good thing.