J.A. Samanrach wrote:
One Olympic sport that shouldn't have separate divisions is sailing. I think they have male, female, and open divisions. How on earth is being a male sailor any different than being a female sailor?
Its actually quite a bit different. Competitive sailing at a high level actually requires quite a bit of strength and fitness. On large boats, like the boats they race in the America's Cup, the crewman who trim the sheets (the ropes that pull in the sails) are poached from professional bodybuilding, worlds strongest man competitions, and similar because the amount of force on the lines is huge. Of course any fat old man can steer, but hauling in the sails, and handling all the rigging is hard work.
In small boats, its actually an advantage to be a women in light air are conditions because your boat is lighter. In heavy air it helps to be male, because of the strength factor and because you will spend most of the race hiking out (doing a sit-up over the side of the boat to keep it from flipping). In most cases the open teams are actually the fastest because that is the best combination of strength and weight.