Do short people make good sailors?

[sydrnyc]

I'm 5'0, 100llbs, will I make a good offshore/dinghy sailor? Also, because of my height/weight, is it possible that this could affect me negatively if I want to skipper?

[WDS123]

Good Small boat racers tend to be smaller.

[DRFerron]

Dame Ellen MacArthur is 5'2" and has been around the world a couple of times and solo. One of her boats was 75'.

[Faster]

Bang on, Donna.... my first thought when I saw the title of the thread!!

[tdw]

Originally Posted by sydrnyc

I'm 5'0, 100llbs, will I make a good offshore/dinghy sailor? Also, because of my height/weight, is it possible that this could affect me negatively if I want to skipper?

As is often the case in surfing, dinghy sailors of smaller stature can be very successful indeed. Lower centre of gravity maybe ?

All i know is that I am tall and spindly (more so when I was a young bloke than today) and I was absolute rubbish as a surfer and dinghy sailor. Oh yes .. and riding bikes as well.

[RobGallagher]

Originally Posted by sydrnyc

I'm 5'0, 100llbs, will I make a good offshore/dinghy sailor? Also, because of my height/weight, is it possible that this could affect me negatively if I want to skipper?

Sounds like you might be talking about racing. I'm not gonna comment on that.

But if you are talking about cruising, it should not affect you at all.

I'll say this, when you are boat shopping you won't have to worry so much about head room and bunk length/width. I'm just over 6 ft. and it's a pain in the ass to find something affordable that is comfortable to spend time down below.

If I where a few inches shorter I would not hesitate to keep the boat I have.

Even more importantly, when I have to get into hard to reach places to do maintenance for fix something it can be downright uncomfortable. Being smaller makes things easier.

[sydrnyc]

I am talking about racing and I would very much like to hear you comment, even if its bad.

[Faster]

Originally Posted by sydrnyc

I am talking about racing and I would very much like to hear you comment, even if its bad.

A small, but strong and agile person would be a valued person on a race boat as foredeck crew. You often hear the term 'foredeck apes' and there are some big boys/girls out there for hauling big sails below in a hurry, but an agile, fit, lightweight person is invaluable esp on today's lightweight sport boats. But any small to medium sized race boat would love to have lightweight foredeck crew to minimize the upset to trim while racing when someone has to go to the bow.

Need to haul someone up the mast all of a sudden? a lot easier to get a 100 pounder up there than a 200 pounder.

You'd really only be at a big disadvantage on a large boat where weight is not so important and pure physical strength might be... and you'd need to bring a friend to be effective 'rail meat'....

[upei1]

There's an old saying>>>
It Ain't the size of the dog in the fight
It's the size of the "fight" in the dog.....
Sail on!

[SVAuspicious]

I'll take small and agile over big, strong, and slow almost every time. It's always nice to have an ape for halyards. *grin*