I raced the last 2 years in the worrell and we both wore teathers a good % of the time. They offer a great comfort level when offshore, nightime,and when the weather starts to get nasty like the kill devil hills to V.B. leg last year. The crew only need to remember to go in and out on the same side of the shrouds. A few months ago I had the harness hook break and I fell in with the teather on. The boat just comes to a stop fast. Depending on you point of sail determins what the boat does. In my case we had the kite up and went into a jibe and the boat stopped and flipped towards us.
As for womens strengths. If something that drastic happened we all get that blind adrenaline rush in desperate time which may take over limited physical ability. So I think it all breaks down to skill level and feeling comfortable that the people you sail with can perform any task at hand.
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