Fall/Winter sailing apparel

[Sean McGuire]

I am looking for suggestions for sailing apparel that can help me extend my sailing season. Currently, I don't have any "sailing" clothing beyond a Tilley hat and decent sunglasses. I live in central NC and the winters here can be pretty mild. I am purely a lake sailer and while the air temps lately are still in the 60's and sometimes 70's, the water temp in the lake is down to 57 as of today. I am looking for gear that would make a capsize go from potentially lethal to just uncomfortable. I am looking at different styles of wetsuits and waterproof gear and was wondering what other folks might have had good luck with.

Thanks,

Sean McGuire

[Roger]

In my early years, I used a farmer john style of wetsuit, with a jacket that had wetsuit style body, but windproof nylon arms. I think it may actually have been a windsailing jacket. I also wore sailboard type neoprene booties. As well, I used water skiing neoprene (wetsuit) gloves, and actually still wear those gloves on occasion. For headgear, I went to a wool watchcap.

Unfortunately my wetsuit sitting in the closet all these years has shrunk so much that it is really a tight fit around the middle. Surprisingly it did not shrink lengthwise.

At this point in my life, I am shopping around for the comfort of a foul weather suit, again with a bib style pant, jacket with hood, cinched cuffs, but would still use the water skiing gloves for my hands, as well as a wool watch cap for my bean. On my feet I would go with insulated rubber boots. This outfit would not fare well in a capsize I don't think, but until then I would be warm, and I don't sail as foolishly any more. If you wanted a suit that was capsize proof, you may want to look at a drysuit. They are somewhat more comfortable than a wetsuit, but not as comfortable as foul weather gear. A dry suit will cause you to sweat and the sweat will condense on the inside of the suit. A wet suit will cause the same issue. This will cause you to cool considerably while sailing, so may not be the solution you want. I also found a wetsuit cumbersome while sailing.

[wrmann]

The best thing to wear for winter sailing is a GORE_TEX drysuit with fleece top and bottoms, that will keep you warm and dry. As Roger pointed out, a regular drysuit will get pretty clammy on the inside since they don't breath. A drysuit made with GORE-TEX will solve this problem. Most of the kayakers in the southeast wear them for winter boating. When I lived on Long Island and sailed in the frost-bite races, we use to wear wool clothes and foul weather gear. We always had a crash boat on the course in case of a capsize however.

Bill
Norcross, GA