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Randy’s Thistle
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When I started, I used
to wear blue jeans, a T-shirt and deck shoes. For very wet days, I wore a spray
jacket, with a life jacket over it. I didn't even have a wetsuit.
I think there are four primary
considerations for clothing you wear sailing.
The most important thing
is to be warm enough. Hypothermia slows you down and makes you clumsy, slows
your thinking down (affecting your tactical decisions and boat handling), and is
risky to your health. Being too hot can be uncomfortable, but isn't as bad as
being too cold. You usually won’t get
dehydrated on the water – although sunburn is a consideration. And never drink salt water!
After warmth, the next most important
thing is that the clothing should not restrict your movements, and should not
catch on anything in the boat. Anything that makes it harder to bend your
knees, crouch down, or bend forward at the waist, makes is harder to sail the
boat. This is particularly true of high performance boats like the Thistle. If you drag it in the water when hiking, you
lose the benefits of all your hull work!
Durability – sailing is a contact sport
for your clothes. Clothing takes a
beating as you slide in and out over the rail, work the boat, and sit in the unshielded
sun. You want to wear clothing that won't wear out too fast.
Your money is better spent on new sails,
better foils, and going to regattas; you don't want to spend a fortune on
sailing clothes. We want the right clothes, and we want them to last awhile.
Some days all you need is
a pair of shorts, a T shirt, a hat, and some shoes or boots (sailing barefoot
is not recommended - you may not be concentrating on flying the chute perfectly
after stubbing your toe on the CB trunk, or cutting it on something). Any
running shoes that can stand repeating wetting-and-drying-out cycles are OK. Another popular option is the dinghy boot,
which gives more support for hiking.
Hi-tech "wicking" socks are excellent
when wet. A bonus is they are thicker, and pad your feet better than normal
socks. Keep your feet warm – they will
be wet a lot.
Unless both the water and
the air are warm and it is a sunny day, you should consider wearing - or at
least bringing - a wetsuit. A wetsuit is made of closed-cell foam, so it keeps
you warm. It also pads you from the
worst bumps and bangs you get on a windy day. I would buy a "shorty suit"
as the first wetsuit. The legs will keep most of your legs from getting cold,
and the padding is nice for both skippers and crews. Having unrestricted
movement in your shoulders makes playing the spinnaker sheets and the mainsheet
easier. If you are very cold-natured, you will want a farmer john suit.
Only wear cotton if it is
warm and sunny. A polypropylene or Patagonia-style long sleeve top is
far better when wet. I wear a zip neck Patagonia in cold conditions. The
zip neck allows me to avoid over heating on “warmisher” days. I wear the top
inside the top of the wetsuit. It wicks
perspiration away from your body, so you don’t feel sticky.
Patagonia makes three weights, light weight, medium weight,
and expedition weight. If you are considering Patagonia, buy the medium weight
first, it is the most versatile, and the lightweight is not that much lighter.
The expedition weight is virtually a pile pullover, and is considerably warmer
than the light or medium weight.
A spray top is sort of
like the top half of a spray suit or dry suit. It should have some kind of neck
seal and wrist seals, and maybe something at the waist as well. It will not
stop all water from coming in at the neck, wrist and waist, but will stop most
of it, and will stop the wind evaporating the water from the wetsuit, which rapidly
cools you down. There are a variety of dry tops available. They vary in the
extent they keep you dry, quality, and cost.
If you do not wear
anything over the wetsuit, it will quickly wear, tear and fade where you sit on
it. The best protection for the wetsuit - and for you - is a pair of shorts.
The shorts are going to take a lot of abuse that would otherwise go to the
wetsuit, so they should be sturdy. Many sailors use padded shorts - and some
even use hiking shorts that include battens or other stiffening material to
help you hike with less pain.
I would definitely use
padded hiking shorts on a boat with a narrow rail like a Thistle, especially
since the new racing rules eliminate the hiking pants with stiffeners (battens). Note that the
Thistle Class Rules permit hiking shorts as an exception to the ISAF rules.
A good lifejacket also
helps keep you warm, and can provide some padding as well. This is a decision that each person should
make after they have thought about it and perhaps tried different models of
life jackets.
On colder days, the Patagonia
long sleeved underwear, the lifejacket and the dry top are not enough to keep
you warm. You need to add a pile layer between the underwear and the dry top. A
variety of pile pullovers, jackets and vests are available to do this. Pick one
you like.
If you sail in early
spring or late fall, you should consider a dry suit. If you sail in frostbite events
you should absolutely buy one. The dry suit is supposed to keep you dry, so it
is easier to stay warm. It is great in extreme cold conditions, where you would
be too cold in the wetsuit. You need to be careful what you wear underneath, as
you will sweat inside the drysuit, and need something to absorb moisture and
still stay warm. Patagonia and pile work well for this.
As with the wetsuit, wear shorts over the
dry suit to protect it.
Prevent skin cancer! A hat is always a good idea. A baseball style hat is nice, though
something with an all-round brim will protect you from the sun better. Your
army-navy store has boonie hats that work great. Whatever hat you wear, use a clip-on retainer to clip the hat to
your dry top or lifejacket, so that you do not lose it if it comes off your
head. In cold conditions a wool, or even better pile hat will keep you much
warmer and more comfortable.
While we are talking about protecting
yourself from the sun, buy a suntan lotion that won't wash off to quickly, and
always have it in the boat. It cannot protect you if you do put it on!
If you think you are tough
and do not need sailing gloves, your mainsheet, jib sheet and spinnaker sheets
are probably too thick and too heavy...
I wear half fingered gloves with of
synthetic leather, because I do not get as cold as others. Full-finger gloves are also available. Four
full fingers greatly reduces the skin windows (blisters), while the
synthetic leather seems to last longer than natural leather, and does not dry
out to be very hard between uses.
For
more information, you can email me…
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