What to Wear – Adults

Sailing clothing needs to keep you warm. Keeping dry is less important. Although if you continue to sail you will want to buy purpose designed sailing clothing this can be expensive and is not necessary to begin with.

Wetsuits If you have a 3mm or 4 mm sailing/surfing wetsuit then it is sensible to wear it. (Diving wetsuits are too thick and restrict movement too much.) The club have a number which you can borrow and we can usually accommodate everyone but it is just possible there may not be sufficient or one of a suitable size for you. Wear underwear and a thermal or synthetic material long sleeve shirt underneath if you have one; cotton t shirts are very cold when wet. Bring a sweatshirt or pullover to wear over the top as wetsuits only stay warm whilst you are moving around. If you have a lightweight waterproof cagoule or jacket for a top layer bring that as well. We have a limited number of spray-tops to lend.

Clothing If we cannot fit you with a wetsuit you will need a full change of clothing.

Upper body Wear lots of layers. Thermal vest if you have one, shirt, sweatshirt, pullover. Increasing the number of layers keeps you warm and allows you to move around. Bulky clothing restricts mobility and should be avoided. It is always colder on the water than you think. Wear at least one more layer than ashore.

Lower body Warm trousers e.g. cords, track suit bottoms are preferable to jeans. You need a good belt / means of holding them up. Moving around the boat tends to lower them! Waterproofs If we cannot fit you with a wetsuit we have a limited supply of waterproofs to go over your clothes.

Feet Old trainers with socks or thermal socks. Your feet will get wet. Please do not wear wellingtons or hard sole shoes. Wellingtons fill up and hard shoes can damage the boats. We have some wet-boots which you may be able to borrow.

Head A hat is essential. Baseball cap or woolly hat. You lose much of your body heat through your exposed areas, and an uncovered head is a big area

Glasses If you need to wear glasses whilst sailing we strongly advise that you use a length of cord, possibly elastic, to keep them on and/or secure them to your clothing. They can very easily get knocked off and lost overboard.

Buoyancy Aids The club will supply you with a buoyancy aid which must be worn at all times on the water.

Change of Clothes and Towel We will do our very best not to capsize you ( we haven’t done so yet! ) but if it’s windy you can get pretty wet just from spray. Make sure you have a complete change of clothes and don’t forget a towel. We have high volume hot showers!

Powerboat and Safety Boat courses Early season courses sitting still are cold and you may get wet with spray. Wetsuits plus pullovers and spray-tops are essential. For those sailing / capsizing dinghies for safety boat exercises drysuits are highly preferable.