Category: Lifestyle
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Best mid-layer sailing jackets buyer’s guide: 6 of the best options
From winter series to mid-season overnight races, having a decent mid-layer is an important part of layering your clothing for maximum warmth, plus allowing for bodily produced moisture to wick away from the skin. Let’s look at 6 of the best mid-layer sailing jackets. Many of you will be lucky enough to live in tropical…
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Best lightweight sailing jacket buyer’s guide: 5 of the best options
Whether to keep up with the changeable conditions of summer afloat or something to wear whilst ashore, the most essential piece of kit for any person with an interest in sailing is the lightweight sailing jacket. Let’s look at the best buys. As important a fashion piece as a barrier against the sudden and changeable…
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The Sea and The Snow: a stunning tale of adventure
Tom Cunliffe introduces this extract from The Sea and The Snow Philip Temple’s remarkable tale of sailing to the farthest wastes of the Southern Ocean In the world of small-craft seafaring and modern mountaineering, 1964/5 seems very distant. Philip Temple’s remarkable work The Sea and The Snow, recently republished, brings those days straight to our…
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Best Merino Wool Thermal Base Layer – Buyers Guide
Stay warm during the winter, save money on heating and feel snug on night watch with the best Merino wool thermal base layer. We bring you some of the best environmentally friend natural fibre options available. The ubiquitous costume of form fitting all black that make us look like we’re on an adventure to secretly…
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Best reef-safe sunscreen: Eco-friendly sun lotion for sailors
Invest in one of the best reef-safe and eco-friendly sunscreens and you can ensure you are protecting both the oceans and your skin while on board. For sailors who spend their time on the water under the glare of the sun, keeping your skin safe from harmful UV rays is vital. But protecting the oceans…
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Offshore sailing clothes review
Rupert Holmes picks best performing gear over an 1,800-mile test after taking part in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race in 2022 After winning the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race aboard JPK 1010 Jangada Rupert Homes gives he full offshore sailing clothes review. Rupert Holmes has some 85,000 miles of offshore cruising and…
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Sun protection for sailors: a guide to staying safe
Janneke Kuysters explores the sun protection options for sailors who are often highly at risk of over exposure to the sun Sailing on a sunny day is hard to beat: but apart from the mood-enhancing qualities of the sun, we all know of its dangers. After finishing our circumnavigation and returning to the Netherlands, one…
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Expert guide to watch handovers
Pip Hare explains why efficient and well-planned watch handovers are vital to ensure a happy crew and a well kept yacht on passage On longer voyages, and passages with larger crews, a good watch system is essential to the efficient running of the boat. But the same watch system can also hinder good communication and…
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How to pick the best downwind sail
How to set up your boat for smooth, stress-free downwind sailing and how to pick the best downwind sail: Rachael Sprot examines the options For the coastal sailor, upwind sailing skills are critical: there’s nothing like a lee shore to focus the mind on tacking angles and leeway. For the ocean sailor the challenges are…
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Worlds coolest yachts: Aquitaine Innovations
We ask top sailors and marine industry gurus to choose the coolest and most innovative yachts of our times. Nigel Musto nominates Aquitaine Innovations Aquitaine Innovations was one of those breakthrough boats that precipitated a step change in sailing. Yves Parlier was, and continues to be, one of the sport’s great innovators and the boat…
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What to wear when paddleboarding
Veteran paddleboarder Duncan Slater recommends some essential paddleboard clothing to suit various weathers and SUP situations… What’s best to wear when stand-up paddleboarding? It might sound like a silly question – but the answer isn’t necessarily as straightforward as you might expect. From those with no watersports experience, right up to people with long histories…
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Long term test: Offshore sailing kit
The conditions out on deck of an ocean-going yacht makes designing truly great offshore sailing kit a challenging task for equipment manufacturers. Rubicon 3’s Stuart Cook tested Zhik’s OFS900 Jacket and Salopettes for a full season in high latitudes Professional sailors spend a great deal of time in offshore sailing kit, and with Rubicon 3…
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Best Mother’s Day gifts for sailors: what to buy for mum in 2022
Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity to show the sailing or watersports loving mum in your life how much she means to you with a gift that will keep on giving. Here are 15 Mother’s Day gift ideas to inspire you this year. When buying Mother’s Day gifts, think of their life span and usefulness.…
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6 of the best swim gloves for outdoor swimmers
A guide to some of the best swim gloves for outdoor swimmers. Keep your fingers warm and cosy – and stay in the water for longer – with a good pair of swimming gloves, ideal for open water swimming sessions. If you’re getting into open water swimming for short fitness sessions, or in warm weather…
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High performance inshore gear: Musto’s new LPX range
Summer is well and truly here: it’s time to go sailing. Musto’s newly expanded LPX range now offers even more choice of ultra-lightweight, ergonomically designed and breathable inshore high performance clothing, ideal for inshore sailing and racing in warm weather. Designed with sailors, for sailors. Musto has long been an industry leader in the field…
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How to get offshore race ready: Dee Caffari offers her advice
Dee Caffari, veteran of six circumnavigations and the first woman to sail solo both ways around the world shares offshore race tips with Andy Rice This year’s Rolex Fastnet Race was breezier than many predicted, with challenging sea states. Photo: Kurt Arrigo / Rolex Dee Caffari believes that getting ready for a big offshore race…
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Gear: 878 clothing bringing graphene tech to sailing clothes
Rupert Holmes reports on 878 clothing new company that are looking to revolutionise the sailing clothing industry and are bringing new technology to the market Most innovation is an iterative process of continued small improvements in product design or materials technology. However, occasionally a step-change in innovation is possible that produces radically different products. This…
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New Gear: Gill OS3 jacket and trousers with new plant-based coating
The latest line to come from UK clothing brand, Gill, is the OS3 range, consisting of jackets and trousers for men and women, made with a new plant-based coating The new Gill OS3 fabric is a two-layer system, which has been developed to provide lightweight, competitively priced foul weather gear for coastal use. As with…
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North Sails clothing: A sailing kit revolution?
North Sails has teamed up with Nigel Musto to produce what they believe to be the most advanced sailing clothing ever made. Toby Hodges takes a look at the technology. Very rarely do new brands of wet weather gear come along, so when North Sails decided to enter the foray and produce their own North…
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First look: North Sails’ foul weather gear
North Sails has introduced their first ever line of foul weather gear. Starting from scratch has allowed unconstrained thinking, which, in turn, has seen development of some impressively innovative products The news of North Sails’ first-ever range of foul weather gear for performance sailing and long-distance cruising immediately created a stir in the industry. Nevertheless,…