English Women’s Nautical Gear!
Let’s talk about women’s nautical gear! As you know, when heading out to sea, properly equipping your boat isn’t enough. Sailor’s gear is also a crucial element for successful sailing. There is a wide range of technical gear for women that you can choose to bring on board. Of course, whether you are a man or a woman, it will be essential to bring sailing outfits adapted to your size and body shape.
Essential Women’s Nautical Gear
Women’s Nautical Gear for Inshore Sailing
Naturally, when you go sailing, you will choose your nautical gear based on your sailing program. Indeed, if you decide to go for a short, day-long sail close to the coast, you can bring a fairly limited number of outfits. However, we still advise you to always pack spare outfits if your first outfit gets too wet.
Depending on the weather, you can bring thermal or UV-protective base layers and then complete this collection with additional layers. If the weather is wet, you should add a
Women’s Nautical Gear for Offshore Sailing
If your sailing program involves heading far from the coast and spending several days at sea, it’s imperative not to forget anything to ensure your comfort on board. In this case, spare outfits become essential, and you must absolutely bring clothing that will adapt to all circumstances. In the list of women’s nautical gear, in addition to traditional base layers (tights, t-shirts, long and short sleeves), you’ll need to add sweaters, water-repellent jackets, and of course, foul-weather bibs and jackets.
The foul-weather bib is an essential piece of women’s nautical gear because it will allow you to stay dry and protected from the wind in the most challenging conditions. To complement this bib, the foul-weather jacket or smock will keep you dry and warm.
Thermal Needs for Sailing:
The choice of sailing attire (and all women’s nautical gear) therefore essentially depends on your sailing program, external conditions, and your resistance to cold. The more you sail, the better you will become at choosing the right clothing for the day’s boat trip. Above all, it’s important to consider that sailing conditions can change very quickly at sea, and you should not overlook a sudden change in weather that may require bringing new clothes.
Beyond skillfully handling your boat, your ability to manage yourself and your crew will be essential. You must remember to cover up at the right time and eat when necessary before becoming completely tired or exhausted. When sailing outdoors, it’s essential to be well-covered with water-repellent, waterproof, and windproof materials to protect yourself from spray and moisture. Conversely, when you go inside your boat, you should learn to remove layers so that your body doesn’t get accustomed to too strong a heat source.
Also, remember to remove a layer when you go to sleep. This heat management will therefore depend on the different clothes and layers you have chosen to wear. This maximization of warmth will depend on the number of layers you wear, as well as the technical and thermal quality of the clothing. The more layers you superimpose, the more you will maximize your warmth, but you will significantly reduce your freedom of movement and also risk increasing your tendency to sweat. For this reason, it is advisable to choose your layers strategically and wear quality clothing to be as comfortable as possible.
Women’s Nautical Gear
While the sports industry long designed technical gear for male body shapes, times have changed. Women are now full-fledged practitioners who fully deserve their own outfits adapted to their needs and body shapes. It was time for SAILIZ to act and create women’s nautical gear!
Specific Needs of Women for Their Nautical Gear
At Sailiz, we fully understand that women’s nautical gear must meet new requirements. Even though the uniqueness of women’s gear has long been overlooked, it is our duty today to change things. It is precisely for this reason that we have conducted extensive research to best meet these very specific expectations.
In order to offer perfectly adapted women’s nautical gear, we have extensively studied the expectations and constraints of female sailors. Firstly, regarding the overall design of the garment, it must be comfortable and not hinder the sailor’s movements. There are also morphological criteria to respect, taking into account women’s characteristics when tailoring clothes: Hips, chest, waist, thigh—everything is analyzed.
The garment’s functionality must also be considered, including pockets, more resistant areas, warmer sections, and easily accessible openings for quick restroom breaks. The fluidity and flexibility of the textile are also points not to be overlooked. Even though we are aware that women all have different physical characteristics, we strive to present a range that will suit the majority.
The aesthetic aspect of the garment is a characteristic we did not want to neglect at SAILIZ. Indeed, we know that women, like men, are very sensitive to style issues. We have therefore offered two models of women’s bibs: one with neutral tones in black colors, and another more colorful version with ocean-inspired patterns. By offering this choice, each person can choose the bibs that best match her personality. These SAILIZ-branded bibs are thus very unique and can be recognized at a glance thanks to the small patterns and technical details implemented.
What technical women’s nautical gear is available today for women?
Our brand SAILIZ currently offers a range of technical clothing that will continue to expand. Our sailing bibs are now ready to be worn, and our foul-weather jacket is currently being developed. We are also starting to complete our range with beanies, t-shirts, and sweatshirts for base layers. Of course, the range of women’s sailing clothing is not limited to SAILIZ’s offerings. Other brands are now starting to design bibs or dry suits for women. SAILIZ, however, is the first women’s nautical clothing brand to offer outfits created for female sailors by female sailors.
The Different Types of Women’s Nautical Gear:
- The Foul-Weather Jacket: The foul-weather jacket is the ultimate layer you add to your outfit in very cold or highly humid conditions to be protected from rain in all circumstances. It must be both loose enough to protect you from wind and spray, yet flexible and fitted enough not to hinder your movements.
- The Foul-Weather Bib: The foul-weather bib can be worn directly or added as an extra layer over tights or leggings to ensure the overall waterproofing of the outfit and protect you from moisture, especially when sitting on a wet boat deck or when there’s a lot of spray outside. Resistant and waterproof, it guarantees you’ll stay dry and warm.
- Thermal Base Layers: These are essentially the thermal tops and tights you can wear under your clothes when you go sailing. They are essential for creating warmth in the outfits you wear. Indeed, they generate warmth through direct contact with your skin.
- Sailing Trousers: Sailing trousers, both protective and fluid, will allow you to be comfortable in many conditions and protect your legs from the sun and spray. With pockets and reinforcements, they will also be very practical for sailing.
- Sailing Shorts: When sailing in summer temperatures, sailing shorts can be a real asset. But to be good sailing shorts, they must be functional and protective enough to prevent chafing.
- Technical Gloves: If your hands are heavily used during sailing, with chafing, friction, humidity, and cold, it is imperative to protect them as much as possible. For this reason, we recommend wearing leather gloves that will limit contact between your hands and the outside.
- Beanies and Balaclavas: These are items that can save your life during the coldest sails. Indeed, extremities, especially the ears, are very sensitive to cold. You also lose a lot of heat through your head, so it is highly recommended to wear something on your head to prevent significant heat loss.
- Caps: Caps come in all shapes, but for sailing, they are perfect when they provide good coverage and can be attached to clothing or around your neck to prevent them from being lost in the wind.
- UV-Protective Clothing: These technical garments are used in several disciplines and primarily serve to protect against the sun’s rays and thus prevent sunburn. Particularly useful on summer days or for sailing in more tropical areas. Often light-colored, they reflect the sun’s rays and prevent skin damage. Even though they are mostly technical garments, you can find them with long or short sleeves, with hoods, or sleeveless. The more coverage the garment provides, the more effective it will be.
Why is co-creation of women’s nautical gear essential?
For many years, the figure of the skipper was essentially represented by men, but in recent years, female sailors with impressive careers have emerged, representing the world of sailing and offshore racing just as much. The arrival of these new female sailors, true role models for all practitioners, has generated great enthusiasm, and the number of registered members in the French Sailing Federation continues to increase. More and more of them are daring to take the plunge and even buy their own boats to become captains. While the voice was long left to men, co-creation is the perfect opportunity to give female sailors a voice again so they can create their own nautical gear.
Thanks to the co-creation of women’s nautical gear, we were able to unite female sailors around a common project in which they actively participated. It is also an opportunity to open dialogue and understand certain obstacles to sailing. Thanks to this, we were able to identify essential points in how to design clothing and pinpoint problematic aspects of existing garments during use.
With the questionnaires we circulated, and the prototype tests and trials, we finally succeeded in creating bibs that meet women’s main expectations. Indeed, we lent prototypes to several female sailors, who sail on different types of boats, to gather as much feedback as possible. Some participated in Mini races, others undertook day sails, and others went on the Transat Jacques Vabre.
Following this extensive testing program, we made corrections to the first bib models. This allowed us to release a new, finalized model entirely co-created based on feedback from the female sailors who wished to test the product. And we are very proud of these bibs with their adjustable straps, ultra-flexible material, and opening for easy restroom access.
The fight is not over to obtain women’s nautical gear and give women even more space in this sport, but these initiatives are essential for women’s general participation. And it is these small advances that make a difference daily and allow each woman to be increasingly comfortable on the water.
To follow developments on the topic of women’s nautical gear, feel free to consult our logbook.
