If you are cruising or racing in the northern hemisphere realistically you are going to get wet when sailing. The difference between being comfortable on the water or miserable cold and wet is often down to the simple choice of oilskins.
The good news is, with the advance of technology, materials and quality control any of the handful of top name sailing jackets will do the job. They all have been designed using many years of product know how and come backed by a guarantee. You get a lot of jacket for sub £300 these days, frankly enough to sail a very long way in quite nasty weather. So what would make you choose Musto over Gill or Helly over Musto? Does any sailing jacket stand out as better specification?
All three jackets are breathable, clearly waterproof and windproof, they all have fully taped seams, storm flaps and a hood but there are a few differences to style fit and function. One thing they all share in common is there is no sign of Goretex, each choosing to use their own proprietary material. Should this worry us? The answer here is not really. material technology has come on leaps and bounds in the last 30 years and the cost saving for the end user by not having a brand named fabric is certainly beneficial whilst performance difference at least for the majority of sailors, yachtsmen and women will be negligible.
So what do you get?
Offshore Sailing Jacket Specs Sub £300
| Feature | Gill OS2 | Musto BR2 Offshore | Helly Hansen Skagen | ||
| Material | 2 Layer | 2 Layer | 2 Layer | ||
| Seams | Fully Taped | Fully Taped | Fully Taped | ||
| Tech Covering | Breathable Hydrophobic & Hydrophilic |
| Breathable & DWR Treatemnt | ||
| Inside Material | Quick Dry Mesh | Quick Dry Mesh | Quick Dry Mesh | ||
| Cuffs | Adjustable outer cuffs with PU inner seals for watertight comfort | Double with adjustable outer "near drysuit protection" | Adjustable double cuff seals | ||
| Collar | Thermal Fleece & chin guard | Grid Fleece Lined | Fleece Lined | ||
| Hood | Hi Vis- Fully lined with 3-way adjustment | Fluorescent 2-way adjustment | Adjustable Hi-Vis | ||
| Pockets | 2 x cargo, 2 x hand warmer (with waterproof zips) on chest internal zippered pocket | 2 cargo pockets with water deflecting closures and 4 handwarmer pockets half lined with fleece plus an internal zipped pocket | 2 x cargo pockets, 2 x chest pockets with waterproof zip & 2 x hand warmer pockets with brushed lining | ||
| Front Closure | 2- Way zipper with double storm guard | Double storm flap with drainage channel over a 2-way YKK® zip for an impenetrable front closure | Double Storm Flap with 2-way zipper | ||
| Safety | Uniquie Gill relectors | Prismatic reflectors and in-seam reflective details to keep you visible in low light | EN471 Hi Vis & SOLAS approved reflective elements | ||
| Care | Wash at 30 degrees | Washable | Washable |
Which one to choose?
As you can see there is relatively little to choose between the jackets, but they all do look different, and have slightly different cuts so as hard as it is to belive you have to make a style or fashion deciscion. They are all really good jackets that cared for will last a long time and be one of the best investments in sailing comfort you can make.
If you decide to make a purchase pop in the code STAYDRY at the checkout for an extra £5 off your order.