What to wear sailing — and what stays in the wardrobe
Most sailing kit guides are written for cold water and hard weather. A charter week in Croatia, Greece or the BVI is a different question: warm days, cool evenings, wet feet, and a locker the size of a shoebox. This page answers the clothing question first, then gives you the full packing list underneath, the same one that comes ready in the app.
The list that ticks itself off
Packing List is one of twelve tools in Skipper Connect. It arrives filled in when the trip is created, and each crew member gets their own private copy.
- Ready from the start Fifty items in three sections, already there when you open the trip. No template to download, no copy and paste.
- Private to each person Everyone has their own list. What you tick off is visible to you alone, and nobody has to share a spreadsheet.
- Add your own Anything the template misses goes into Personal Items in one tap and stays at the end of your list.
- Packed section Ticked items drop into a Packed section, so what is left is what you still need. Tap the tick again to bring one back.
What to wear sailing, by water temperature
There is no single sailing outfit. There is a warm-water answer and a cool-water answer, and the mistake most first-timers make is buying the second one for the first trip.
Mornings are cold, midday is hot, the evening watch is cold again. Three thin layers beat one warm one every time.
Dark soles leave marks the charter company will charge you for. Sandals are for ashore, not for the foredeck.
Eight hours of reflected sun is more than any sunscreen handles. A long-sleeved UV shirt does the work for you.
Spray, swimming, a wet dinghy ride. Everything aboard gets damp at some point.
Warm water: the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Canaries
Shorts, T-shirts, swimwear and a hoodie carry most of the week. The two things people underestimate are the evening and the sun. Once the sun drops behind the headland the cockpit gets genuinely cold, so a hoodie and long trousers are not optional. And the sun on the water is unlike the sun on a beach, because it comes at you twice.
A light wind and rain jacket belongs in the bag even in August. It is not for the storm, it is for the two hours of drizzle and the wet passage under way.
Cool water: the UK, Ireland, the Baltic, the Atlantic coast
Here the answer changes. Proper sailing gear earns its place: a waterproof outer layer, a warm mid layer, and long trousers that dry. Cotton is the wrong material, because once it is wet it stays wet and takes your body heat with it.
If you are chartering rather than racing, you do not need to own it. Most schools and charter bases hire oilskins by the week, and a set that fits from the hire locker beats a bargain set that does not.
The three layers that actually do the work
Base layer against the skin, moving moisture away. Mid layer holding warmth, usually a fleece or a hoodie. Outer layer keeping wind and water out. On a warm charter week you wear one or two of them. In the North Sea in October you wear all three, and you carry a fourth in the bag.
What you can leave at home
Hard-shell suitcases, because there is nowhere to stow them. Heels, white soles, anything that only works once. A hairdryer, because the shore power will not thank you. And the full set of new sailing gear bought the week before a Mediterranean charter, which is the single most expensive mistake on this page.
The full sailing packing list
Fifty items in three sections, tried on charter weeks rather than assembled at a desk. This is the same list that appears in the app when you create a trip, so you can tick it off instead of copying it.
Essentials
Fifty items, already ticked off
Create a trip and the list is there, one per person, private to each of you.
Clothing
Optional
Three mistakes almost every first-timer makes
None of them are about sailing. All three are about the bag.
The hard-shell suitcase
It will not fit under the bunk, it will not fold, and it will spend the week sliding across the saloon floor. A soft bag or sea bag collapses to nothing once it is empty, which is the whole point.
Buying the gear before the first trip
A full set of oilskins for a July week in the Adriatic is money spent on something that stays in the locker. Take a light wind and rain jacket, sail one week, then decide what you actually missed.
Dark soles on a white deck
They leave black streaks that the charter company will find at check-out and charge you for. Any light, non-marking sole works; deck shoes are not compulsory.
Everyone packs their own bag — and their own list
Each crew member gets a private copy. Nobody else sees what you tick off.
What to wear sailing — the questions that come up
What should I wear on my first sailing trip?
Comfortable outdoor clothing you do not mind getting wet, closed shoes with light soles, sunglasses, a hat, and one layer more than you think you need for the evening. That covers a warm-water charter week almost entirely. Nothing on that list has to be sailing-specific.
Do I need proper sailing clothing for a charter week?
For a summer charter in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, no. Normal outdoor clothing plus one wind and rain jacket covers the week, and almost everyone who buys a full set of oilskins for their first warm-water trip never wears them. For cool-water sailing it is a different answer, and even then hiring from the base is usually the better first step. The packing list below is built for the warm-water case, with the cool-water items in their own section.
What shoes should I wear on a yacht?
Closed shoes with a light, non-marking sole. Trainers work perfectly well. Dark soles leave marks on the deck that get charged at check-out, and open sandals leave your toes exposed to deck fittings, which is how most minor injuries aboard happen.
How much should I pack for a week aboard?
Less than for a hotel week. There is nowhere to hang anything, and you will wear the same three things in rotation. One soft bag per person is the realistic limit, and the rule is that it has to collapse flat once it is empty.
Can I do laundry on board?
Not really. Some marinas have machines, most do not. Bring enough for the week, plus a laundry bag for the dirty pile and a few wooden pegs — things dry on the guardrail faster than anywhere else. See how the packing list works in the app.
Is there a packing list I can download?
There is something better than a download. The list on this page comes ready inside the app when you create a trip, so instead of printing it you tick it off on your phone, and each crew member has their own copy. It is free to try.
On board with you
Pack, organise, shop, cook, navigate, settle up. Twelve features, one account. No more spreadsheets.
Packing list done? The trip can start
The packing list is one of twelve tools that come with every trip in Skipper Connect — crew list, boat handover, safety briefing, provisioning, recipes, weather, routes, logbook and more. Free to start, no card needed.
Use it for free