Gear

Racing requires a bit more gear. What level of racing you are doing, and on what type of boat, will dictate what you bring. All of the gear in the basic section should now be carried with you, with minor modifications.

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Essentials:

- PFD. You will want to select your PFD based on what kind of racing you are doing, and what you want out of the PFD. I personally use a Stohlquist kayaking PFD because I like having the more spacious chest pocket and I connect gear to the straps. Many racers prefer a more low-profile PFD such as the Zhik models because they don't have straps to snag on the boat.

- Sunblock. I use coral reef safe SPF 50 for my arms, legs, and neck, and a zinc stick for my face. I might look goofy with white zinc all over my face, but I don't have time during the race to re-apply sunblock.

- Sunglasses. I like sunglasses with wraparound sides or glacier glasses (such as Vallon's Heron Ocean model) because it can get brutal staring up at sails with sun coming in through the sides of your glasses.

- Gloves. A good set of gloves will make all the difference. While the generic ones from West Marine will do for beginners and day sailors, racers will want to upgrade to something more robust. My personal preference is the Gill Pro Gloves. I've had mine for 6 years of hard racing and they still have some life left in them. 

- Clothing. Quick-dry and wicking clothing is the name of the game! For sun protection, long-sleeve UV shirts are great, and I often of with long pants instead of shorts. Low-profile clothing is also necessary as you will be moving around the boat a lot, and don't want to snag yourself. There are lots of high-end options from Helly Hanson, Gill, Columbia, and others, but you can also find stuff that works just fine from Walmart.

- Footwear. What you wear depends on the conditions and type of boat. Neoprene booties work well for dinghy racing. There are too many options to go over for keelboat racing, and if you are at the stage where a good ol' pair of Sperry canvas deck shoes (what I usually wear) don't work, you will have plenty of advice from your crew about their preferred footwear!

- Knife. A good knife is a lifesaver in an emergency, and I'll leave it up to you to decide how much money you want to spend. There are some inexpensive but good quality sailing knife options from Amazon that I've had success with. 

- Multi-tool. This will come in handy when you discover that busted piece of essential gear or that improper knot that someone else tied way too tight. Again, it doesn't have to be fancy. Just has to work.

- Watch. The skipper and tactician should have watches at the very least, and many keelboats use race timers, but it is always good to be able to back up your crew on the start sequence! Waterproof is a must, and a timer and stopwatch function is better (unless you like doing public math in your head). I use my Apple Watch because I can run the Race Master app on it (more on that in the Digital Resource page).

- Kneepads. I didn't use kneepads until I was in my 30's, and now I can't imagine racing without them. The number of times you need to kneel or will smash your knees into the deck or pieces of deck hardware are too frequent to count. Inexpensive options are available, but I have really grown to like the Gill kneepads. Avoid construction kneepads with open-cell foam inside them, as salt water and constant wear will disintegrate the foam.

- A good dry bag. There are lots of options at all price points. I have a 60L Gill Racing bag (duffle style), but for day races where I don't need to pack foulies a smaller backpack would be better. Avoid bags with too many straps and snap points as the bag will be tossed around the boat.

- VHF handheld radio. Keelboats will often have a more powerful built-in VHF, but I still bring my handheld as a backup. I helps to be able to hear calls from the Race Committee to back up your skipper!