Training is a learning curve in more ways than one

Having the right clothing to protect you from the elements will make an enormous difference to your comfort, mental state, safety and ability to race.

Training is a learning curve in more ways than one. As well as finding out what it is like to live aboard a yacht, the training will give you a good idea of what kit and clothing you may or may not require for the race itself.

Try to not be tempted to buy specific sailing clothes and kit before your Level 1 course. If you do not have any of the items on the kit list try to borrow them. Wet weather gear will be available on board for you to use.

What to bring:

As space on board is limited please bring your kit in a soft bag that can be easily stowed.

• Sleeping bag (synthetic, quick drying, not feathers or down)
• Personal wash kit including wet wipes
• Towel (quick drying)
• Personal medicines and seasickness tablets
• Rubber-soled deck shoes with non-marking soles. Deck shoes are best but trainers will do for Level 1 as long as they have plenty of grip
• Boots. Sailing boots come in all guises but for training a cheap pair will suffice. For the race you will need a decent pair but it will very much depend on your budget and which legs you are doing as to which boots you choose to buy. Talk to your skipper and other crew to get more information on what is available. There are useful discussions on our Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/clipperroundtheworld
• Two pairs of hard wearing trousers that dry easily – not jeans
• Long-sleeved jumpers – fleece or similar. Wool jumpers are not recommended as they absorb water and stay wet
• Sunglasses, sunscreen and cap or hat
• Scarf and fleece woolly hat for colder months and night sailing
• Two pairs of gloves - sailing and fleece
• Shorts for warmer months
• Warm or thermal underwear for colder months and night sailing
• Two t-shirts. Synthetic is best as it has better sweat-wicking properties. Most ‘thermal’ underwear is synthetic so you could double up and use thermal tops as t-shirts in the day
• Small torch (a head torch with a red light is best, but not essential)
• Sailing knife –not essential but a handy piece of kit
• Swimwear for Sea Survival Training (Level 2)

In addition to your kit, please don’t forget to bring your passport.

Please make sure you bring adequate warm clothing. It can feel a lot colder on the water than it does on land and temperatures can drop considerably at night.

Clipper 13-14 crew member Kym’s advice

My 'lifesavers' for the week:

• My sailing boots, teamed with sailing socks, kept my feet dry from seawater and also sweat free (you really wanted to know that!)
• Warm fleecy hat that dries fast
• Sailing gloves - got a bit stinky by the end of the week but gave great protection working with ropes and pulling in sails. Consider completely fingerless to make it easier to work with clips.
• Seasickness tablets - not a cure-all but took the edge off for me

Other things I wish I'd taken:

• Even more thermals - they get wet and it gets chilly
• Waterproof sleeping bag and different colour dry sacks to compartmentalise stuff and make it easier to find...the wet gets in everywhere, and polythene bags rustle!
• Other than that, read the manual, take the kit suggested, and get comfortable with knots, especially bowlines as they get used a lot.