Yachts & Yachting — February 2018

S

ailing is inevitably a sport

where lots of gear needs

to be moved around,

whether it’s just lugging

kit back and forth from

home to the dinghy park of your

local club, or ying half-way around

the world for an oshore race.

Non-specialist luggage rarely meets

the demands of sailors, whether due

to unnecessary weight, a lack of a

robust construction or waterproong.

Fortunately, many of the material

developments and design ideas that

make today’s foul weather gear so much

better than that of a couple of decades

ago have also been applied to luggage.

TO WHEEL OR NOT TO WHEEL?

In the travel world wheelie bags are now

ubiquitous and there are times when

they also make sense for sailing. Look

for the largest possible D-zip that gives

easy access to the entire space inside; a

storm ap over this that’s held in place

with Velcro will help to keep the contents

dry from rain or occasional spray. A bag

of any decent size needs to have extra

compartments to help organise kit that

needs to be easy to access; Zhik’s 80 litre

Roller Luggage Bag also has a detachable

lining that gives easier access. Wheeled

bags also need to have additional

reinforcement near the wheels, as the

fabric here tends to chafe easily.

However, wheelie bags have a

number of downsides: the need for a

rigid base means they can’t be folded

up to be stowed on a yacht, the wheels

and extra structure take up space so

a carry on bag won’t have as much

useable volume. Finally, wheelie bags

are heavier than alternatives – in some

cases the bag itself weighs close to 10

per cent of your allowance when ying.

Rejecting a wheelie bag option doesn’t

mean reverting to an old-school duel

bag – doing so feels like going back to

the 1970s as they are invariably dicult

to lug around unless very light. However,

there are plenty of good models that

are designed with rucksack style straps

Above

The crew loading

up gear before

heading oshore

09

NEXT MONTH

Watches and

wrist gadgets

On sale

09 February DAVID RAMOS/VOLVO OCEAN RACE

RUPERT HOLMES looks at choosing a new sailing bag, from backpacks

to holdalls, plus the latest options to protect your smartphone

BAGGERS CAN

BE CHOOSERS

78 Yachts & Yachting February 2018 yachtsandyachting.co.uk

BUYERS_GUIDE_GC-hg_TH.indd 78 18/12/2017 16:16