Drysuit advice?

[N.A.]

Does anyone here have experience with using a drysuit in a (yacht, though dinghy also interesting) sailing context?

I'm curious about things like:
- If they are too hot, do the Goretex ones solve much of that problem?

- If you get neoprene neck seals you can leave open (as in the Mustang Survival/Ocean Rodeo ones), do they actually work that well if you fall in? A drysuit seems less than useless to me if they don't.

- Any opinions on Kokatat vs Mustang/Ocean Rodeo (which seem to be the two main brands people discuss)?

Thanks for any thoughts. FYI, I have a well-worked out foulie / insulating layer system for my environment (4-season, rain or shine SFBay), but am thinking of this as offshore race/offshore safety gear, or maybe to extend my sailing to even rainier weather on the bay (though that is usually accompanied by high, gusty winds, which are less appealing) more than daily use.

Many thanks!


PS: For any who are also wondering/turn this thread up in a search:

The two main brands people seem to look at are:

1. Kokatat, used heavily by kayakers and it seems, East coast dinghy sailors. The top-end one (as of this writing) is the Goretex Pro Odyssey. People seem to get these from kayakacademy.com, which has great feedback and seems to both work to get you the right/customized fit and can replace the latex neck/wrist seals. They also apparently rent with part of rental applicable to a purchase. [n.b.: I have no relationship to them, and have not used them -- this is just a report from my internet homework.] Kokatat suits have built-in booties and seem to always have latex seals. c.f.:

Kokatat GORE TEX PRO Odyssey Dry Suit with Detachable Hood, Best Sea kayak and Sailing Drysuit | Kayak Academy

Kokatat Gore-Tex Odyssey dry suit, the new expedition dry suit now featuring a detachable hood and Kokatat's new GORE TEX PRO fabric. The Odyssey comes with an overskirt to keep your kayak drier while rolling or paddling in waves, a covered men's Relief Zipper, Gore-Tex Dry Socks, Reflective...

www.kayakacademy.com

2. Mustang/Ocean Rodeo (e.g. their Go or Soul suits). A couple of folks from other boards report using the 'Soul', but in rather extreme circumstances; advantage seems to be the neoprene seals (less good seal, more durable and comfortable...?) and 'standby mode' where you can open the neck seal when immersion is not imminent, then seal it up without removing the suit. The 'Go' (or 'Ignite') have integrated booties which seems useful.

Go Dry Suit

This durable dry suit includes professional features; padded elbows and knees for added protection, low-profile mesh draining thigh pockets, and Solas reflective tape for low light situations.

mustangsurvival.com

 

[bgary]

I used to (back in the dark ages) wear a Musto 1-piece foul-weather suit when working bow on IOR boats. Wasn't a "dry suit" in the cold-water SCUBA sense, but had rubber seals at neck, wrists and ankles, and was really great for most (cold, rain, spray) conditions. Quite warm and dry.

The two big downsides, IMO, were

-- easy to get TOO warm - other than a diagonal across-the-front zipper, there was no ventilation, so you either had it all the way on, or you wrestled your way out of the top half entirely, tied the sleeves around your waist and hoped they kept the bottom half up. Not really any in-between choices. And

-- I didn't test it, but I would be VERY leery about going in the water with that setup. In particular, I don't know that I'd trust the wrist and ankle seals to keep water out when immersed, and if water got in.... I think it would be a dangerous problem. A suit like that provides no inherent flotation, it'd be hard to get out of the suit while in the water, and hard to get back on the boat (self-rescue or assisted) if the suit was full of water.

I still tend toward that style of clothing, to an extent. I favor a kayaking dry-top when conditions are rough - keeps me nice and dry, and movement is not constrained.

But if I were racing in SF these days, I'd look hard at something like a 4/3 wetsuit (4mm neoprene around your core, 3mm on arms and legs). Inherently bouyant, wouldn't have to worry about it filling with water, more than warm enough on the boat, and would (at least) keep core reasonably warm if in the water. Probably would add some layers over the top of it - eg sailing shorts and a dry-top, mostly to minimize chafe on the neoprene; add your inflatable PFD on the outside and it'd be good to go.

Might be worth seeing what the crews in some of the smaller one-design classes around the bay (J/70, Moore-24, etc) do. Those folks get pretty wet and I bet they have sorted out some good options.

$.02
Bruce

 

[Christian Williams]

I am cold just reading the question.

 

[phildogginit]

A dry suit is suitable for

- foredeck when it's very wet and very cold, big waves
- multihull sailing (lots of water coming up through net)
- dinghy sailing. But if you plan on going in the water, a wetsuit is more comfortable

I wear a Level 6 emperor dry suit which has a crotch zipper and latex rubber neck gasket. It's mostly for kayaking. I've done a fair amount of sailing and have worn the dry suit only a few times. A few times I wish I had worn it.

Upsides of a dry suit include

- It's an amazing piece of tech. Coupled with synthetic underwear (a one piece fleece liner) it will keep you dry and mostly warm. In the words of the level-6 sailsperson "it will change your life"

Downsides of a dry suit include

- difficult to regulate body temperature. Adding and removing layers is cumbersome. You don't want to sweat too much, and it's easy to get chilled, especially if sitting on the rail
- expense
- a failure point anywhere will leak
- goretex eventually leaks

Overall, you're better off with one or 2 foulies (sapolettes, Helly Hansen makes good ones that are not too $$$), high rubber boots, and a good jacket. IMO dry suit is not suitable for most sailing.