Sailing Holiday Essentials - What To Pack And Wear

For most of us, this time of year means one thing: holiday season. Whether you’re chartering a yacht in Greece, flying to Croatia for a flotilla holiday, or spending a week exploring the Balearics, there’s nothing quite like finally swapping your local waters for something a little more unfamiliar.

When it comes to packing for a sailing holiday, the process is naturally a little different compared to packing for a typical beach holiday or city break. You’ll have to be properly prepared for life on the water, and your sailing packing list has to cover everything from time spent swimming to days exploring unique towns and evenings enjoying nearby harbours. 

Few types of trips ask more of your clothing than a week or two spent sailing, but you still don’t need to panic and pack for every eventuality! The best sailing holiday essentials are all about versatility, and if you plan ahead you can be certain that you can move between the different parts of your trip without breaking your baggage allowance.

Here’s how we’d recommend packing for a sailing holiday…

Before You Pack, Think About Your Holiday

Try your best to contain your holiday excitement before you start throwing everything and anything into a bag. The best sailing holiday packing list is formed when you take a bit of time to think about the trip itself.

How long are you going for? Will you be living aboard for the week or staying ashore sometimes? Are you cooking on board or planning evenings in waterfront restaurants? Will most of your time be spent sailing or are you expecting plenty of time at anchor for swimming and relaxing?

Your destination also makes a huge difference to what you’ll need to take. After all, a week of sailing around the Scottish coast demands a very different approach from living on a yacht in the Mediterranean, even if both take place in the middle of the summer. 

By getting the answers to these questions right, you can make sure you take items that genuinely deserve a place in your sailing kit bag, rather than packing items that never leave the bottom of your luggage.

Packing For Three Scenarios

With the above questions in mind, one of the easiest ways to simplify your sailing holiday essentials packing is to stop thinking about individual items of clothing and instead think about different parts of your day. Most sailing holidays will revolve around three distinct environments, so pack for each.

1. On The Water

Time spent on the water is where your technical sailing clothing comes into its own. By this, we mean the layers needed for the environment you’ll be around.

Even in the warmest destinations, the conditions might shift once you’re away from shelter. Add some wind and spray into the mix, and long hours in the sun can feel rather demanding. That’s why our first recommendation of what to pack for your sailing holiday is a dependable all-weather sailing jacket, paired with a technical base layer to help regulate body temperature during the day. If the weather stays glorious (fingers crossed!), you’ll probably spend most of your time in base layers, so pack enough for each day. However, you’ll really thank yourself if things do turn and you’ve got waterproof protection ready to throw on!

A UV base layer, such as our UV Tec Tee, is the perfect pick for summer conditions, and will help to protect you from sun exposure alongside a trusty cap and some polarised sunglasses.

2. Around The Water

Some of the best parts of any sailing holiday are actually the moments when you’re ashore. This could be wandering around a local marina, stopping for lunch, or heading out for dinner after a day on the water. In these situations, you’re unlikely to want to be wearing your technical sailing clothing and will appreciate having clothing that feels just like home.

Rather than packing a separate wardrobe, however, go for versatile lifestyle pieces that work across multiple occasions. A lightweight Oxford Shirt paired with performance shorts or trousers will see you perfectly through the day-to-evening transition, while comfortable marine trainers will keep you comfortable from deck to shore. 

3. In The Water

Of course, most sailing holidays involve far more than just sailing. If you’re planning to add some swimming, paddleboarding or relaxing into the mix, you’ll need to pack for time on the water as well as on it.

Take at least a couple of sets of swimwear, although you should be able to dry yours between uses on deck pretty easily, along with some water shoes and a microfibre towel. 

For this part of your trip, it’s always worth prioritising quick-drying clothing and kit so that you’re not lugging around damp and wet clothing for the rest of the day after an adventure or excursion.

What Kind Of Luggage Do You Need For A Sailing Holiday?

If you’re flying, make sure that you check your airline’s baggage allowance before you even begin thinking about packing. You’ll need to know exactly how much space and weight you have available to avoid any last-minute panics and prioritise the sailing holiday essentials that matter the most.

Remember also that your luggage still has plenty of work to do even once you’ve landed. Your choice of kit bag has to cope with airport transfers, pontoons, loading onto the boat, and then becoming your wardrobe for the rest of the week. In fact, your bag will probably be what you live from throughout the trip, so accessibility matters as much as capacity.

We’d suggest going for a sailing bag that makes it easy to find what you need without unpacking the whole bag, like our 90L Voyager Duffel Dry Bag. With a wide-mouth opening, you can simply reach in and grab that day’s essentials, while compression straps work to reduce bulk when space to unpack on board is limited. 

This sailing duffel bag has also been constructed from puncture-resistant waterproof PVC tarpaulin with stitch-free welded seams. In simple terms, that means it provides dependable protection for your belongings throughout your journey, whether that’s sitting on a plane, on board a RIB or stored below deck.

Alongside your main sailing bag, it’s also worth packing a smaller dry bag or a backpack for day trips. This gives you somewhere safe and secure to store valuables, without having to lug a bigger bag with you every time you go back to shore. 

The Things Everyone Forgets

If you ask anybody who’s been on a sailing holiday before if there’s anything they wished they’d packed, the answer might surprise you. It’s rarely another jumper or an extra pair of shorts and often the smaller items that suddenly become invaluable halfway through the holiday.

Sailing holiday essentials like a sunglasses retainer, a spare charging cable, a reusable water bottle and a lightweight mid layer prove far more useful than packing another heavy fleece. They all come into their own when you’re arguing over sockets in the cabin or the breeze picks up after sunset.

Practical Packing Tips

If we can impart one final bit of wisdom as you pack for your sailing holiday, it’s this: resist the temptation to fill every last corner of your sailing bag before you leave home.

If you can leave about 10-20% of your bag empty, you’ll certainly appreciate it by the third or fourth day when you’ve got somewhere free to put damp and dirty clothing, beach towels, or the souvenirs you’ve picked up from stop-offs.

Remember that packing efficiently is all about taking sailing clothing that is versatile and having a dependable bag, rather than taking less for the sake of it. 

You want to have enough flexibility to enjoy the holiday as it unfolds, and creating your sailing holiday packing list around the principles outlined in this article will ensure that can happen. After all, the best sailing holidays are the ones where you’re enjoying a new stretch of coastline, not wishing you’d packed differently.