MORE THAN JUST A MIDLAYER

Much as we sailors respect our gnarly offshore gear, it’s the lighter-weight stuff we tend to grab on a regular basis, and for a chilly day of racing or just tooling around the harbor it would be hard to find a better piece of kit than Helly Hansen’s new HP Racing Midlayer Jacket. Made with LIFALOFT insulation, a fleece collar and hand-warmer pockets, the marketing people actually got things a bit wrong when they named this thing, since it’s also fully waterproof, making it a fine jacket on its own. As evidence of this fact are the HP Racing “Midlayer’s” two-ply, fully-seamed construction and Helly’s proprietary DWR (Durable Water Repellency) treatment and flexible fit. Available in black, navy blue, blue and oh-so-trendy orange (as well as in both men’s and women’s sizes) the new jacket looks pretty good too. $225. Helly

Hansen, hellyhansen.com