"Just before a two month West Country and Isles of Scilly cruise I decided that my foul weather gear needed replacing. In 53 years of sailing I have used just about every major brand of sailing gear - and generally been disappointed - but I was intrigued by the new Hudson Wight range and their sensible business model, and I liked what I was hearing from users. So I treated myself to an HW1 jacket and HW1 Trousers, a Performance Jacket 2014, an HW Polo shirt, and an HW Micro Fleece. After two months of cruising in generally poor weather with several gales, torrential rain, and cool temperatures prevailing, I am very happy to report that the HW gear performed superbly.

The gear is light, soft and very comfortable to wear but seems hard wearing and still looks like new. Most importantly, it proved very breathable and completely waterproof in, at times, very wet conditions. There is great attention to detail, and areas such as cuffs, zips, pockets, collars and hoods are well executed and comfortable. And the branding is low-key and discrete.

The fleece-lined Performance Jacket is the perfect jacket afloat or ashore and I only needed the added protection of the HW1 jacket when conditions were very wet. The jacket would also be ideal as a mid-layer under the HW1 Jacket when it's really cold.

The HW Polo shirt became a staple as it's rugged but comfortable and dries quickly. As for the HW Micro Fleece, it's simply superb and I wouldn't be without it! And all this at a price of less than half you'd pay for any of the big brands. Thank you HW, it was worth waiting 53 years for!"

"One of the main challenges short handed racing offshore is to find kit that will keep you warm and dry but at the same time allow for intensive bursts of activity, giving room for a wide range of movement and not making you roasting hot in a flash. The HW1s really performed under tough Fastnet Race conditions, the Trousers are a good fit, are strong and allow a full range of movement in the knee; worn with the HW1 Smock with its high collars provided a superior level of dryness and comfort against the lashing rain and waves of the Irish Sea and no excuses to get up onto that foredeck and take a wave in the face."

"My existing waterproofs were an ageing set of Inshore kit and a heavy set of Ocean Kit, neither of which are particularly suitable for 2-handed offshore racing. HW 1 JacketI wore this a lot, mainly because it had a 'big jacket' feel but was incredibly light weight. The fleece lining and high collar gave good protection and warmth, but could easily fold down when not needed. I'm afraid the HW1 Jacket was so good, I didn't want to take it off to even try the Smock! I promise I'll feedback on this in due course. HW1 Trousers These kept me nice and dry which is the main thing that I look for! The fit is quite snug, something which I didn't like at first, but grew to find to be a good thing. I thought they might be a bit restrictive to movement, but this was not the case."

Received your waterproofs last week and I’m well impressed. Lovely kit :-) Here's an update for you:

I've now been wearing them round the Solent
in all weathers. The best test so far, sailing Poole to Yarmouth in
torrential rain with Force 8 gusts. After 5 hours of that I came out
at the end warm and dry. Should I ever wear this kit out I'll be
straight back to you for new.

Having worn Hudson Wight Salopettes for the last season, I strongly recommend this sailing kit as, strong, lightweight and 100% waterproof.

The first race of the RORC season in the UK is always a cold one. I was glad that I had my HW1 trousers, HW1 smock and Hudson Wight midshell jacket. A great combination that kept me warm and dry through 16 hrs of upwind sailing to Le Havre."

David Pritchard, bowman on Andrew McIrvine's La Reponse

Doing my Yachtmaster course in mine. Done around 700nm around the SW in sun, wind, rain and more rain. I am the only one so far I've seen wearing then but get asked questions a lot. Because they arn't lined they dry out a lot quicker and unlike other brands you get a top product without having to go through the very expensive in-shore, off-shore cash grabber!

Love this gear and see them a lot around Cowes. Have several friends with HW kit and they are really pleased with it.

Just received my Midshell jacket, ordered a few days ago. First came across Hudson Wight at the Southampton Boat show a couple of years ago. Received a cap and sailing gloves at the time, and this started getting the word around. Just wanted to say great service and the jacket is great also.

Many thanks for the excellent service!

I'll certainly recommend Hudson Wight.

I have raced at all standards and worn every conceivable make of sailing clothing and without doubt your jacket is the very best by miles.  Absolutely brilliant product so thank you!

 Philip Atha - Cornish Shrimper 'Isolde' No 10

Firstly to reiterate, thanks very much for the Hudson Wight Performance Jackets, they are absolutely perfect!

Click here to read the latest independent test of our HW1s in Yachting Monthly

Running an RYA sea school on the South coast of England during wintertime the quality of my foul weather gear means a lot to me. Luckily I am now in touch with HudsonWight and the HW Salopette's and Smock keep me warm and dry!

HW Jacket and salopettes got a proper soaking on Saturday night on the Myth of Malham both kept me bone dry…

International One Design – Bermuda International Invitational Race Week 2014

Took my new Hudson Wight’s to Bermuda for race week, some may say a bit over the top, but as expected we had a couple of windy and wet days where I was glad to be well protected. They are light, well cut, with lots of extra pockets, and the hood is great, not big and baggy as is the case with other manufacturers. By far the best foul weather gear I have ever purchased.

Picked up my new jacket and trousers two weeks ago and the following day flew off to Northern Germany to deliver a new 50’ Hanse back to the UK from the factory. The new clothing proved impressively lightweight, totally dry and kept me warm in the freezing, wet and windy Baltic weather. Very happy with the performance and its outstanding value for money !  The HPX will be on ebay shortly…

I have now owned my Hudson Wight suit for a few months now and use it for Safety boat/Rib and sailing, I have found it to be of superb quality and very comfortable to wear for long periods, being robust and lightweight allows you to wear plenty of base layers in winter condition.

So first time to try my HW1 jacket this weekend in the Solent. Saturday was wet a lot of the time, but I was kept bone dry. Jacket hung up in a wet boat overnight but was fully dry on Sunday morning where it was used all day again in very wet conditions with winds gusting over 30 knots. Very pleased how lightweight it feels, and the hood design is very easy to get access to, and stays in place in breezy conditions.
So far very impressed.

My lovely Ruck Bag arrived. Thank you so much, it’s perfect for going sailing at the weekend.

I think it is excellent quality and a super colour.

Click to read the 2014 February Test Tank review (page 64) in Sailing Today. 

Can we say how pleased we both are with our gear – easy to move around in but smart, dry and warm, ( and the oilies certainly are being tested in this Garmin Hamble Winter series! ). Especially like the pockets, the lack of flaps around the zips so nothing gets stuck although they are fully waterproof and, although one design, more than sufficient adjustments to fit any crew member regardless of sex or shape! Good gear given the quality if priced at the same level of other manufacturers but unbelievable value considering the price differential against other leading brands.

I have been really impressed with my Hudson Wight foul weather clothing which made Cowes Week a much more comfortable, and dry, experience; it looks thoroughly business like, is utterly resilient and robust but still stylish, all complemented by first rate service and a very sleek price that didn’t hole me beneath the waterline.

Apart from a very few minor design suggestions, I can confirm that the suit has encouraged me to put my Musto MPX and HPX kit to my back up hanger rails….

I have also evangelised on a number of occasions to my students and other boat owners about your up and coming market refreshing product…

See full review

We had some ‘interesting’ weather in the Med on the way down – electrical storms and wave heights that were very surprising. The kit stood up very well!

My family have kitted themselves out with the new HW kit and are delighted with it. My son, Angus, was helming our J97 last weekend off Cowes and had forgotten his gloves. I reminded him about the fleece lined pockets and a smile spread across his face as he hadn’t realised there was that little extra. And I think that sums the HW kit up – Lots of thoughtful “little extras”. Whether it be fleece lined pockets, a Jacket that covers your butt or accessible secure pockets. A lot of thought has gone into this excellent value, high quality product.

Received your waterproofs last week and I’m well impressed. Lovely kit :-)