Sailing from Svalbard in the north to Morocco in the south, we asked the Adventure sailing skippers at Rubicon3 to try the Helly Hansen Crew mid-layer jacket on both land and sea.
Helly Hansen Crew midlayer jacket
There is no doubt that this is a very stylish jacket. Soft-shell always has a wonderfully comforting feel to it, aided here by a full fleece lining. The pockets are nice and deep and it has both an inner and outer breast pocket. But while it’s great for casual use, as a genuine sailing jacket it struggled. It doesn’t have a waterproof membrane and bizarrely its cuffs are cut too small to push big hands through. Also its collar is cut so close to the neck that, when fully closed, it pushes into the Adam’s apple even with no other clothing on underneath it.
Out at sea: 2.5/5 · In the pub: 4.5/5 · Overall: 3.5/5
See full comparison feature: four midlayer jackets on test.
Verdict
Great for the pub; less so for sailing