Kit Guides

Originally launched in 2019, this jacket has been an all-time favourite amongst the team at Rooster HQ, as well as our community on and off the water. So much so, we’ve decided to restock it into our core collection moving into the 2023 season. With so much disruption over the last few years with the pandemic unexpectedly hitting us all hard, with the offset hugely effecting the clothing and production industry, it has become more and more apparent to make sustainable choices, not only in the development process but also in the consideration of if we are to keep a product in the collection. This one wasn’t plain sailing (excuse the pun), even though there is a lot of demand, our main priority is always to try to make sure that we have enough neoprene in stock to feed our community. Often the tech casual range ends up taking the hit when priorities have to be considered.  Whenever we do reintroduce a product, we always make sure to make little tweaks to ensure that the product can be the best it can. Often these go unnoticed by the innocent eye, but we know about them. The reason we blend the updates into the current models is so that we can support our dealer/distributor network and limit the consequence of leaving them with a load of ‘old’ stock, with too much product on the market. We’re not a fast fashion brand, so our motto is to only replace when necessary.  Back to the reason you probably headed to this blog - to find out about the development of the Superlite Hybrid jacket. Well here you go: The design team at Rooster are on the constant hunt for the best materials to be used on our products, with considerations into durability, performance, environmental impact, source-ability, end of use, lifecycle, all with the overshadowing reason for sustainability. Sustainability is such a broad term with so many factors dialling into the term.  Can you ever make a fully ‘sustainable’ product? I will leave this question open.  So, after the decision to reintroduce this jacket, the team looked at all the feedback we have had on the previous version, personally and from customers. This particular product was not hard to gather feedback, as I mentioned earlier, it is widely worn by the team. And although the original version was a sturdy and great jacket, we felt that there were some small improvements that could be made to make it functionally even better. Used mainly for active wear, and when doing sports, the jacket now benefits from some extra space around the shoulders so that it can move with you better. As a sailing brand, where many of our community actively partake in other sports like swimming, climbing, and rowing, the lat-gain* can be a real problem. Our latest update to the fit will go a long way for functionality.  As part of our general love and mindfulness for our playground (aka the planet), we also try to, where possible, use recycled fabrics or low impact fabrics. We know this is not the complete answer to solving climate change, but in a field where technical garments are still hugely reliant on manmade ‘plastic’ products for performance, we feel like moving away from ‘virgin’ fabrics, will at least help in the process. Enter the recycled fabrics used on the jacket, with the addition of recycled filling/padding and a slight increase in thickness to give that extra bit of insulation.  The final improvement that we made was to change to a ripstop recycled nylon for the outer shell fabric, as with any jacket of this nature they can be susceptible to snagging. The ripstop outer will prolong the durability of the product, meaning it should last longer and be stronger – we’ve tried to take the worry away from you that you might damage your jacket so you can get on with enjoying it – whether that be on a hike, sailing around the coast or whilst tinkering with your boat on the shore. * large latissimus dorsi back muscles due to working out or partaking in certain sports.  

Blog entry by Steve Cockerill     Putting your spars and foils into a cosy bag feels like the right thing to do. But if you are not careful, what appears to be a caring thing, might also be the worst thing. After sailing on salt water, we should wash our spars down with fresh water and where possible allow them to dry out. I tend to bag mine for safe keeping in transit. However, many bags use non-breathable fabrics and foams in their construction which trap any residual moisture. Moisture encourages dissimilar metal corrosion where stainless or Monel rivets react with the aluminium of the mast. The fizzing is proof of the corrosion taking place. What you need is a spar bag that breathes.Foils packed away in a non-breathable foil bag will sweat rather than dry out, causing Osmosis. Ideally, you should dry off your foils before packing them away. Again salt water is a hindrance as it attracts moisture so a quick wash helps to remove the salt and gives it a chance to dry out. Look for foil bags that breathe. What to Look For Open cell foams with a breathable membrane is the safest option for both Spars and Foils. Spars and foils dry out naturally if they are packed damp which prevents dissimilar metal corrosion and osmosis. In my experience, many manufacturers are keen to save money on material cost which ends up costing you more in replacement spars and repairs to foils. Below are some of the bags we make to protect your gear: Padded Spar Bag 3650mm by 165mm (Laser Top Mast, Aero Top Mast and 9 Lower Mast, Lightening Upper and Lower mast) Padded Spar Bag 2950mm by 165mm (Laser Boom and Standard Lower Master, Topper Upper, Lower Mast and Boom, Aero 7 Lower Mast, Aero Boom, Optimist Lower Mast and Lightening Boom) Padded Spar Bag 2350mm by 165mm Optimist Foil Bag Foil Bag for the Laser/ILCA - also fits the Europe 4000 Rudder Bag 4000 Daggerboard Bag Solo Rudder Bag Solo Mast Bag Europe Travel Mast Bag Europe Boom Bag  

The Rooster® Trapeze Harness is fully compliant with the new weight rules and has positive buoyancy as per requirements in the 2021-2024 new World sailing rules. The weight when dry is about 1.2kg, and 1.75kg when wet - based on a size XL/2XL. At Rooster we’re focused on getting people on/in the water and enjoying all that the elements can deliver, we work to ensure that our kit is versatile through comfort, durability, adaptivity and performance, whilst retailing at a fair price.Our research and development phase take both personal experiences and the experiences of super users. These might be high performance sailors to those who manage sailing schools, that way we have a broad understanding of all the design features that are needed.The development of the Rooster Harness was a fun process and it was the first project I was tasked with when joining the team in 2017… no pressure! Harnesses are such a personal thing and so trying to make a ‘one design fits all’ solution was a challenge. Testing and fitting were made easier as we are lucky that most of the team at Rooster HQ are sailors, with approximately 50% regular users of trapeze harness’s, so we had a good testing base across a range of sizes and abilities at close hand. The core aim was to produce a harness that could combine comfort, performance and affordability, whilst being versatile to allow maximum adjustability. We know that appeals to family members who want to share the harness as well as high performance sailors to adjust to the perfect fit.During the development process, we think about the lifetime of the product to not only minimise the environmental footprint but also as the user doesn’t want the ‘agro’ of having to keep buying new kit.We also look ahead at material/technology trends and developments as well as safety regulations to ensure that when the release date comes around, we are up to date or even ahead of the curve. The next stage in the development calls for initial prototyping to determine fit and form. For technical products, such as the harness, these are rough and ready samples, and often not pretty! We made the first prototype in house to quickly translate our ideas, establish a working panel layout, locate stress points, select appropriate materials and see how the features will work in practise. Usually the testing/fitting for an initial prototype will be done solely at Rooster HQ, but we did also take the first harness prototype to the water to double check how it worked with unusual movements performed on the water – these are often hard to mimic on land.The first prototype was far from the final design but provided a good base to move forward with.With the hard work done, it then comes to making a comprehensive technical spec pack so that we can translate our concept to our factory for them to produce a working test sample.The spec pack has to be technically accurate and is the platform we use to communicate all parts of the design including a technical drawing, colour visualisation, panel layout, features/trims, logos/labels and fabrics. The more accurate and detailed the spec pack, the better the sample will be, so we try to make it as thorough as possible. It also means that sample rounds can be minimised, which saves time, money and environmental impact.It can take 2-3 months for such a technical product sample to process in our factory and be delivered to us; by this time, we can hardly contain our eagerness to try it out. As soon as the first sample arrived at our office, full of excitement, we were straight out to test it using our test rig. All the hard work we put into our initial prototype and spec pack paid off as our first sample was not far from how the harness is today. There were a few parts that required further refining which took a couple of further sample rounds as we refined the construction around the crotch, material/inner foam distribution and fit/shaping. We used 2 different densities of our MISRA foam on the inside the harness, which lends itself to fitting well around the body because of its deflection properties; a softer foam support around the hips, with a denser foam used on the back for extra support.It was also really important to us to get the fit right so that it could fit to different body shapes, so we worked hard to make sure that the tensioning of the side ‘flaps’ allowed for adjustment down the back, across the middle and up through the bum. On the crotch, we tried to get the right stretch vs support ratio so that it would be comfortable whilst supporting through the bum and up to the bar, which led to test several different constructions to perfect this. Once we (and chief tester/bossman Steve) were happy with the features, construction and fit, we then put out a couple of the samples to Rooster ambassadors and dealers for further testing/feedback. This is another important stage, as when working so close to the product, it can be easy to miss something. In the case of the harness, all the feedback was excellent.Then just came the waiting game for production, which takes about 6 months including shipping. The project took just under 2 years in total, from start to finish, ahead of its official launch at the 2019 RYA Dinghy Show.   The full information of the ins and outs of the Rooster® Trapeze Harness: