Gifts for sailboat racers, from $8 to a new watch

A dry lubricant spray for blocks, tracks, foils and the bottom of a dinghy.

Sailkote leaves a dry, slippery film rather than an oily one, so it doesn't pick up dirt. Racers use it on centerboard and rudder blades, traveler and jib tracks, mast tracks, and anywhere a sheet or control line rubs. It's one of those things every racing sailor has in the bag and runs out of mid-season — the safest gift on this list. A tip worth passing on with it: a light spray on the sail where each telltale sits stops wet telltales sticking to the cloth.

Telltales for the sails, the quickest way to see whether the trim is right.

Telltales tell you when the sail is stalled or luffing, and the ones on most club boats are faded, missing or knotted around the leech. A fresh set is the cheapest upgrade a racer can make, and nobody ever buys them for themselves until the old ones have gone. Pair them with the Sailkote above, sprayed where the telltales sit so they don't stick when they get wet.

Telltales for the shrouds and stays that spin freely, so they never wrap round the wire.

Yarn tied to a shroud tangles, wraps itself round the wire and fades. StayTales fit around the shroud and spin freely on it, so they keep showing the wind across the boat, and they come off for trailering to an event. A pack of six — four short, two long — comes sized to the shroud, from Melges 15 to Etchells, so check the size before you order (there's one for C and MC scows). Graham races with them. They're sold by SailZing rather than on Amazon, and the link doesn't pay us anything.

The current racing rules in a pocket-size book.

The Racing Rules of Sailing change every four years, and the current edition runs to 2028. Bryan Willis's companion puts the rules that come up on the water — right of way, mark room, penalties — in a small book that lives in the kit bag for settling the argument afterwards.

Covers App Store subscriptions, including sailing apps.

Apple doesn't let you gift a subscription directly, but an Apple Gift Card can be spent on one. We make Sail Tactician, so weigh this accordingly: a year of Sail Tactician Pro is $29.99, and it adds line bias, time to burn and wind-shift calls to a phone or watch they already own, and a full debrief of every race rather than just the first five. Our sailing apps guide covers the alternatives honestly. Delivered by email, so it also works as a last-minute gift.

The racing rules explained situation by situation, from the start to the finish.

Where the rule book is written in legal language, this walks round the racecourse — the start, the windward mark, the run, the leeward gate — and explains what each rule means where it actually comes up, with diagrams. It's the most useful winter reading a club racer can do, and it's up to date for the current rules.

A deep, demanding book on strategy and tactics from one of racing's great writers.

Stuart Walker's books are dense and old-fashioned in style, but nobody has written more carefully about why boats win races: wind shifts, current, laylines and positioning against the fleet. Best for a racer who has a season or two behind them and is ready to think harder about the first beat. Walker's The Tactics of Small Boat Racing is the gentler start.

Gloves with the fingertips cut away, so they grip a sheet and still work a watch.

Most racers wear through a pair of gloves a season. The Deckhand is Gill's everyday glove; the Championship is a tougher, grippier version for hiking and heavy sheets. The exposed finger and thumb leave enough skin to press a watch button or tie a knot. Gloves do need a size — check the one they wear now, or include a gift receipt.

A roll-top dry bag with a clear window, so you can find things without emptying it.

On a boat, the thing you need is always at the bottom of the bag. This one has a see-through window welded into the side, so the phone, the sunscreen and the spare battery are visible before you open it — and opening a dry bag on a wet deck is exactly what you want to do less of. The 13-litre size takes a layer, lunch and the small stuff; the 5-litre is just phone, keys and wallet. It's Sea to Summit's lightweight fabric, so it's less tough than their heavy-duty bags: keep it off sharp hardware.

A floating, waterproof marine radio, in white with a high-visibility orange core.

Race committees announce postponements, course changes and recalls on VHF, and a handheld lets a racer hear them and call the committee if they need to retire or need help. This one floats, is waterproof to IPX7, has NOAA weather alerts and charges over USB-C, and the white case with an orange core is easy to spot if it goes over the side. In US waters a recreational handheld needs no license.

A sailor's knife with a part-serrated blade and a marlinspike for jammed knots.

Every sailor should carry a knife to cut a fouled line — and a marlinspike, the tapered steel spike that folds out of the handle, is what gets a bowline or a sheet knot undone after it's been loaded up all race. Myerchin specializes in rigging knives; this one has a marine stainless blade, a G10 handle that shrugs off salt water, and a lanyard so it doesn't go over the side. It's sold on Amazon by a third-party dealer. If they'd rather have something smaller for a buoyancy-aid pocket, Spyderco's Dragonfly 2 Salt (about $74) is a rust-proof folding knife, but it has no spike.

Any polarized lens will do; Maui Jims in a traditional frame are a favorite.

Polarized lenses cut the glare off the water, which is what lets a racer see the dark patches of a puff coming down the course, not just save their eyes. Any good polarized pair helps. Our pick is Maui Jim in a classic, traditional frame rather than a wraparound: the Hookipa is light and rimless, the Red Sands a full-rim rectangle. Both come in sizes (fits) and colors, so check the listing before ordering. Both listings are sold by Amazon itself.

A floating strap, so the sunglasses that go over the side come back.

Every racer has lost a pair of sunglasses ducking under the boom in a tack. A floating retainer keeps them on, and if they do go in, keeps them on the surface. The honest downside: they're long, and the loop can feel a bit obnoxious bouncing round your neck — but if they own nice glasses, it's worth it to keep them safe.

If the long loop bothers them, a low-profile retainer such as Pilotfish's No Tail cinches close behind the head instead, with nothing left to swing.

A baseball cap with a mesh back, so the heat gets out and it dries fast.

A heavy cotton cap is hot and stays wet. Look for one with mesh at the back instead, like Zephyr's — "Z-Hats", with a mesh back and a college logo on the front. Zephyr sells them through college bookstores and team shops rather than on Amazon, so the easy gift is one from the school they went to (or the one they cheer for). If you'd rather buy a sailing brand, Zhik's Sailing Cap is vented, quick-drying and UPF 50+, sold through sailing dealers; that link doesn't pay us.

Add a hat clip, which joins the cap to the collar of a T-shirt, so a gust or the boom on a tack doesn't send it over the side. A few dollars, and a perfect stocking stuffer.

A long-sleeve, hooded UPF 50 shirt, for the days the sun is intense and there's nowhere to hide on the boat.

On a super sunny day, covering up beats reapplying sunscreen between races. A light hooded shirt with long sleeves keeps the sun off the arms, neck and ears, and dries fast when it gets soaked. Gill, Rooster, Helly Hansen and Pelagic all make good ones. Competitive junior sailors tend to prefer Pelagic, whose Exo-Tech and Aquatek shirts are also water- and stain-repellent; Aquatek comes in youth sizes. Pelagic sells them as fishing shirts, which is exactly the same job.

Gill's UV Tec Hoody and Helly Hansen's HH Tech Hoodie are cheaper hooded options with UPF 50, though neither claims to repel water.

Light, stretchy, quick-drying shorts that look smart enough for the yacht club.

Golf shorts turn out to be very good sailing shorts. The Wanderlust from TravisMathew is our pick: super light, stretches with you when you hike or duck the boom, and dries quickly — and it looks nice enough to wear around town or into the yacht club afterwards. Plenty of other light golf shorts do the job too. Sized by waist, and the listing opens on one size and color.

For a sailor who spends the race sitting on the thin rail of a dinghy, the gift they'll thank you for is a pair of padded shorts. "Rail tail" — a sore backside from a day on the rail — is real, and a padded seat helps a lot. Zhik's DeckBeater, with its padded seat, is a good one, and other sailing brands make padded hiking shorts too. It isn't reliably on Amazon, so we link to a sailing dealer, and that link doesn't pay us.

Foam Birkenstocks: simple, cheap, supportive and fine to get wet.

Plenty of dinghy sailors would rather sail barefoot. What matters then is the walk to the boat: foam Birkenstocks go down to the dock, get kicked off before launching and go straight back on on the way in. They're waterproof EVA, so they rinse off, and they have the same supportive footbed as the leather ones for a fraction of the price. Maybe not yacht-club-dinner quality, but just right around water, beach and lake. Sized in EU and men's sizes.

Thin neoprene with a grippy sole, so feet stay protected and still feel the boat.

Gill makes good sailing shoes that are worth a look: the Aquatech is a low 3 mm neoprene shoe for warm-water racing, and the Edge is a taller 4 mm boot for cold water and hiking straps. Lighter still are neoprene sailing socks with a grip sole — Gill makes a pair, and a cheaper generic 3 mm sock does the same job. All of these are sized, and the Aquatech is sold through a third-party dealer.

Ocean sailing told by a delivery skipper who has spent decades at sea.

Kretschmer is the rare sailing writer who is both a serious seaman and a genuinely good storyteller. Start with Sailing a Serious Ocean (lessons from thirty years at sea, in hardcover) or Flirting with Mermaids (the life of a sailboat delivery skipper); Cape Horn to Starboard, At the Mercy of the Sea and Sailing to the Edge of Time are just as good. Any of them makes a good gift, and a sailor who reads one will want the rest.

A couple who left ordinary life behind to sail in retirement, in three books.

Funny, honest and easy to read: what it's really like to trade a settled life ashore for life on a boat, in retirement. Escape from the Ordinary is the first; Crossing Pirate Waters and Great Loop Escape follow. Perfect for the sailor who is starting to plan the next chapter.

The American Sailing Association's beginner textbook, now in its 2nd edition (2026).

The clearest introduction to sailing there is: points of sail, rigging, tacking and gybing, right of way and safety, with excellent diagrams. It's the textbook for ASA's basic keelboat course, and a good gift for a partner, a child or a friend who's about to start.

A teenager sets out to sail around the world alone, in 1965.

Robin Lee Graham was sixteen when he left California in a 24-foot sloop, and five years later he came home having sailed around the world — and grown up along the way. A coming-of-age story as much as a voyage, and the book that sent a generation of sailors to sea.

The first person to sail alone around the world, in his own words.

Slocum sailed his rebuilt oyster sloop Spray around the world single-handed between 1895 and 1898, and wrote it up with a dry wit that still reads beautifully. The book every other solo voyage is measured against. We link the Penguin Classics edition.

Shackleton's ship is crushed by the Antarctic ice, and every man survives.

The story of Shackleton's 1914 expedition: the ship lost to the ice, months camped on the floe, and an open-boat voyage across the Southern Ocean to reach help. Not strictly a sailing book, but there is no better account of seamanship and leadership when everything has gone wrong.

At sixteen, Jessica Watson sailed solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world.

Watson's own account of her 2009–2010 voyage in a 34-foot yacht, from the knockdowns in the Southern Ocean to the crowds waiting in Sydney. Inspiring for any sailor, and a great gift for a young one. Netflix made it into a film in 2023.

The reference: thousands of knots, every one drawn by the author.

Clifford Ashley spent eleven years on this book, and nothing has replaced it since. If a knot exists, it's in here, with a drawing. A handsome hardcover to keep at home or on the boat, and the kind of book a sailor opens for one knot and closes an hour later.

Whales sink a couple's sailboat in the Pacific, and they survive more than two months in a life raft.

William and Simonne Butler's boat was holed by whales off Central America, and the book is the story of how they kept themselves alive. Gripping, and full of practical lessons. Copies are getting scarce: the Amazon listing is a third-party seller, so check the used market if it's gone.

A hurricane wrecks their yacht mid-Pacific; she sails what's left to Hawaii alone.

In 1983 Tami Oldham and her fiancé were delivering a yacht from Tahiti to San Diego when a hurricane caught them. She woke to find him gone and the boat dismasted, and sailed it more than a thousand miles to Hawaii with a jury rig. Made into the 2018 film Adrift; the book was first published as Red Sky in Mourning, and either edition is the same story.

How sails actually work, and how to trim them for speed. Not for the light-hearted.

Walker was a physician and a champion small-boat racer, and this is the deep end: airflow, sail shape, and how every control changes them. Heavy going, but a racer who works through it will never look at a telltale the same way again.

The phone is the full instrument panel, the race recorder and the debrief — and an Apple Watch needs one.

Sail Tactician on an iPhone does everything: mounted on the boat it's a full tactical display with the start line, favored end and wind shifts; zipped in a dry bag it records the race; ashore it replays the race and coaches it, tack by tack. It's also what an Apple Watch pairs with. Check what they already have first — any iPhone that runs iOS 17.6, the iPhone XS and XR or newer, runs Sail Tactician, so this is a gift for someone due an upgrade anyway. The iPhone 17e is Apple's least expensive current model; the 18 Pro is the newest. We link straight to Apple: on Amazon, iPhones are only sold renewed, and these links don't pay us anything.

The rugged one, with a physical Action button that works with wet hands.

The Ultra is built for the water: a very bright screen, dual-frequency GPS, a high-speed water sports rating, and an orange Action button that keeps working when Water Lock has locked the screen against spray. In Sail Tactician one press starts the countdown and the next syncs it to the gun, so a whole start sequence runs without touching the glass. Needs an iPhone.

The same apps as the Ultra for half the price, with a shorter battery and no Action button.

Everything Sail Tactician does on the Ultra it does on the Series 12 — countdown, distance to the line, the favored end, wind shifts — with touchscreen controls instead of the Action button and a battery that suits an afternoon of racing rather than a long-distance race. Needs an iPhone.

Garmin's marine watch, with a regatta timer and start line built in and days of battery.

The quatix 8 has sailing features in its own software and a battery that lasts days, and it works with Android phones as well as iPhones. Where it's thin is after the race: Garmin's app treats a race like a run. Export the race file and Sail Tactician on an iPhone turns it into a coached debrief — every tack measured, the race replayed on the map.

Weeks of battery and water-sports modes, but nothing for the start of a race.

A tough adventure watch with enormous battery life, for the sailor who also runs, rides or hikes. It records the track well but has no regatta timer, so on the water it's a recorder rather than an instrument. Its race files import straight into Sail Tactician for the debrief.