A sailing necessity

Sailing gloves are a sacrificial second skin, especially when handling spinnaker lines and anything where you need a little more grip or there’s a risk of rope burn.

I know some people avoid them thinking they’re dangerous and a snagging risk. If you’re one of those bare handed souls who can handle all lines without issue, then this probably isn’t for you.

But for mortals like me, I rely on gloves for a range of uses on my boat and other boats that I skipper or crew on.

I have written a longer list of gloves we’ve tested across our editorial team, so if Gill doesn’t fit your hands, then there’s others available that might. Best sailing gloves: 10 top pairs to protect your hands and keep them warm

Fits like a glove!

I can’t recall the exact time/year I found the Gill Deck hand glove, but it was a bit of a Eureeka! moment. Trying them on in a shop, and realising I finally found something that actually fitted my modest, slightly smallish lady hands.

Most sailing gloves I find in shops are stiff and not very compliant. They cause hand fatigue. The other problem I find: a lot of the other gloves just don’t fit. A mans size small isn’t a women’s size small.

So here we are, the Gill Deck hand gloves. For a brief spell they made these in a women’s sizes/cut and these were possibly the most perfect fitting gloves ever. Since that short lived foray a few years ago, Gill seem to have abandoned the mens/womens different sizes and have gone back to offering unisex sizing.

Despite this, I have bought, I estimate, 10 pairs of these over the past few years. short and long finger models.

Gill Deck Hand glove with a blown out thumb section, I still choose these tatty gloves above all others.

They’re not without their faults, as can be seen in my used pairs, the material by the thumb disintegrates after a couple of years hard use. Sometimes sooner.
I don’t expect gloves to last much longer than two or three years anyway, so that is an acceptable attrition rate for what is a sacrificial item. If the material was harder wearing, then they wouldn’t have the ease of movement that these have. I actually forget I’m wearing them sometimes.

Finding the perfect fit

TOP TIPS when buying sailing gloves:

• When trying on gloves in the shop, one of the most important tests is can you make a fist?
• How easy it to make a fist?
• Are the gloves pre-curved?
• Do you have the fight the glove to make a fist shape?
• Can you grip some 6mm or 8mm line easily? (or the thinnest line you have onboard)
• Do the cuffs close neatly around your wrist?

This more recent model seems to have sorted the thumb disintegration issue, but the finger tips are on their way out. They still feel lovely though. I just wish they did a half size smaller to make them a little more snug like my older women’s specific ones were

Despite their flaws, I keep going back to them and buying them over and over again. When I posted this up to a popular women’s sailing group on social media, the comments I received were almost universal “Hey you have my favorite gloves on!” (Kit) “I love those gloves” (Daisy) “haha I have the same ones! Not so worn though but love them” (Maria) Another commentator recommended some Ronstan gloves, so I’m going to go and check those out, because, you know, research. I am, if nothing else, thorough in my glove trials.

Go for the Pro glove instead?