My Top 5 Rooster Products: 3rd - Breaking all the Rules!

As I prepare to write this blog, and thinking of my number 3, I can't help to be persuaded by the current sailing conditions, all I can think about is warmth and agility, so you might think that I would list the warmest things like polypro glove liners (that enabled me to wear my summer gloves last winter), polypro or supertherm tops.

However, I would like to fool you that I have been thinking of the bigger picture:

Rooster Polypro Glove Liners

So with #3,#2 and #1, do I have space to tell you how the Supertherm Longjohn allows me to interchange my top layers to cover hot, warm or cold conditions? Perhaps I could bundle products together such as the Aquafleece® genre, so I could explain how I always take an Aquafleece Beanie on the water – rain or shine. Maybe I could share with you how I love the locked in windchill protection of the Pro Aquafleece top, how it makes me feel warm and snug and how it helps keep the old joints warm enough to melt away the aches and pains.

Then I could talk about the Thermaflex® genre of products. I could tell you how great they are at moderating the temperature out of the water, but are still warm in it. I certainly found them a godsend in the hot steamy conditions of the South of France in the recent Masters' World Championships and yet I still wore the Thermaflex® Top all summer in the UK.

But then, where would I rank our amazing gloves? I just could not sail the 4000 without my pro race gloves and our range is now, IMHO, the best in the world.

I was pretty sure I could leave out our pro hikers. as I have been wearing my Rooster Race Armour Lite shorts with hike pads all season over my long john which proved comfortable and secure. However, when I found myself in some classic windy Laser® conditions at the Masters' Worlds in Hyères in October, they were pulled off the reserves bench to help me take the world title. The back support and knee protection were like entering a battle with a trusty old friend in my boat.

Race Armour Lite Shorts

...I guess there is no space for the pro laced boots? But they have not been off my feet since we finished their design two years ago. They are so supportive and ideal for straight leg hiking styles.

The most alarming oversight was that I have no room for the products that started Rooster off in the first place. My instinct to design a rope with the load bearer on the outside was either brilliance or luck, but it worked. Robert Scheidt's fax to me in the spring of 1999 saying that he really liked the mainsheet I gave him in Hyères to try. He wanted to buy three more and asked me to send them to San Palo, Brazil. It was the stroke of luck that enabled me to tell the world that the World Number 1 loved our Polilite® – so you should try it too. That fax was very much the beginning of the Rooster journey. Robert and I had shared some pre Olympics and World Championships as competitors in 94 and 95. He and Ben had already had their first duel in Savannah in 96. Things were hotting up for them in their famous duel in Sydney in 2000 where Rooster Polilite® came 1st (6mm), 2nd(6mm) and 3rd (7mm).

I know that the 6mm Polilite® is still winning Laser World Championships and that its till Robert's sheet of choice.

Rooster Polilite® still winning world championships

Interestingly, just this last weekend at Oxford, a fellow Laser Masters sailor, Alan Davis, was telling me that he had won a nice red mainsheet at a recent event. Obviously not Polilite® – since we only make it in Blue or Black in the 7mm or Yellow in the 6mm. During our great ding dong in the last race of the weekend, Alan repeatedly got his sheet in a 'snakes wedding' as he bore away at the top mark. Obviously I enjoyed teasing him saying – "hey Alan, you should have won a decent mainsheet". The brilliance of Polilite® sheet still shines through as it is still used by many of the top sailors in the world.

Lastly – can I really leave out our last world beating product: carbon tiller extensions. Its no coincidence that our extensions have graced the hands of more Gold Medalists than any other manufacturer in the last two Olympics.

Rooster Carbon Tiller Extensions in Action

So there it is, my number 3,2,1,1,1 and 1!