Patagonia and the Polynesian Voyaging Society Find a Fresh Take on Foulies

The new Big Water Foul Weather kit is one of Patagonia’s most unique design collaborations yet, merging experience from serious seafarers and its alpine, snow, surf and fishing lines.

By Andy Cochrane

Published August 30, 2023

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Updated August 30, 2023

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As a brand, Patagonia rarely dips its toes in the water. The approach is typically either all-in, spearheading change on major issues like dam removal, regenerative agriculture and sustainable supply chains or holding off entirely. The brand is, to many of us, a barometer for the most pressing planetary issues of our time.

So, why spend eight years collaborating with a small non-profit on a niche sailing product?

“To talk about ocean health,” says Linden Mallory, Patagonia’s Global Product Line Director. “It is the next frontier of planetary health. Micro plastics, fisheries management, biodiversity. Their journey connects all the dots.”

Mallory is referring to the Moananuiākea, a 47-month circumnavigation of the Pacific Ocean by two traditional voyaging canoes, which set sail this past June. The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) plans to sail its canoes, the Hōkūle’a and Hikianalia, over 43,000 miles using only traditional wayfinding methods, stopping in 345 communities across 36 countries to discuss facets of ocean health and share indigenous wisdom.

patagonia big water foul weather kit — A map of the Moananuiākea Voyage, which will circumnavigate the globe and visit over 300 countries.

“Their values align perfectly with ours,” says Mallory. “We built the kit with care and craftsmanship, and are using it to talk about the Polynesian Voyaging Society and more broadly, ocean health. Their four-year sailing expedition without modern navigation is unbelievable. We wanted to be a small part of it.”

It Starts in the Forge

Decades ago, Patagonia retailed foul weather gear as part of a larger nautical line, but it has long been defunct. With the old materials and design features outdated, designers started from scratch. When asked why an alpine product guy led the development of a high-performance sailing kit, Mallory laughed, admitting he’s only done a few sailing trips in his life: “I’m just here to support the smarter people in the room.”

The Forge, Patagonia’s secretive R&D center, offers employees freedom to work on far-reaching ideas without standard business guardrails like scalability, seasonal timeframes or sales numbers.

“It’s a random box,” says Mallory. “A hybrid sleeping bag, tenkara fishing rod and wood stove, to name a few. An incubation place for the wildest ideas, with many prototypes never seeing the light of day. For this kit we melded features from a bunch of categories, with a big input from alpine. That’s why I’m here.”

Teaming Up With PVS

In 2015, Patagonia started seeding products to Nainoa Thompson, CEO of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, for smaller excursions. Recognizing that PVS represented a resurgence of Polynesian culture and history, Patagonia saw an opportunity to work together.

“Their trips were much more than just trips,” says Mallory.

PVS wore through all of the gear quickly, so Patagonia sent them more durable alpine products, which they blew through, too. A year later in 2016, Thompson sailed from Hawaii to Ventura, where Patagonia is headquartered, giving the teams a chance to collaborate in person.

“We spent time on the boat and realized the problems we weren’t solving,” says Mallory. “It’s very exposed and the deck is abrasive epoxy and sand.”

Over the next eight years, Patagonia and PVS tested dozens of iterations. The result, the Big Water Foul Weather kit, is purpose-built for long and arduous open water voyages. The jacket and bibs are best worn in tandem, offering storm protection, mobility and durability, especially in places that need it the most.

The Sum of Many Parts

The fabrics and features in the Big Water Foul Weather kit are an eclectic mix.

“The face fabric, a 4-layer recycled nylon from Bureo, is used in many of our hats,” says Mallory. “The ripstop is from the Black Hole line, the hood design from sportswear, and the suspenders from fly fishing, and that’s just the beginning.”

Articulated wrist cuffs with internal gaskets, most common in snow sports, are used to keep water out. Small drain holes that allow water to egress are borrowed from surf products. The bibs are imported from fly fishing, with adjustable suspenders, a closed top to keep water out and a large center zipper to get them on and off easily.

“A lot of the materials and construction come from alpine,” says Mallory. “So do the pocketing placements; being tethered to the boat is quite similar to wearing a [climbing] harness.”

liz clark, surf, tahiti — The Big Water Foul Weather Kit includes a stowable hood, articulated cuffs with internal gaskets, two-way watertight zippers, highly reflective strips and more to keep you safe in extreme conditions.

The little details collectively make a big difference — a stowable jacket hood, independent high collar to block wind, micro fleece lined pockets, and an offset zipper to reduce chafe, for example. Reinforced paneling on the elbows, forearms and back are aimed to improve longevity of the jacket. Perhaps the most unique feature: ankle cuffs are designed to be worn barefoot, which is common for the PVS crew.

“The biggest challenge was getting the laminate robust enough, while being responsibly sourced and PFC free,” says Mallory. The hard work paid off, setting a new baseline for the company. “We plan to use these materials for all kinds of things in the future, but we still have no plans to get into foul weather gear again. We made the Big Water Foul Weather kit just to tell the PVS story.”