I find the jacket to be super waterproof and breathable, great to have the water beading off.I also find its good to have a long jacket, that covers your back when leaning forward on the mountain bike. I have had jackets before that expose a bit of flesh to the elements when in this position.
The hood is a great design, it can be positioned how you like it and also is big enough to sit under/over helmets in extremely nasty conditions.
For adventure racing light and simple is better. I tend not to use any of the pockets (often hidden under a racing bib) or the bit the hood tucks away into (I just leave the hood out all the time for quick access), and the Velcro on the wrist bans I think is just additional weight, possibly would suit us better without pockets, or the hood pocket and elastic on the wrists.
Overall 9/10 for cold nasty conditions.