Technical
Upping the (whole) game
Racing Imoca 60s fully crewed around the world has never been done before. In the 2023 Ocean Race these boats will be under a whole new world of pressure. So will the technical clothing protecting the crews...
Musto’s iconic HPX technical clothing has been fully redesigned and redeveloped ahead of the latest edition of The Ocean Race. A lot of testing and feedback from Imoca 60 sailors, especially 11th Hour Racing Team, has informed the design process which was underpinned by four key pillars: durability, safety, adaptability and sustainability. The jacket, smock, salopettes
(both men’s and women’s) and drysuit are all completely new, as are the fabrics, while both mid and base layers have been fully integrated into the HPX system for the first time. ‘We always believe we can make
something better,’ says Musto’s head of product Chris Holliman. ‘For HPX it started with the transition to foiling Imocas, which resulted a change in the way our kit is used. In early 2019 we caught up with Charlie Enright, Mark Towill and the rest of the 11th Hour Racing Team in France to discuss the initial designs for their new foiling boat that was launched in 2021.’ ‘That process led us to go back
and understand where we could make tweaks and evolutions to improve the product,’ says product marketing manager and former Figaro sailor Hugh Brayshaw. ‘Even during Covid we kept close to the
58 SEAHORSE
sailors to continue to understand their changing needs.’ In any domain the best products
are usually a result of long-running collaborations. As well as working with its ambassadors – including eight in the Imoca 60 fleet – Musto’s partnership with Gore-Tex now spans almost 30 years. Equally, Musto has a huge in-house knowledge base. For example, technical production manager Shaun French has been with Musto for 25 years. ‘He’s a font of knowledge and we worked very closely together throughout the development and testing,’ says lead designer Lucy Davis. The new fabrics have a slightly
finer yarn with a very dense weave. ‘It's woven so tightly the little divots on the surface of the fabric, where water can sit, aremuch shallower than before,’ says Davis. The fabrics now wet outmore slowly and are less reliant on the DWR (durable water repellant) coating. Gore-Tex also has a new andmore durable breathable membrane that retains the high level of breathability and waterproofing of the previous version. The Cordura reinforcement on
knees and seat of trousers and drysuits, plus the back of smocks and jackets, is also key to durability. ‘It has been round the world many
Above: A lot of testing and feedback from Imoca 60 sailors and especially from 11th Hour Racing Team has informed the redesign of Musto’s iconic HPX technical clothing
thousands of times,’ says Davis, ‘and is still the best way of providing this sort of reinforcement. We trust it and know it works. It passes 100,000 rubs in lab tests and we know it stands up to aggressive deck surfaces.’ ‘We work very closely with Sam
Davies,’ adds Brayshaw. ‘She gives regular feedback about the grip on her deck, which is quite extreme and can wear knees very quickly. If we can make it work for her it will work for everybody.’ The need for garments to be as adaptable as possible was a core requirement for 11th Hour Racing Team. The hood of the smock and drysuit can therefore be removed when conditions allow and stowed in the garment’s front pouch, yet it’s easy to put on, even when hiking on the rail. The hood is shaped to sit as neatly as ever on your head, yet there’s enough adjustment to accommodate a helmet. Musto also works closely with the
Clipper Round theWorld Race, which helped develop new safety features. Crew are required to wear lifejackets on deck, which has a bearing on hood design, as these tend to sit in the same part of the neck as the hood of foul weather gear. ‘This can cause multiple layers of
AMORY ROSS/11TH HOUR RACING
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