Technology Flexible
Faster boats demand more dynamic sailing techniques placing different requirements on crews. Energy used up in folding and bending clothing fabric is energy wasted... but you still have to keep out the water
Less is more with Musto’s new LPX Gore-Tex range being launched for spring and summer this year. The company’s ambassadors, its core of professional sailors who are out competing or training on the water most days of the year, emphasised the need for breathable, waterproof and lightweight design in their inshore racing gear. Ergonomic is the watchword, so that’s what Musto’s designers have aimed to deliver for this latest edition of the brand’s popular LPX Gore-Tex range, as Musto’s head of product Chris Holliman explains. ‘We’re seeing a trend towards one-design, technically advanced boats that are lighter and faster than previous generations,’ he says.
‘Those trends are demanding more physicality from the sailors, with a higher emphasis on agility and ease of movement around the boat. The changes to the LPX range have been made with that in mind, using lightweight, breathable, durable waterproof fabrics and carefully designed seaming to enhance a sailor’s freedom of movement.’ Holliman identifies J/70s and Fast 40s as two examples of the modern kind of inshore racer around which the LPX range has been designed, although it should appeal equally to crew of older and still popular classes such as the greatly revived Quarter Tonner fleet.
The LPX range includes a smock, a jacket, shorts and trousers, all of
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which are constructed from the latest iteration of the ever-developing three- layer Gore-Tex. ‘Probably the thing that immediately strikes you about the new product is how light it is,’ says Holliman. ‘It’s hard to imagine that something so light and flexible can give you all the waterproof protection you need whilst enabling you to run around the boat, working at maximum effort, and not overheating because of Gore-Tex’s breathable properties.’
Musto’s relationship with Gore-Tex goes back to 1994 and the close partnership has helped keep the brand at the forefront of innovation in the marine market. ‘Whenever there’s a new development coming for Gore-Tex, we get it very early in the cycle and are able to apply that quickly to our range of clothing,’ says Holliman. ‘But the other thing we’ve been paying a lot of attention to with our in-house design team is a focus on refining patterns and seams and creating more ergonomic shapes to our clothes that aid full freedom of movement. As a company we’ve also listened very closely to our ambassadors out there on the water, the likes of Sam Davies, Ian Walker and Armel Le Cléac’h for our offshore ranges, the HPX and MPX. But for LPX we’ve worked closely with a wide group of sailors including Pete Cummings and Richard Mason who are across most forms of inshore racing from J/70s up to SailGP, as well as Hannah Diamond who is
Above:
Mustoʼs latest range of LPX inshore racing gear has been developed with input from leading professional sailors like Ineos SailGP crew Richard Mason (opposite), Pete
Cummings and Hannah Diamond. Right: unlike Mustoʼs ocean racing gear, the ultra-light LPX kit has deliberately small pockets and great efforts have been made to keep the design as simple as possible – but all of the key components like the YKK Aquaguard zippers are the very best available
working towards a two-handed offshore keelboat campaign for the 2024 Olympics in France. ‘For LPX, the message from our ambassadors was very clear: keep the product focused, remove bulk wherever possible and keep every item as simple and as uncluttered as you can. Whereas for an offshore smock, for example, you might want a big front pocket for storing tools for going forward on the bow or up the rig, that’s not needed for short- course, fast-paced inshore racing. We’re really pleased with how this range has turned out. It’s lean and functional and looks great, partly due to this philosophy of simplicity.’ Smock
The designers worked hard to create a pattern for the smock that would result in a sleek fit, according to Holliman. ‘It’s a flattering fit, with not too much excess material, with quite a racy finish that is already proving very appealing to people that have
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