We’re weeks away from the start of one of the biggest seasons in sailing. The Olympic Sailing at Paris 2024 begins at the end of July, with the opening races for the 37th America’s Cup a few weeks later, running through to October… before the Vendée Globe starts in November. All eyes have been on the boats and the teams, trying to gauge who has the upper hand in terms of smart design and performance – but there has also been a huge amount of less visible work on the teams’ clothing.

Does clothing really impact performance? Jimmy Spithill, who will be helmsman for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the America’s Cup, believes it can: “At this level it will make a competitive difference. Whether you are one of the cyclors going through extreme changes of body temperature and heart rate, or a driver or flight controller dealing with wind and constantly being wet – to do your job correctly, clothing is a big factor.”

Many of the world’s major technical apparel brands have sponsorship deals which allow them to test and develop new gear with top professional sailors. The result is a wide spectrum of new features and technology in both offshore, keelboat and dinghy gear, which will soon trickle down to retail products.

Offshore gear

Musto’s R&D team has been working with legendary offshore racer Armel le Cléac’h to come up with a first for the sailing sector: waterproof gear with built-in impact protection. You only have to hear le Cléac’h describing his recent experience racing the 100ft trimaran Maxi Banque Populaire XI in this year’s Arkéa Ultim Challenge to understand why this MPX Impact is a potential game-changer.

“The big difference compared to previous boats is the speed,” he says. “The boat is big – 32m long and we have big foils, so we have speeds of 40-45 knots. You can be at 10 knots when you go into a wave, then a few seconds afterwards at 40 knots, so it’s very important to concentrate to avoid surprises. If you have an impact with something in the water it would be very dangerous, so you need to have protection for the head, but also for the body.”

Musto’s MPX Impact line duly has protective pads integrated with the fabric at the knees, elbows and the hips, where the most common bashes occur. But these pads are not mere wadding – they were developed with specialist company D30, which has patented a gooey orange material of the same name and is used by the military, motorcyclists and extreme sports athletes the world over.

While it is soft and flexible in your hands, the D30 hardens on impact and spreads the load throughout its surface area.

Will Harris tested the gear during 2022/23 The Ocean Race and says it revolutionised the experience. “When you’re crawling around the boat and you’re being hit all the time from all different angles, it gives you some sort of protection. It means you don’t have to spend so much time worrying when you’re on deck changing sails.”

On the Malizia foiling IMOCA he says the bow can slam down 12m in big seas – equivalent to falling from a third-floor window. Vendée Globe skippers will be contending with this motion solo.

“You can’t go forward of the mast when in foiling mode, because you’re going to break your leg if you’re up there,” Harris confirms. “Generally, we have to slow the boat down to do any sort of sail change. Typical foiling conditions produce 3m movements, and even then you just have to hold on. It is fun as well sometimes!”

Another key change for the latest generation of foiling Ultims and IMOCAs is the protected cockpits sailors spend most of their time in. Both Harris and le Cléac’h reported that the MPX Impact jacket had another advantage of being easy to doff and don, because of its hybrid smock design.

The Musto design team eschewed the usual tight rubber neck seal of a smock in favour of a quick fasten collar – marginally less waterproof if a green wave catches you, but far more practical for quickly going out on deck. In a further effort to reduce bulk and weight, Musto has eliminated the Cordura reinforcing from the matching trousers.

America’s Cup clothing

Meanwhile, on the America’s Cup foiling AC75s, impact protection is important for the head and chest, but aerodynamics and comfort are more critical in the short, intense races.

Those were the key priorities for the New York Yacht Club American Magic entry, who worked with Helly Hansen on the creation of Helly Hansen’s Foil X gear, which is also available to us mere mortals.

“High-speed sailing is evolving at a quick pace,” says senior designer Ida Gullhav. “So, we knew we needed to create something that had never been done before. Bringing in aerodynamics, we needed to create sailing gear that was even more tight-fitting to allow for quick movement on the boat while still being waterproof and windproof.”

A standalone women’s event forms part of the America’s Cup for the first time, so a female-specific line of the Foil X gear has also been carefully developed. “Women’s body shapes tend to vary more, and observing female sailors struggling to adjust their jackets during high-speed manoeuvres inspired us to design a shorter silhouette,” adds Gullhav. “Ultimately, our goal is to create apparel that enhances sailors’ performance.”

Italian sailing gear manufacturer Slam is working with Emirates Team New Zealand, supplying a range of tailor made technical gear for the men’s, women’s and youth squads. Some, like the specialist winter training uniform, will never be seen on the racecourse. These include a stretch spray top and a special long parka that has a waterproof rating of 15,000mm and breathability of 10,000g/m2/24h, warm thanks to Thermolite TL padding and fleece lining.

“The ETNZ sailing team asked for them as warm-up gear to wear immediately after the training sessions,” says marketing manager Alessandra Aondio.

Others have been specifically designed for each crew member’s position in the boat, from highly breathable gear for the powerhouse cyclor crew to water- and wind-proofing for the helm.

“We developed a specific technical rashguard and bike shorts made of ultralight mesh jersey, ultra-stretch and anti-pilling sensitive fabric. It is lightweight and breathable, quick-dry and with UV protection factor 50+, as well as being antibacterial.” Only selected garments are available as replicas.

Henri-Lloyd has renewed its partnership with Ben Ainslie for his third tilt at the Cup with INEOS Britannia. In the highly secretive world of fractional gains, the manufacturer is revealing little in terms of innovations, but says it has used body mapping to design wetsuits made of 75% bio rubber.

“The INEOS neoprene styles represent the most innovative sailing wetsuits available on the market, offering ultimate performance sustainably,” says head of marketing Rachel Hodgson. “The wetsuits provide superior manoeuvrability and durability, while their updated 3D bodymapping provides greater comfort and warmth.”

None of the INEOS gear is available at retail level, but Henri Lloyd’s Smart-Therm jacket also uses bodymapping technology and can be found on the shelf. Using heat cameras to identify hot and cold spots on the body during different sailing activities, technicians built up a picture of where to add insulation and where to add ventilation. The jacket features a Y-shaped panel down the spine which ventilates, as well as under the arms, while the overarms, collar, chest and other parts of the back have warming panels.

Designed as a midlayer for sportsboats and big boat sailing, it bridges the gap, providing a water-resistant jacket that can keep your body at a comfortable temperature whether you’re standing watch or winching for dear life. It uses three different recycled fabrics and greener Durable Water Repellent (DWR) treatment. The gilet costs £135 and the jacket £165.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing has recruited the know-how of Sweden’s Sail Racing clothing brand, which has launched a precise technical replica line for fans. The limited-edition team jacket uses Gore-Tex Pro Stretch fabric to combine extreme waterproofing and breathability with agility (at a cost of £1,000!).

However, when it comes to team kit, they aren’t revealing many secrets yet either.

“We have used new fabrics, tested new constructions and innovative improvements, but we will not be more specific at this stage – all will be revealed in due time on the racecourse,” says Olivia Norman, head of athletes and marketing.

The Italian consortium Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli has extended its partnership with the Woolmark Company to develop garments from high performance Merino wool, which has exceptional breathability and good waterproofing properties.

“Contrary to popular belief, Merino wool not only protects from the cold, thanks to its thermoregulating capacity, but also insulates perfectly from the heat, keeping the body temperature constant and cool even in summer,” says team director and skipper Max Sirena.

While the racing gear from the last Cup remains unchanged, its design has been extended to include the training gear as well. It includes the ultralight windbreaker weighing just 60gsm (lighter than copier paper) whose wind-proofing comes from the very dense weave of the 55% merino wool.

The team’s sailing jacket is another technical feat – wool blended into a synthetic exterior fabric and bonded to a waterproof membrane.

Luna Rossa’s tie-up with Woolmark is also part of a sustainability agenda which aims to reduce the amount of ocean-bound plastic – 35% of which is thought to emanate from synthetic clothing. “The integration of natural and biodegradable fibres as opposed to synthetic materials in the fabrics of our uniform is first and foremost a respectful choice towards the environment,” explains Sirena.

Meanwhile, France’s K-Way is supporting the Orient Express Racing Team with technical clothing that is mirrored in a lifestyle range. The brand is famous for its pack-away waterproof nylon waterproofs, and its highly recognisable Claude jacket now has an America’s Cup team version.

Olympic ambitions

Temperature management is central to the gear Musto has developed for the Team GBR sailors who’ll be competing at the Olympic regatta in Marseille in July and August.

The new Musto Flexlite Cooling range uses specially impregnated fabric to aid heat transfer. A nylon yarn treated with xylitol – the same chemical that makes chewing gum feel cold – keeps athletes between 1° and 3° cooler.

Musto designer Lucy Davis explains the fabric has three cooling elements: “The xylitol has been added as well as a mineral cooling finish to increase the cooling effect. The nylon yarn has a natural cooling effect as well.”

The British team’s men’s and women’s long john style Flexlite wetsuits (£150) feature breathable mesh ventilation panels on the back, underarm and back of knee, as well as thin neoprene pads on the knees and seat with abrasion resistant fabric.

The mixed pairing of Anna Burnett and John Gimson on the foiling Nacra has special kit for their high impact class. “Anna and John are wearing the Musto Flexlite Cooling range with an additional protective element that has been designed exclusively for them for the Olympics this year,” says Davis. “It’s a product development specifically for foiling boats, the details of which we’ll be sharing after the Games.”

The wetsuits are designed to be worn in conjunction with a four-way stretch Flexlite Cooling top (long-sleeved T-shirt, £50) for UPF 50 sun protection.

“We have also used warp knit jersey for these styles,” says Davis. “Warp knit offers optimal stretch and recovery as it has a higher modulus than a standard single jersey (used for a T-shirt, say), which means you need more weight to achieve the same amount of stretch. This helps prevent bagginess when the garments get wet.

“Lastly the garments are body mapped with mesh panels (that are still UPF 50 by construction) in the areas where you sweat most (under arms and upper back) to further aid the evaporative cooling effect.”
Working with the US Sailing Team,

Gill has upgraded its original Zen Therm wetsuit line to a second-generation product based on neoprene made from limestone, not oil. Although the resulting neoprene is no less polluting, it can actually perform better, with more closed-cell bubbles in its structure.

The Gill Zen Therm 2.00 range also relies on bodymapping for a better fit with 50% fewer seams. “Fewer seams mean improved aerodynamics, fewer points of weakness and eliminates points of discomfort and limited stretch,” says Gill product development director Matt Clark. “Not only have we reduced seams, but we’ve also swept them towards the back of the suit to improve aerodynamics and reduce rubbing caused by PFDs and harnesses.”

The whole suit is now made from super-stretch neoprene, not just key areas around joints, while the fabrics that sandwich the rubber are all from recycled sources. Maggie Shea, one half of the Team USA 49er FX crew, says: “Our wetsuits have a tendency to wear out on the legs as the non-skid on our deck is a very abrasive, tough surface. So, I love the extra padding and the really super tough fabric that’s on the knees and shins. We’ve also had some injuries in the past just from impacting on the side of the boat and those are really hard surfaces. So, the additional padding in that area is a really important safety feature for me.”

Her 49erFX team mate Steph Roble also likes a new feature that allows water to drain quickly and easily from the leg of the wetsuit. “In really extreme conditions we can get water up the wetsuit and then if there aren’t proper drainage holes, we can get bubbles,” she adds.

Combining sustainable materials and body temperature regulation were dual goals behind Australian brand Zhik’s new range of gear for the Australian Olympic sailors.

The line is centred around new wetsuits that have swapped out neoprene in favour of Yulex – a material developed from natural rubber and championed in sportswear by outdoor brand Patagonia. It is 80% less carbon intensive than synthetic neoprene and fully plant-based.

Zhik has infused the fabric lining of the wetsuits with graphene, which it claims can return up to 20% more body heat. Graphene is harder than diamond, just an atom thick, and able to help thermoregulation by efficiently conducting heat. The advantage is that it keeps wearers warmer for longer, transferring heat during low-intensity activity and aiding the drying process.

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