After extensive development work with its many ambassadors in the IMOCA 60 fleet, and feedback as Clipper Round the World Race clothing sponsor, Musto has completely revamped its high end HPX range ahead of the current edition of The Ocean Race.

This is arguably the company’s most important product launch for many years and the development process was an iterative one that took place over three years. “Every few months a new iteration would be sent to us to wear onboard Mãlama,” says 11th Hour Racing Team skipper Charlie Enright. “Then we’d debrief with Musto on areas that we felt could be revised and improved. It’s been a really rigorous process and one that we have all enjoyed being involved in.”

The latest IMOCAs present a very different requirement for foul weather gear than older designs. For much of the time sailors are sheltered in the cockpit, but when they have to venture on deck the high-speed nature of boats with big foils demand gear that’s extremely waterproof.

At the same time flexibility and adaptability are important to enable sailors to move unhindered between the two environments.

There’s an obvious parallel here with a cruising yacht when it’s well offshore in heavy weather, when watchkeepers may shelter under the sprayhood or hard top for most of the time, but occasionally need to venture into the open cockpit. The smock and drysuit, for instance, both have a completely detachable modular external collar and hood system.

Another important development at the request of the IMOCA sailors is that the HPX, MPX and LPX families are now designed to be interchangeable. This means they can wear a lightweight unobtrusive LPX jacket for much of the time, while keeping an HPX jacket or smock available for maximum protection when needed.

The brand’s experience with the Clipper Race also fed into the development process. This led to hood design, for instance, changing to make space for a lifejacket to sit comfortably underneath the hood pouch, improving the wearer’s posture and comfort.

For the first time Musto has women’s salopettes in the HPX range, with a drop seat that has a horizontal waterproof and airtight zip. The new drysuit, meanwhile, has a ‘clam-style’ waist zip which makes it possible to take the top half off, to cool down after a manoeuvre for example, without needing to climb out of the suit entirely.

In total there are 11 products in the new HPX range, with mid and base layers integrated for the first time. The latter are made of merino wool, which is comfortable and warm even when wet. Even better, the bacteria that cause body odour can’t grow on the yarn. As this material tends to wear quickly on the knees, seat and elbows these areas are reinforced with a very lightweight, smooth and stretchy Cordura.

Beyond the need for adaptability, Musto also focussed on four further areas: durability, safety, adaptability and sustainability. The new GoreTex material, for instance, is made of finer fibres with a closer weave, so less reliance is placed on the durable waterproof membrane.

Buy the HPX Gore-Tex Pro Ocean Smock from Musto
Buy the HPX Gore-Tex Pro Ocean Trouser from Musto

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