Musto Sweepstakes sweeps all before it

by Media Services on 18 Dec 2007 You’d be forgiven for thinking that Musto gear was compulsory attire for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart yacht race. Whilst there has been a recent explosion of new brands and products onto the market MUSTO clothing and most importantly the new improved HPX range have swept all before them. The list of high level boats which insist on wearing the new HPX is indeed an impressive one.

Watch out for the crews of Limit, Yendys, Andrew Short Marine Brindabella, Skandia Wild Thing, City Index Leopard, the YS entry Rosebud, Quest, Rush and Living Doll, just to name a few, for they will all be sporting the latest in Ocean Racing Technology.

‘There’s certainly a lot of the key boats out there all wearing Musto and HPX’ said Musto Australasia’s Managing Director, Duncan Curnow. He noted that competitive blue water sailors have a sound appreciation of the rigours of their sport and know how essential good gear is to their race performance.

‘HPX stands out on its own. There’s nothing that really gets close to it as far as performance goes. It’s definitely the premium product and it’s flying out the door.’

The HPX wet weather range was revamped following extensive testing in the tough conditions of the last Volvo Ocean Race, particularly following input from the ABN Amro crew, and the range now sports a number of new features. These include a slightly longer jacket, restructured spume visor, higher zip, a stiffer version of the famous Gore-tex fabric and the list goes on…. HPX has always outperformed the market but the recent redesign has been a quantum leap.

On the housekeeping front, another advantage of the Gore-tex fabric is that the wet weather gear can be thrown in the washing machine, even lightly tumble dried, and this treatment is actually good for it as it improves longevity – something Musto try to educate people about.

‘We’ve introduced a new colour ‘platinum’ this year’ added Curnow. ‘Some of the super maxis jumped on board with that one quite early and now it’s come down to the mainstream level we’re struggling to keep up with demand for the new platinum colour.’

The popularity of the brand was confirmed to us here at Sail-World when we recently launched the second annual Musto Sweepstakes competition. As soon as the competition was advertised we received a flood of entries from readers all keen to get their hands on the prize of an ever popular Musto Snug.

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Duncan Curnow observed that the Snug was a logical choice for the Musto Sweepstakes competition prize.

‘The Musto snug is something that everyone wants, needs, respects; everybody knows about it… It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, we always just keep on selling them, it’s phenomenal!’

Musto Sweepstakes competition runs until 19th February 2008 and you can enter online at either Sail-World.com or Powerboat-World.com (there’s a link on the top right hand side of both sites.) The lucky winner will have a choice between two great prizes: Snug Blouson or a Snug Zip Neck Fleece. Both garments are warm and breathable, using a Polaretec 200 fleece lining, with the Blouson having added protection from wind and rain sporting a breathable DWR finish.

Alongside its extraordinary success in the nautical market, Musto has a rapidly growing range of casual wear that is proving popular both here and in New Zealand. The range includes a wide selection of casual clothing, characterised by Musto’s renowned attention to detail and careful selection of fabrics including Gore-Tex®, Polartec®, Primaloft®, Kevlar, Codura plus ever so comfortable soft brushed cottons, as well as quick dry cottons not to mention SPF tops as well.

The Spring/Summer 2008 collection was launched at this year’s Sydney International Boat Show and after this strong reception was shown at the Fashion Exposed trade show in Melbourne. Curnow said that the trade show was a great springboard into the mainstream fashion industry ‘we picked up a lot of new accounts there’ and helped to make the general public aware that Musto wasn’t just a wet weather gear brand.

‘A lot of people have never seen a Musto shirt or a Musto polo or a Musto pair of shorts before. Now that the sailing market is starting to accept that there are a lot of new products out there, the casual range is being requested more and more from non marine type stores, it’s a really exciting time at Musto.’

He commented that even non sailors responded positively to their casual range.

‘No matter what your hobbies or interests are in life there is a desire for the water. We’re a nautical brand and there’s something about having nautical clothing, whether it’s just the small Musto boat logo or whether it’s the lifestyle that people admire, there’s definitely something there.’

‘It’s not something that you have to wear on a boat. It’s not something that you have to wear around a yacht club. It’s everyday mainstream clothing with fantastic fabrics, great attention to detail, good colours and well suited to the Australian climate.’

It looks like 2008 is going to be a huge year for Musto with Regatta involvement at all levels throughout Australasia including New Zealand’s newest regatta the 'BMW Auckland week Regatta'.

‘We’re a young, dynamic team and we’re energetically behind what we’re doing. We’re all driving the brand forward at a hundred miles an hour. People are now seeing that we’re changing our product mix. We’re still keeping our traditional products, people still want them, but we’re also bringing in a lot of new products that are being accepted very well.’

‘We are no longer your staid traditional brand but with our new life are an active, vibrant, professional company that is really changing the way we do business and the way people view the brand – and it shows that the public are really liking what they see! ’

In 2008 it looks like it’s not only the elite racers that are going to be saying: ‘Yes, but it’s got to be Musto’.


Contact details:

Musto Australasia Pty Ltd
Unit 6/224 Headland Rd
Dee Why NSW 2099
02-9907 4141
0800 501 024 (Toll Free www.musto.com.au