Musto - the Ocean giant

by Helen Hopcroft on 16 Apr 2007 Musto has only recently started distributing its own products in Australia and New Zealand.

After years in a distributor arrangement with another company, Duncan Curnow describes his company (now called simply Musto Australasia Pty Ltd) as 'a sleeping giant that is about to awake'. Sail-World caught up with him in the Musto stall at the recent Club Marine Sail Boat Show, Melbourne.

Curnow discusses Musto's wet weather gear with a very high level of technical knowledge and a great deal of pride.

Curnow says that one of the many points of difference between Musto and other brands are his company's use of the HPX GORE-TEX® fabric. And the number of elite sailors who chose Musto in preference to other gear.

'Six out of seven Volvo Ocean boats in the last VOR wore Musto out of choice.'

Sail-World requested clarification. We thought that by the time you were good enough to race on a Volvo boat, people would just give you gear to wear. Apparently not.

’We spend so much money on Research & Development that we don't give anything away. The professionals appreciate this and know that to get the best they do need to pay for it and the expertise of knowledge we have put into our gear.’

'Every boat in the VOR could choose whomever they wanted as their technical supplier, appreciating our experience, knowledge and quality obviously the majority chose MUSTO over other suppliers.'

He agreed that no one ever wanted to be cold and wet, but an ocean race was the worse place for it.

'When you're in the Southern Ocean I don't think you want to muck around with gear you can't trust.'



Musto's association with the Volvo boats led to the development of its new range of HPX wet weather gear. The range was launched at the London Boat Show in January but it has only recently arrived in Australia. Curnow said that he had only just received the first of the new jackets that week.

'In the last Volvo Ocean Race we developed a brand new HPX which is now available in Australia. We gave the guys trial versions, brand new test versions. And said 'try this for the next leg and give us your feedback on what works, what doesn't work'.'

'At the end of the race we developed pretty much what they considered to be the perfect jacket.'

'It's now available for public release. Obviously slightly modified for a more commercial level rather than extreme offshore of the Southern Ocean. It’s the first development it's had in that range for about four years, and received with great excitement with many orders already.'

Curnow attributes the strength of the HPX range to Musto's use of the GORE-TEX® fabric and working with the best sailors globally.

'GORE-TEX® fabric is the most durably waterproof and breathable, fabric money can buy. It's the only fabric in the world that's guaranteed carries the GORE-TEX® GUARANTEED TO KEEP YOU DRY® promise. You can dry clean it. It's the only fabric you can throw in the washing machine and the tumble dryer. And it's good for it.'

The original GORE-TEX® fabric has evolved through technical innovation over the years in response to the requirements of different end uses.

'This is a brand new HPX GORE-TEX® fabric. While there are a couple of different types of GORE-TEX® fabrics available, The brand new HPX fabric has a more durable and breathable membrane.'

'It's a harsher weave. Because a lot of decks are getting to be a lot more abrasive we needed to adapt as well. It's harder wearing on the clothing thus we've adapted our fabrics to cope with all of that.'

Musto has also worked with the GORE-TEX® product specialist team to develop a stretchier version of the fabric. Musto has used this fabric on areas of the garment where greater movement and flexibility is required.

'On the back of the jacket you've got stretch GORE-TEX® fabric. This has been developed with Musto and the GORE-TEX® product specialist team together. So when you're grinding you've got more room. It's quite a long jacket with Cordura at the base again for abrasion protection.'

He described how the laminated GORE-TEX® 3-layer fabric works.

'The GORE-TEX® membrane contains an 'oil hating' layer. Sunscreens, insect repellents and body oils can contaminant the inside of other fabrics. The oil hating layer of the GORE-TEX® membrane repels any of those contaminants. The GORE-TEX® membrane is laminated in between the inside liner and the face fabric using a special laminating process.

'The GORE-TEX® product specialists test all the other components that make up a garment in addition to testing the finished garment prototypes. The Cordura garment prototypes have passed the GORE-TEX® product testing and therefore carry the global GORE-TEX® GUARANTEED TO KEEP YOU DRY® promise

The GORE-TEX® membrane (that is laminated to the fabric of your jacket or trousers) has a vast number of very small pores. There's something like 9 million pores per square inch. Each pore is about 20,000 times smaller than a water droplet which means that no external water can penetrate the membrane. The pores in the GORE-TEX® membrane are also 700 times bigger than a water vapour molecule so perspiration can still get out allowing you to stay dry from the inside out.


So if someone throws a bucket of water at you, nothing happens. But if you sweat profusely while grinding, with some mad bastard screaming 'get it on' in the background, you won't turn into a human slug. Because the sweat vapour can escape through the tiny pores.

Curnow reports that even the reflective patches used on the garments are subject to stringent quality tests.

'We actually have to get it tested by many independent laboratories to check that it's got the right degree of reflectivity for safety.'

'We supply Australian Customs the Water Police and a lot of maritime bodies. And they often ask for an independent test on them to make sure it meets up to Fire, Ambulance, Police reflective standards. Which it always does.'


Despite the good looks of the Musto range, Curnow is adamant that they are designing primarily for the practical needs of sailors.

'I guess the biggest difference between us and a lot of other brands is we work on practicality and water proofness first, fashion second. It's not just a waterproof fabric that we've thrown a garment together with.'

'At the end of the day we work on performance before fashion.'


You can download the Musto Volvo Ocean race screen saver here now

http://www.sail-world.com/register_File.cfm?flid=12&sf=n