11th Hour Racing Team and Musto announce long-term partnership

Transatlantic Day 12. 11th Hour Racing Team (entry in The Ocean Race 2021-22) deliver their IMOCA 60 from Brazil to France with The Ocean Race crew configuration after finishing the Transat Jacques Vabre in November 2019 © Amory Ross / 11th Hour Racing

Musto, the world's leading premium technical sailing brand, has signed on with 11th Hour Racing Team as an official supplier for the next three years.

Musto will provide 11th Hour Racing with high performance clothing on and off the water for the team's campaign focused on the next edition of The Ocean Race in 2021.

Musto's partnership with Mark Towill and Charlie Enright dates back more than five years to the duo's first round-the-world race in 2014-15. They also wore Musto during the 2017-18 campaign with Vestas 11th Hour Racing, while Enright was outfitted in Musto's offshore performance gear during the team's fourth place finish in the Transat Jacques Vabre in November. For the next Ocean Race, the entire 11th Hour Racing Team will wear Musto, including the crew, staff and shore team.

"Musto is an industry leader and a brand built upon a reputation for designing and engineering the best technical sailing clothing in the world," said Mark Towill, CEO of 11th Hour Racing Team. "We look forward to collaborating and innovating together with Musto over the next several years through this partnership that is built upon many shared values, including a forward-looking approach to issues around sustainability management."

"We're proud to be aligned with a pair of offshore sailing stars like Mark and Charlie as they aim for The Ocean Race Trophy in 2021-22," said Nick Houchin, Head of Marketing, Musto. "Not only are they world-class athletes and sailors, but also leaders in promoting initiatives around ocean health and sustainability to the wider sailing audience and sports fans worldwide. We are incredibly proud they are part of Team Musto."

As part of the partnership, Musto will collaborate with 11th Hour Racing Team to innovate and develop the next generation of HPX, Musto's top industry-leading ocean sailing collection. Technical developments in foiling are moving at an unprecedented rate and the demands on sailors and their kit is changing just as fast. This partnership provides Musto with on-going and prompt feedback on key performance products.

Musto will also collaborate together with Enright and Towill on research and development to create a range of innovative and sustainable clothing. This builds upon their previous partnership with Vestas 11th Hour Racing, where Enright and Towill supported Musto with the challenge of finding a more environmentally friendly plastic packaging solution. This project set some of the foundations for Musto to work towards overcoming the hurdles that businesses face, implementing and operating more sustainable practices on a larger scale.

"Musto has long had a reputation for designing and engineering high quality, durable products," said Houchin. "By collaborating with the team, we are looking at how we can innovate further by developing and designing fully sustainable products from the ground up to introduce to our main line range and for the team to wear as they travel the world."

The key learnings from this initial collaborative line will be used even wider across Musto's collection in future seasons. The two sides met for an R&D session in Brittany, France at the team's training location in early December and will continue to work together regularly during the production and development process.

For more information visit 11thhourracingteam.org.