Just recently, the deck hardware companies have been getting in on the act, with both Harken and Ronstan bringing out clothing ranges.

But while the new companies have remained more on the casual side of the market, the technical clothing remains the province - in the UK - of the Big Three: in alphabetical order, Gill, HenriLloyd (H-L) and Musto.

Gill, H-L and Musto all showed modifications to their technical ranges for 2003 at the Marine Trade Show.

One thing immediately noticeable with the technical clothing ranges is the way the top of the range garments are all tailored to blue-water Volvo Race sailing.

The hoods have more adjustments to keep them snug so you don't get a faceful of oilskin when you turn your head. And they all have high collars to keep the spray out.

While Musto and H-L keep faith with Gore-Tex, Gill isfirmly going its own way using Japanese and UK-manufactured breathable fabrics.

Chairman and company founder, Nick Gill, said the company was dissatisfied with the extra cost that branded fabrics added to the garments, adding his top of the range Ocean Racer suit - designed with the help of the illbruck Volvo Race crew, retails at £550, some way under its competitors.

And Gill is proud of the new suit. "It's our best product in 25 years of trading, " he said.

But Gill is also making strides in other areas of clothing. Last year the company launched its yellow dot fabric classification system. This year it has taken things even further by producing a complete What to Wear guide that will be rolled out from January - free.

Compiled by Nick Gill, What to Wear covers clothing requirements for every type of sailing and outlines recommendations for individual levels of expertise as well as climate considerations.

"You'll get a lay person's lowdown on layering, fabrics and design details, jargon busting information on breathability, waterproofing and durability, " said Gill.

Gill has also used a lot of anecdotes from his 25 years of making sailing gear, "from when I began sailing dinghies, through when we kitted out Lionheart in the 1980s with JohnO, right up to the present day working with illbruck ". The company is using a mix of promotional tools to get the message across. Copies will be given away free in chandleries.

There will be pocket guides and posters, point of sale and advertising to help get the message across that choosing the right clothing for your boating needn't be a minefield, nor should it cost you unnecessary amounts of money.

Gill's 2003 top-of-the-range suit - the Ocean Racer (see 1 above) - is entirely breathable, not just a breathable membrane. The company says the stitching on a pocket, even if it's unlined, will severely restrict breathability at that point.

They add the fleece linings, mesh garment linings, reinforcements, hoods, logos, etc, all help decrease the breathability of the garment.

So Gill has taken all this in to account and designed the suit to ensure breathability, freedom of movement and lightness are all maximised.

The Ocean Racer is highly breathable, 10% lighter than its predecessor, ergonomic design to allow freedom of movement.

And it retails at £300 for the jacket and £250 for the trousers.

Henri-Lloyd launched its 2003 range at Windsor and headlined with "the next generation of Ocean and Offshore foul weather gear".

Both use Gore-Tex's Ocean Technology membrane and offer new features designed to increase levels of waterproof protection and comfort.

The Ocean Racer (see 2 above) range offers a new storm hood and collar system with a 3-way adjustment.

Other features include a waterproof sleeve pocket designed to take an EPIRB or mobile 'phone ( Yes, dear. I'm at Cape Horn and might be late for supper ) and the cargo pockets have divisions for multi-tools and a key-clip.

The Offshore range also offers new hood adjustments, Dartex lined cuffs and an adjustable-from-outside draw cord waist.

The H-L men's range now includes the Avid Mid jacket and salopette to maximise the performance of breathable foul weather gear.

The outer fabric is soft but durable taslan nylon, which is windproof, waterproof and breathable.

Perhaps the most radical new development is in the ladies' range, where the women's TP3 Reflex Offshore trousers have a drop seat facility.

It's been done extremely well and allows the seat to be unzipped and dropped away to allow . . . er . . . well; you know what I mean.

All this can be done without the straps being undone or taken off the lady's shoulders.

Also new is a special women's fit for the Horizon jacket and trousers and a new women's Dolphin jacket fleece.

Musto has done a lot of work with Ellen MacArthur, the GBR and Swedish America's Cup crews, Volvo racers and Olympic luminaries, like Finn Gold medallist Iain Percy, and remains ever-faithful to its Gore-Tex quality branding.

And Musto's work with Peter Harrison's GBR Challenge has resulted in Stretch HPX.

The nylon outer has a 4% mixture of Lycra, which gives the products elasticity quoted at 30%, while keeping the durability with the nylon.

The 2003 HPX jacket has the new fabric. Nigel Musto reckons stretch gear will take off in 2003.

Another Gore-Tex development with Musto is Carbon HPX, which incorporates polymer dots with an elemental carbon backbone applied to the GoreTEX membrane.

Musto says it's at least 16% more breathable than original HPX.

Away from the tough, front-line racing, MPX Gore-Tex technology offers a lighterweight alternative with excellent waterproof/breathable properties.

And the rest of the Musto range is now breathable "We don't do anything that's not breathable, " said Musto.

While hydrophilic fabrics are less efficient than Gore-Tex, Musto uses them for such products as the new inshore blouson and the dinghy range of clothing at a lower price points.

New to Musto's 3-layer system are Windstopper Mid Layer garments that can be worn as part of the 3-layer system or on their own.

A close-fitting jacket and salopettes have articulated joints to make them more comfortable to wear. They are wind and spray-proof and can be worn on their own, or under a breathable foul weather suit.

Musto has taken a close look at its detail work on its 2003 range. So there's red stitching on hanging loops. The hood drawstrings really are not string any more. The reflective strips have subtle Musto branding.

XM Yachting has extended its range of popular clothing by adding a new colour of yachtsman's jacket to the family.

The company says the design has also had a subtle but significant change as well.

The new Stone jacket is breathable, waterproof and has taped seams with thick fleece lining and fleece-lined pockets.

There are three pockets, two outside the jacket and one inside all with zips and a high collar with a semi reflective stripe for visibility.

The subtle change mentioned earlier was to the logo design, which used to appear on the front left of the jacket. This has been removed and replaced by a small discreet XM Offshore logo on the back, leaving the breast free for corporate embroiling. The Stone retails for around £60.00.

One thing that strikes the observer immediately with the current range of casual clothing is how bright the colours are.

And while the designs may not be haute couture, long gone are the days when a sailor could be recognised by his or her jeans, a naff fleece and yellow wellies.

Today, boating clothing translates to the High Street extremely well.

However, while most would assume the bright colours are in some way a result of a Continental influence, Brian James at Chatham said he had found the current British taste for colours had not translated well into the French and Italian markets. "They haven't quite got it yet, " he said.

James reckons Chatham was the first to wholesale the ubiquitous heavyweight crew shirts properly. "The consumer likes a colourful, heavy shirt, " he said. "But the danger is it's going to get a bit too common."

However, James sees it has "another few years to run".

Splashdown launched a new co-ordinated look for both men and women, together with a selection of unisex garments in "contrasting hot reds, warm pinks and traditional twists on blues and creams".

The range includes leisure tops, trousers, shorts and jackets, suited to all weather conditions and climates at home or abroad.

The company says while favourite styles like the Freemantle and coastal appear in the range in fresh striking colours, a host of new products will bring mass appeal to the brand whether battling against the elements or relaxing around on deck.

There were two new clothing companies at Windsor, Harken and Joules.

Harken is best known as a supplier of deck hardware, while Joules has "done a Musto" in reverse. While Musto has moved from sailing clothing into the huntin', shootin' and equestrian worlds, Joules started with horses and is now working with sailors.

Presumably, sailors are not as smelly as horses - except for Volvo Race sailors after three weeks at sea, that is.

Market Harborough-based Joules was started by Tom and Sally Joule in 1980 and made the move from the equestrian world into the sailing market last year.

The range shown at Windsor included the pictured Schooner (see 3 above), a fully waterproof and breathable fleece lined smock with taped seams. The retail price is £59.

According to Tom Joule, the company is making headway in the marine market. Debra Veal wears the company's clothing and there was a lot of interest expressed at Windsor.

"We didn't come here with any set expectations, " said Joule, "but people like what we have here."

The reasoning behind Harken 's move from deck gear into clothing, said managing director Andy Ash-Vie, was simple. "We had the capacity, " he said. "We have the brand name and we have the distribution."

The company will market a slow changing range with a spring and autumn range each year. The emphasis, said AshVie, will be on quality - emphasised by the designer being Antonia Benidine and the manufacturer being Philteen; both are Italians and have produced designs for Porsche and Armani.

The top of the range will be semi-technical "not oilskin, but close" (see 4 above), with the rest of the range running from bags and baseball caps, through fleeces and shorts to trousers, sunglasses and even watches.

Most of the product will be warehoused in Italy, although Harken says it will be holding a lot of stock at its Lymington base with weekly deliveries from Italy.

Harken is backing the new venture with regatta support at Cowes, Cork and the Scottish Series and has gondolas, free standing units and other POS material to offer stockists. A trial starter pack is on offer at £500.00 - "our six fastest moving products, " said Ash-Vie.

Harken was at Southampton this year with a stand for deck gear and another for clothing and says the response was tremendous. "The clothing more than paid for both stands, " said Ash-Vie.

Smarten-Up was at the Marine Trade Show for its second year. The Worcesterbased company is the sole UK distributor for the Italian Green Coast range of knitwear.

The clothing is classic in design and production. The Italian company produces two collections each year, with around 60 pieces in each.

The knitwear is all manufactured in Merino wool, specially treated for outdoor and sports use and hand finished. Each garment comes in its own packaging.

The garment shown here (see 5 above) is ART Z72, a quarter-zip pullover priced at £34.55 plus VAT for a retail price of £76 to £79.00.

"They're all machine washable, " said Smarten-Up's Richard Pegg. "And we haven't had one piece back."

Green Coast product minimum order is 24 pieces - one carton, said Pegg - and the products are all produced to order. "We close in December for delivery March/April, " he said.

Overall, the clothing industry is producing some excellent designs and excellent colourways. And there's more to come at METS, we hear.

We 'll be carrying details in our December issue.