More at the Marine Trade Show next month?.

So we have but the briefest of information from Musto and Henri-Lloyd. Nick Gill was equally reluctant to let us launch his new range until he had the chance to launch it personally at Southampton and Windsor, but he gave us enough to whet your appetite.

"It's a case of how much detail we go into, " he said. "We have our Baselayer thermal underwear ready to go. It's not too early for that."

Gill has a new concept for its range of fleeces and thermals. It's called the i37 range, with 37 being the body's natural temperature. "And it's all about maintaining that temperature, " Gill told BB .Most of the products were already in the range, "but it's just how we are marketing it", said Gill.

"It's an umbrella concept to get the idea across there's a product for every temperature, whether it be warm or cold, " he told us.

The two new products are i2 Tec, a top of the range thermal underwear. It's a one-piece, polo neck short sleeve shirt and a crew neck in a Polartec Power Dry fabric. That retails around the £30 mark.

The next is i2 Lite. The range bears the hallmarks of Gill's dislike for branded fabrics, together with the price hikes they bring to pay for the name.

"We were looking for a nonbranded equivalent that could significantly lower the price, " he said, "so we came up with i2 Lite."

It's bit lighter than i2 Tec, he said, but it's still a very good technical fabric. The range is similar to i2 Tec, but instead of retailing around £30, it will be around the £20 mark.

"It's more of an impulse buy, " reckoned Gill.

"Quality-wise it's really good. It wicks really well as the others do, but it's unbranded and very good value."

Gill has two other areas it has been working on and these are under wraps until their launch at Southampton.

However, Gill was willing to give a taster of what's on offer.

"The first is a complete new glove range. We already had a good range, but we wanted to move it on an up a gear, so we employed a specific glove designer."

According to Gill, the glove designer made them realise that while they knew the marine trade and sailing, what they didn't know was about finger length, hand widths, twist in fabrics if the fit is wrong, the natural fit of the hand around a rope and so on.

Gill was also searching for a new material over the Japanese Amara synthetic leather used by most marine glove manufacturers.

Its downside is it absorbs a lot of water and doesn't keep you warm when it's wet and soggy, said Gill. It also doesn't handle hard ropes very well.

The fabric Gill is using in three of the ranges has been tested for abrasion strength and is between three and five times tougher than conventional Amara.

"And we have some innovative design features in the shape of the seaming and the cut, " Gill said. "It's been 18 months in development and it makes our glove stand our head and shoulders above everything else."

Gill will also be launching a completely new dinghy sailing range at Southampton.

"We started with a brainstorm meeting last September with a big group of people including Olympic sailors, club sailors and racers, designer and dealers. We gave them our range and asked them how we could improve it."

So we have redesigned every product in the range and there are some brand new innovations. We believe it regains our territory as leader in that area.

"More than that you'll have to find out at Southampton, " he concluded.

Harken is also launching its 2004 range at the Southampton Boat Show.

The brand uses Italian designers responsible for other top high street brands, such as Diesel, Moschino, Vespa, North Face and Zara .

The 2004 casual clothing collection is designed, says Harken, to give the quality and value for money that the brand's reputation has been built upon.

These clothes are dependable, comfortable and stylish both quayside and on board, said Harken UK managing director, Andy Ashe-Vie.

Harken crew clothing combines top quality, technical fabrics and detailed design finishes which make these clothes a staple must-have, he added.

The company's 2004 spring/ summer collection - available February 2004 - reflects next season's colour theme of vintage brown and tan, along with dark and light blues.

The 2004 collection also includes the Harken Pro Race Italian technical shoe with hand stitching and antimicrobial lining.

There will be a limited display of the Harken 2004 range at the Southampton Boat show on stand D10 in Windward Hall.

"The Harken clothing range has really taken off this year with sales outstripping expectation, " Ashe-Vie told BB ."The introduction of the 2004 Collection will further strengthen demand and help us to make even greater inroads into the fashion sector of the marine market."

Helly Hansen offers a woman's Nice Jacket that is designed for sailing but looks good onshore.

They say the Nice Jacket offers a continental look with its three-quarter length, "A" line design. However, they add, it won't let you down at sea as it's both waterproof and breathable and the additional hanging hood can easily be pulled on.

A full-length zipper up the front and two fleece-lined pockets at the waist, the Nice is available in three colourways - ebony/oyster, uptown/ebony and oyster/ebony - and retails at around £80.

Henri-Lloyd is behind the North Sails brand, which opened a retail outlet in Cowes during Cowes Week, adding to the existing network of shops in Florence, St Tropez and Modena.

For spring/summer a fresh direction has been introduced to the original North Sails collection. A balance of colours, patterns and unique styles, combined with strong technical pieces, the collection essentially comprises three distinct themes.

The brand origins in the world of sailing, with classic colours of red, navy and white, enriched with original patterns.

Coats and jackets with a nautical character, but in pastel colours of ecru, sand, mint and cream, made in natural fibres, with subtle understated features.

Taking direction from the world of kite surfing, the third theme includes exclusively designed floral motifs included in prints and details on garments from knitwear to shorts.

North Sails were the exclusive supplier of crew gear to the Alinghi Challenge, winners of the 2003 America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.

Under its own name, HenriLloyd launches its Jacket Collection for 2004 on stand E020 at Southampton.

The completely new, 100% waterproof, Polartec lined jackets have fully taped seams and are made in a lightweight, windproof, highly breathable fabric exclusive to Henri-Lloyd.

The new range of jackets has been developed from HenriLloyd's Avid mid-layer jacket, which was worn by Emma Richards on the Around Alone Race and by Mike Golding on the Route du Rhum.

The same technology has been used in the Team Jacket, Ladies Team Jacket and Team Vest, which are available at the show.

Nigel Musto asked me to tell you he has a whole lot of new, innovative products to show you at the Windsor Marine Trade Show, October 22 and 23, but preferred not to have me tell you before he did.

Splashdown keeps its popular foul-weather Coastal and Freemantle jackets and trousers in the range for 2004, sprucing them up with a new accent of colours including red on navy.

The Coastal foul weather jacket is waterproof and breathable and made from nylon rip-stop fabric. The jacket also offers high neck protection with a soft fleece inner, adjustable cuffs, a twoway zip, front pockets with storm flap protection and handwarmer pockets with fleece lining.

New colourways join the collection with the Coastal now available in navy/aqua/ white, sizes S-XXL and navy/red/putty, sizes S-XL.

The Coastal trousers offer the same protective qualities as the jacket and have reinforced knee patches and adjustable waist cord, available in sizes SXXL. Prices range from £100 and £80 respectively.

The Freemantle jacket and trousers offer, says Splashdown, the ultimate in marine protection.

The waterproof, breathable, nylon foul-weather jacket has fleece-lined pockets. Safety plays a big part in the range and the Freemantle has a dayglo concealed hood, life jacket attachment, full over the shoulder harness facility and reflective patches.

Both jacket and trousers come in navy/putty and are available in sizes S-XXL. The trousers are priced from £100 and the jacket from £150.

The Freemantle foul-weather trousers have reinforced knee patches and an adjustable waist cord.

XM Yachting tells us it will have a completely re-designed range that will be launched in all its glory this autumn, but they too, can't give us pictures yet.

But they are willing to say the new 2004 XM range will include the Ocean jacket and hi-fit trousers - highly breathable, 3-layer with hydrophilic membrane, fully featured in terms of safety, resistance and comfort; 5 sizes and 2 colours.

The Offshore jacket and hifit trousers - very good breathability, 2-layer hydrophilic membrane; also well featured in terms of safety, resistance and comfort; 5 sizes, 2 colours.

The Coastal jacket and hi-fit trousers - breathable, 2-layer hydrophilic membrane, minimum features; ideal for occasional sailors and outdoor activities. 5 sizes, 1 colour.

Yachtsman Jacket: very good breathability, 2-layer hydrophilic membrane, waterproof, technical and elegant garment. 5 sizes, 4 colours.

Contacts:

Gill T: 0115 9460844 F: 0115 946 5150 E: enquiries@gilluk.com W: douglasgill.com Harken T: 01590 689122 F: 01590 610274 E: enquiries@harken.co.uk W: harken.co.uk Helly Hansen T: 0115 9608797 F: 0115 9608014 W: helly-hansen.com Henri-Lloyd T: 0161 799 1212 F: 0161 703 8030 E: info@henrilloyd.co.uk W: henrilloyd.com Musto T: 01268 491555 F: 01268 491440.

E: customerservices@musto.co.uk W: musto.co.uk Splashdown T: 0113 270 7000 XM Yachting T: 01323 870092 F: 01323 870909 E: sales@xm-yachting.co.uk W: xm-yachting.co.uk