Musto
Your Adventure is Musto’s Challenge
It is now the summer of 2021, 21st July, and two days to go before the Olympic games, that were due to go ahead in 2020 but were cancelled due to the Covid pandemic, have their opening ceremony in Tokyo, Japan for the second time in the history of the event. They have also hosted the winter Olympics twice.
Fifty-seven years ago, the Games of the XVIII Olympiad were about to begin. This was the first time the games had been held in Asia and marked the first time that South Africa had been included due to its apartheid system.
Due to Tokyo’s heat and humidity the games did not go ahead until the 10th of October and ran until the 24th. It was the first time that the games were telecast so there was no need to fly tapes overseas for the latest updates.
Toshiba even tried out its new colour transmission showing the sumo wrestling and judo matches in colour to the host nation.
The 1964 games featured 19 different sports encompassing 25 disciplines and medals were awarded in 163 events.
Sailing or Yachting has been an Olympic sport since the beginning of the games in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The sailing program of 1964 consisted of a total of five sailing classes or disciplines. Each class had seven races, and these took place from the 12th to the 23rd of October off the coast of Enoshima in Sagami Bay.
The harbour was specifically built for the games at a cost of $6,027,778 after the original site of Yokohama was deemed unsuitable for Olympic-level sailing.
When Keith Musto arrived in Tokyo, he was light and short and an unlikely choice to be part of the Olympic sailing squad. But when Keith Musto and his partner Tony Morgan decided they wanted to go and win medals they knew that they would need something to give them an edge against the competition and it would not be their body size it would be their muscle, core, guts, and determination.
The sport of yachting has never been the sport of the common man and in 1964 competitors in the sailing categories consisted of the Crown Prince Harald of Norway and Prince Bhanubanda Bira of Thailand. So Musto and Morgan knew that their class and blood was not going to get them to the Olympics, and they would need to earn their place.
They knew their physics were not going to help win races so they went to the local school and asked the PE instructor how they could get fitter. After sizing them up and asking a few questions he developed an exercise plan, which was the start of circuit training as we know it today.
Musto and Morgan stuck to the exercise plan, even on holidays and Christmas day and when they arrived at the opening ceremony Musto looked at the Olympic notice board and read ‘The spirit is to participate, not to win’ and thought rhubarb to that I am here to win!
Leading up to the seventh and last race Musto and Morgan knew the pain of training had paid off.
But there is no accounting for the wind, and with the weight of the imagined gold medal hanging around their necks the fickle fingers of the breeze grasped it away and replaced it with a silver.
Missing out on the gold by nanoseconds led Keith to leave the Olympic squad but not sailing.
He realised that sailing clothing consisted of Guernsey sweater and flannel trousers which were constantly wet and after initially setting up a company to produce sails with his business partner Edward Hyde under the Musto & Hyde header, he soon realised there was a gap in the market for more technically advanced sailing clothing.
Splitting from Hyde in 1980 he quickly taught himself the basics in clothing manufacturer. His first employee was his wife who he paid a Mars bar a day to help.
Sailing progressed through the years and races became more challenging and more extreme. Tragic accidents led to innovation and in the 1990’s Musto were tasked with producing a dry suit that could stay in the water for up to 2 hours, an extension of one- and three-quarter hours on the previous suit, keeping its occupant safe and dry in the worlds coldest waters.
Today the dry suit provides a survival time of up to 3 hours in waters as cold as 5 degrees Celsius.
Keith soon realised he could expand his clothing range whilst watching his daughter with her horse. He soon realised he was the only spectator who was dry thanks to his own sailing gear. He soon developed an equestrian range that the likes of Zara Phillips has been known to wear.
Musto has now moved into other sports such as shooting and skiing along with Evolution, Expedition and Women’s fitness taking you from sea to shore and back again.
In 1994 Musto teamed up with W. L. Gore another like minded innovator and the Gore-tex Pro membrane was created. This extra tough membrane forms the core of the Musto HPX range, which has become the worlds leading ocean sailing apparel.
Keith Musto had the drive to become an Olympian. His clothing use’s cutting-edge technology which has become a firm favourite with athletes and outdoor enthusiast alike.
With over 50 years of experience of cutting-edge performance apparel engineering Musto have become the world’s leading sailing brand and a British leader in shooting and equestrian wear. Using designers who are fanatical about detail and working with the best manufacturers Musto makes clothing that will last a lifetime and is happy to guarantee it.
The products are tested to the extreme putting through the rigours of the most hostile environments the world has to offer.
Although never a blue blood and once lower than salt on a table Keith Musto has sailed with Royalty, clothed Royalty and has two Royal warrants to his name, which practically makes him Royalty in our book.
