Whatever type of sailing you do, it’s vital to be able to trust your kit. Sails, electronics, winches, hardware, you have to be sure that it’s going to do what you need it to do. The same applies to foul-weather gear, and that’s why more and more pro teams are choosing Mustang Survival.
Mustang Survival’s reputation is built on decades of service to military, coast guard and special forces in Canada and the US. It’s that frontline experience, those industrial relationships, that allow Mustang Survival to use militaryspecification 6.5 GORE-TEX in its EP 6.5 Ocean Collection. That’s how its kit is exceptional for its breathability, durability, flexibility and waterproofness. Performance like that builds trust.
Cole Brauer, a brand ambassador, was wearing Mustang Survival when she finished second in the 2023-24 Global Solo Challenge. ‘I absolutely love the new EP 6.5 Ocean Collection, it’s perfect for offshore racing,’ she says. ‘I wore the previous version during my round-the-world race and I’m stoked to continue in the newly redesigned gear. It’s by far the best quality out there.’
Erica Lush (above) and Joss Creswell (below) are both wearing Mustang Survival gear for their current campaigns on the Solitaire du Figaro circuit, where high-speed spray from the boats’ foils demand very watertight wrist and neck seals.
Both Django and JOLT crews were wearing Mustang Survival’s Atlas 190 DLX lifejackets and EP 6.5 Ocean Collection smocks, jackets and salopettes for their memorable 2025 Admiral’s Cup battle. Black Jack 100’s crew were wearing the same kit when they won line honours in the 2026 RORC Caribbean 600, 2025 Rolex Middle Sea Race and 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race. It’s quite the roster of talent, and Mustang Survival is helping to bring more through.
‘You need to be able to rely on your kit,’ says Joss Creswell, Mustang Survival ambassador, a 27-year-old Brit racing his first La Solitaire du Figaro on board digiLab. ‘When you have the peace of mind that, whatever the conditions, you are going to stay comfortably warm and dry, it allows you to perform at a much higher level,’ he says.
Also on the start line, for her second La Solitaire du Figaro, is Erica Lush. Another Mustang Survival ambassador, the 34-year-old Rhode Island native is only the third American to complete this apex solo offshore event. ‘It takes huge pressure off to know that the gear is going to be well suited to the conditions,’ she says. ‘I have an amazing smock that has seals on my neck and wrists. It goes down really low so it’s an extra layer on the bum where you tend to get wet because you’re always sitting in water.
‘I’ve worn Mustang Survival gear before I started working with them. I wore it with the Canadian Imoca team when we did two Transats and in the Southern Ocean with Maiden Factor in the Ocean Globe Race 2024 and it stood up to those conditions. For me it’s tried and tested and it’s one less thing to worry about.’
Lush and Creswell have both recently emerged from the gruelling two-handed BGPO (Banque Populaire Grande Ouest), another Figaro 3 event. Creswell raced with Cole Brauer. ‘It was very hectic,’ he recalls. ‘There was a 14-hour leg reaching in around 35 knots. As a foiling boat, it causes a lot of spray and the kit held up very well. Cole and I both use the EP 6.5 kit, which has very good latex seals that really protect you from the elements, from side spray. I definitely feel the EP is the key to keeping core heat, and that means staying dry. That’s what the Mustang Survival kit was able to provide.
‘In solo racing, you’re managing your rest levels throughout the race,’ Creswell continues. ‘You need to be in this constant zone of quiet comfort and that’s what Mustang Survival gives me. Because it’s breathable, comfortable, easy to get on and off, it allows me to stay within that steady state where I’m able to focus on a lot of stuff. I’m able not to spend too much emotional capital on whether I’m cold or warm, but stay in a sensible mental state throughout.’
Another advocate for the kit is Germany’s Mustang Survival distributor ‘Broxe’, Lorenz Pinck, skipper of the Marten 49 Moana for owner Hanno Ziehm. ‘The owner doesn’t want to sail with pros,’ Pinck clarifies. ‘He wants to sail with his friends. We have really skilled people on board but everyone is doing it for fun.’ While it may be a Corinthian outfit, they clearly take their racing seriously. Moana placed second in IRC1 in the RORC Transatlantic Race 2025 and won IRC1 in the West-to-East Transatlantic Race 2025.
The latter Pinck describes as ‘intense, an awesome transatlantic race with some really mixed weather, everything you’d want.’ After a foggy start the wind returned south of the Newfoundland Banks before Moana parked up at the Gulf Stream. Then it came back.
‘The wind wasn’t so strong, 20-30 knots, but we had huge waves so the boat started diving and we had a lot of water on deck. We were on the edge, load-wise. We pushed the boat to 32 knots, which is quite good for a cruiser-racer and also a bit scary!
‘We knew we needed the best-of-the-best weather gear. The temperatures were not too bad, five to six degrees during the night, but there were waves going over the boat. You’re always sitting in water so it’s important that you have really reliable gear. Mustang Survival doesn’t just make gear, they engineer trust. And for those of us who live on the water, that means everything.’
‘The gear is really nicely engineered and executed,’ Pinck continues. ‘There’s Velcro behind the knees of the salopettes so there is less pressure on the shoulders, that’s a great little detail. Normal salopettes hang on the shoulders. The offshore smock hoods are removable so if it’s not raining you can take it off and replace it when you need to. It’s the gear you want if you don’t want to get slowed down by complicated, heavy gear and wet clothes.’
For Lush, as a female sailor, foul weather gear can present challenges unknown to her male competitors. ‘The EP 6.5 offshore cut is unisex and because of that there are quite a lot of adjustment features,’ she says. ‘I can cinch the waist and there’s a Velcro tab behind the knee, which means I can wear the small, which is still on the bigger side for me, but I can adjust it to my form. Whether I’m bulking up with layers or just trying to stay dry in warmer weather, it allows me to adapt the size to the conditions.
‘The kneepads are awesome,’ Lush continues. ‘They make you a bit fearless, especially in a Figaro 3, a boat where you’re always crawling around moving the stack, on the foredeck you always want to keep your weight as low as possible. It takes the hesitation out of getting something done. I find it really good to just know that I can kneel down, use my body hard and stay comfortable and uninjured through the process.’
‘It’s always been a struggle for me and for the other girls I’ve sailed with, they always had trouble with lifejackets resting in the wrong spot on your shoulders,’ she notes. ‘If you’re wearing your lifejacket 24/7 it’s important how it’s fitting. The Atlas 190s are really cool because they sit off the back of your neck. Because we’re always leaning down and pulling ropes, it’s an area that gets really tight so if you have a lifejacket sitting there it’s pretty uncomfortable. Their design is very well-adapted to the sport.’
Pinck also favours the Atlas lifejacket. ‘It’s lighter so you don’t feel it as much on the shoulders. One guy on the crew doesn’t like to wear lifejackets because the pressure on the neck makes him seasick. The Atlas has a really wide cut-out so that doesn’t happen. That was a game changer for him.’
Mustang Survival is also a great fit for grassroots sailors operating on a budget. ‘The company takes feedback from people who are using the kit really hard,’ Creswell notes. ‘Because Mustang supports Figaro sailors who don’t have an enormous budget, they’re a bit more community focused. We provide better feedback for the average sailor. They’re in a similar position to me. I have a budget that digiLab has given me and that’s great, but I don’t have four jackets’ worth of breakage in my budget. Because of the military background, all Mustang’s stuff is super-hard wearing. It’s designed to be tough and to last for a long time.
There’s another aspect of Mustang Survival’s approach to looking after sailors, as Pinck outlines based on his transatlantic experience. ‘I nicked my neck seal so I fixed it with Cuben Fibre tape and it was fine for the last five days. Afterwards I sent it into Mustang. We had two weeks before the Fastnet Race and they instantly took care of it and I got a new neck seal. They have a life-long warranty for the membrane and the hardware on it. Good after-sales service is as important as a good product. They take it seriously.’