Henri Lloyd's Atmosphere Jacket received a special mention in its category at this year's DAME Awards, the marine industry's “Oscars” for design and innovation.
The reason for the accolade is the revolutionary fabric from which the jacket is made: Henri Lloyd's TP AC, featuring Adaptive Performance Technology, which sounds almost too good to be true.
Waterproof, windproof and extremely breathable, the fabric is also temperature sensitive. It is designed to respond to the wearer's body temperature, keeping you warm when it's cold, and cool when it's warm, by adjusting its own breathability.
The pores of the material are supposed to close up when it's cold, restricting the loss of heat and therefore helping the wearer stay warm, and then opening up as things get warmer, encouraging both heat and vapour to escape and helping the wearer keep cool.
The outer fabric has also been treated with a SDWR (Super Durable Water Repellency) finish - which helps to shed water, so accelerating drying times and increasing comfort, says Henri Lloyd.
Certainly the jacket displays the level of design and workmanship the maker has become known for. All the seams are micro-stitched and taped. The shape is contoured to reduce windage, articulated for ease of movement and it's longer at the back than the front, combining extra protection and freedom of movement. There's shock cord adjustment round the hem for a snug custom fit.
It's light and comfortable to wear, with a mesh lining for extra breathability and quick-drying Rentex mesh inside the collar to protect your chin from chafe. The collar - nice and high, to keep the weather out - incorporates a stowaway hood, with shock-cord for single-handed adjustment and release. There are adjustable wrist seals and a storm flap across the two-way front zip, too.
I first tried the Atmosphere jacket in early season, to see how effective it was at keeping me warm, and it did the job amazingly well for something so light. I've also now worn it in quite hot weather, and all kinds of conditions in between, and I have to say that the “too good to be true” fabric really does seem to do what the makers claim.
For someone like me, who has always hated the constricted feeling of wearing oilskins, the featherweight, non-restricting jacket - complete with two useful side pockets with water resistant zips, and a secure zip fastening internal pocket - is a welcome addition to the sailing wardrobe.
Henri Lloyd says the durability and “variant comfort qualities of the jacket” will be maintained even after washing. So far I've only washed it once (in the machine, 30 degrees), but that seems to be true!
The Atmosphere Jacket is available in Phosphorous, Carbon, Optical White (not HL's best ever idea!) , Red and Navy and in sizes S - XXL and the recommended retail price is £110.
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If you want to be at the technical cutting edge, the Atmosphere Jacket's “memory polymer” technology does everything it says. But I wish it also had the reflective zips and strips (and the cosy zip-in soft-shell vest) of last year's Transition jacket, which it has replaced in the Henri-Lloyd range.
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