We were thrilled to be asked by IT firm Net Evidence to make two sails for them that they could use as marketing during the Silicon Cup 2012.

The Silicon Cup is the IT’s Regatta held in Cowes each year. The sun came and out and the sails were placed in the beer garden of one of Cowes landmark pubs, The Anchor.

We are thrilled to announce a partnership with Wates Construction at their Maritime Centre of Excellence site, Boldrewood Campus that sees a dedicated sail collection point at the site.

It is fitting they are building a Maritime Center of Excellence and we hope the sail collection will continue when development has finished.

I have been to the site and I must say what a great site it is.  I am looking forward to seeing the finished project and also collecting some sails along the way.

So…. if you are in Southampton and don’t want to dump your sails into landfill, please head over to the Boldrewood site and look for the Sail Drop Off Point.   See the map below.  They will even pick them up if possible !!

We weren’t sure so we asked a few experts and they gave us the following information.  Bad reading eh?!

Wightsails is now available at the UK’s most northern point!

Our latest stockist, Natural Retreats Outfitters, is based in John O’Groats, in a tiny hamlet set amongst some of the most sensational and extreme landscapes combining awe-inspiring coastal stacks, dramatic cliffs, forests and white sandy beaches.

Natural Retreats Outfitters provides everything needed for a range of outdoor activities, helping guests with equipment, clothing and supplies for the wide range of activities available at John O’Groats.

Professional guides will be offering guests the ride of their life thanks to the new Natural Explorer boat. Wrap up warm, grab your camera and head out for a day of wildlife watching around the north Scotland waters.

The Outfitters will also be offering guided hikes, wreck dives, historical tours, fishing, horse-riding, geo-caching (real-life GPS treasure-hunting) and even whisky appreciation sessions! The Outfitters will also stock everything you could need for a holiday exploring the great outdoors. As a champion of British designers and manufacturers, Natural Retreats Outfitters includes equipment and clothing from top British brands such as Hunter, Anta and Highland 2000.

Brimming with wildlife, guests can expect to see the largest population of Harbour and Grey seals and an array of birdlife including Guillemot, Kittiwakes and most famously Puffins. Forget indoor aquariums this summer as the coast of John O’Groats is home to the ocean’s most beautiful sea creatures including minke whales, dolphins, porpoises, basking sharks and even killer whales.

Following a huge £6 million regeneration project of the area, luxury self-catering experts Natural Retreats are delighted to announce the opening of 23 standalone Residences and co-operative Storehouse alongside the Outfitters, in the stunning wilderness of John O’Groats.

The Natural Retreats Residences have been designed in the style of the award-winning luxury eco-lodges at their Yorkshire Dales site and have been underpinned by strong sustainable principles, with the use of locally sourced materials such as Caithness stone, Scottish Larch timber and sedum roofs. Modern, open-plan living including a huge expanse of glass allows the magnificence of the natural surroundings to be as much a part of the luxury experience as the exquisite attention to detail showcased in the interiors.

With British patriotism at an all-time high and such a unique natural environment waiting to be discovered right here on our door-step, there’s never been a better time to holiday at home in the UK.
Natural Retreats offer incredible places to stay in beautiful and secluded locations, with a personal concierge service that is unrivalled.

Stunning UK locations include the Yorkshire Dales, Ll?n Peninsula in Wales, West Highlands in Scotland and Fistral Beach and Trewhiddle in Cornwall.

Guests can also stay at any of the four beautiful properties in Ireland, including new property ‘The Hollies’ – a magnificent 19th Century manor house perfect for a big family holiday.

Last year, Natural Retreats expanded abroad with beautiful luxury villas in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote. Each villa features spacious open-plan living, with a terrace leading onto a private, heated outdoor pool.

Across the pond, Natural Retreats now feature two incredible sites in the US, Virginia Hot Springs and South Fork Lodge in Idaho. South Fork Lodge is widely known as a world-class fishing retreat and Virginia Hot Springs offers outstanding year-round activities including hiking, kayaking and horse-riding in a truly breath-taking location.

We have been tinkering with an iPad cover made from recycled sails for some time.   Many others on the market and we have spent some time researching what works best with sailcloth and we have finally come up with the following.   Still R&D, but almost there.   Colour options will follow.

Features that make it work well are as follows:  envelope opening, safer, secure, just looks better, doesn’t let any bits in with the precious ipad.  Reclaimed padding inside, small velcro fastening, covered with tag to hide stictching and ends (nice finish), soft lining and nothing inside to scratch surface.

Look at all our lovely products in the Beach Hut in Yarmouth.

Love the people who run this shop and love the shop

Our good friends Rapanui have recently been discussing the circular economy with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation which got us thinking about our sail recycling programme.

Regular readers will know our ambitions to be able to shred unusable sails and sell this back to manufacturing, but why not push that even further and say that a sail could be wholly reused without the need to produce new material ever again.   A tall order?  I read recently from another entrepreneur that ‘great athletes set impossible goals and achieve so much by getting half way there…’  (Gil Penchina in Wired).  Well, for one I don’t think it is impossible, but yes it is a big challenge and I am due to speak to the Foundation about how we can make this happen.

We have touched upon the cradle to cradle approach for sail manufacturing before and at the recycling end we believe we can shred sails and sailcloth to a material that is acceptable for use back into manufacturing.  The challenge is making sails from material that can be wholly recycled back into the making of a new sail.

The Island is alive with such forward thinking and we hope to play our part by being the first sail recyclers on the planet!

Innovation for wine carriers made from recycled sailcloth.   Our new six bottle wine carrier is strong, looks cool, spreads the load so is surprisingly easy to carry and flat packs.

We made this product for a lovely company on the Isle of Wight (Goodleaf tree climbing) to hold their flasks, but soon realised it worked just as well for wine bottles.   So we are introducing into our range and will also be making a four bottle version.

Congratulations to Pimms who by building a huge deckchair and placing it on Bournemouth Beach obtained National and International coverage.

At 8.5 meters high and 5.5 meters wide, weighing almost 6 tonnes it isn’t going to fall down.  That said, you wouldn’t want to get your fingers trapped in this one.

Stuart Murdoch, the sculptor who created the deck chair, also designed and built a full size Challenger Tank entirely out of egg boxes in support of Help for Heroes.  The deckchair won’t be there for long and no one is sure where it will go to next.

A thought occurred to us whilst making bunting the other day.  What do we do with the Clew’s and Head of the spinnaker?  From a sailmaker’s perspective, this is where all the strength of the sail is concentrated.  Thus, the sail is thicker in the corners and has a fixing point (normally a ring).   The light-bulb moment…. ping ….. why not cut out the two clews and the x metres of surrounding strengthened spinnaker, sew them together and what you have is the basis of a hammock!   As the clews are identical in size and shape, the hammock should be balanced.

Anyway, phase one of development proved to be most successful. It usually takes us at least four attempts to get to this stage.   Phase two coming up.