Often one associates sailing with the sea, but there are plenty of active sailing clubs on our rivers.  One such club is the Little Ship Club on the River Thames and they asked us to make some Tennis Chairs from recycled sailcloth for their outdoor space.    The Little Ship club has a wonderful history.  Its training classes ‘…became so successful and highly regarded that in 1936 these facilities were used by the Admiralty to train members of the Royal Naval Supplementary Volunteer Reserve, many of whom were also Club members.

In recognition of this, the Admiralty, in the person of the First Sea Lord speaking at the Club’s annual dinner in 1937, invited the Club to apply for the privilege of having its own blue ensign defaced with the club emblem. This is the only known instance of such an invitation being made…’  And this is the emblem that now appears on the chairs we made.

This is the official press release from Sunsail, announced as part of their environmental initiative at the London Boat Show 2012.   We dressed their stand with a few deckchairs and some red white and blue bunting.   All very exciting:

Sunsail are pleased to announce at the London Boat Show, a new partnership with Wightsails which will see Sunsail sailcloth recycled to create new products, handmade on the Isle of Wight.

Simon Conder, UK head of Marketing commented:  ”Sunsail are proud to be working with Wightsails to recycle  our old sailcloth.  Responsible Tourism is an ongoing commitment to ourt customers and we are delighted that Wightsails are able to convert our old sails into new products to reduce landfill and create new products that people will use and enjoy.”

I then go on to say how thrilled we are and we are!   We will be making many products for Sunsail that will eventually be available around the world, setting up another sail collection centre in Port Solent and spreading the word of recycled sails.

It was recently reported on the BBC that London boroughs will get a windfall of £50,000 each to spend on dressing their streets with flags and bunting for the Olympics 2012.

Some people have perhaps understandably questioned the use of such funds and the eco/environment argument has been put forward.   One commentator has stated ‘…it is waste of money, especially as the flags and bunting will be thrown away afterwards…’

It doesn’t have to be as we can provide bunting made from recycled sails, namely old spinnaker sails that would otherwise end up in landfill.  Indeed, we can hire bunting to local boroughs so it need not be an entire waste.

This would fit well with Boris Johnson’s plans for an ‘eco-makeover’ for London.  He promised hundreds of green projects for 2012.   So here is one that ticks most of the boxes Boris !!