History

"SAILS" was started in a spare bedroom in 1978 by Graham Bantock. At first, production was limited to sails for remote controlled yachts, and many of them were used in the kits made by Oliver Lee. Within a few years a range of fittings and masts were also stocked. 

In 1986 Graham's wife Lorna joined the business as a partner and the name was changed to SAILSetc to reflect the fact that it sold many more items than just sails.

In 1987 the Bantocks moved home to the present site which had a derelict barn adjacent to the house. The barn restoration was completed by 1988 and it has since been extended. It is now the centre of all SAILSetc business activities. The larger work space has permitted expansion of SAILSetc to tackle more areas of the supply side of the sport, and separating work space from home has been of immense value in ensuring a thoroughly professional approach to the business. It has also contributed to maintaining a sense of balance in life as a whole and a degree of sanity that would otherwise have evaporated at an early stage.

In 1989 SAILSetc took over the business of a fellow RC yacht enthusiast, Ian Cole, who continued to exercise his skills manufacturing boats until leaving in 2005. With SAILSetc on a part-time basis since 1992, and full-time since 1999, was Phillip Playle who left us in 2007 to work as a subcontractor finishing our boats for a year before moving on. Denis Astbury from Brazil joined us in 2008 to carry out the completion of boats at SAILSetc. By this time all primary hull mouldings had been made elsewhere for a few years – One Metres by Al McMeekin and the other boats in pre-preg carbon by Reverie Ltd. It has been refreshing to work with Denis and see him put into practice some of the excellent ideas he has had for improving boat construction. Denis is assisted in the moulding shop by Katherine Clements (now Fenrnandes).

Responsibility for and oversight of the entire process of design and construction of an RC yacht, from plug making through to installation of the RC, has led to a greater interest in hydrodynamic, aerodynamic, and structural design of the various component parts. Most modern design is assisted by computer and it is a tool in constant use at SAILSetc. The Maxsurf 3D modelling program is used for hull and foil design, a hydrostatics program for stability and trim calculations, the WinDesign VPP for evaluation/comparison of candidate designs, and a host of in-house programs for routine calculations solving numerous problems ranging from sail plan and sail shape design to comparisons of stretch in rigging. Independent experts are consulted as appropriate for assistance in their specialist fields.

Lorna trained and was then ordained as a minister of the United Reformed Church in early 2003. Since then she has shared her work time between church and SAILSetc duties.

Over the years we have had significant additional help from Maggie Fletcher, Christine Endersby, Athene Stapley, David Gilbey, Roy Pearson and numerous students on their work experience placements. Most notably amongst the students Sam McCall spent three years with us up to 2009 before leaving to pursue his degree course.

Part time help from Paul Everett and Philip Vinton currently helps us keep pace with demand for fittings although we normally feel we could use more help in this department. Also on a part time basis Emma Frankish has made a valuable contribution to the admin side which has allowed Lorna to get out of the office to attend to ministerial duties.

During early 2002 the building work on an extension to the barn workshop was completed. All of the new area is now used for office, mail order and the storage and assembly of fittings. It allows some much needed extra space for the design department too and makes life a little more comfortable for our occasional visitors. This extra space has proved crucial to allowing SAILSetc to cope properly with the increased work load over recent years.

The Profile of SAILSetc

SAILSetc is well known in RC yachting circles world-wide as a manufacturer and supplier of the best RC yachting equipment. Our product range is geared towards the international classes and this reflects our market which is truly world-wide within the countries associated with RC sailing. 

Yachts built by SAILSetc have gained consistently good places in World Championships since the early 1980's, for example winning the Marblehead Class in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998, the One Metre Class in 1994 and 1999, the Ten Rater Class in 1999 and the A Class in 2005. Our designs have also won the 1995 Marblehead European championship and the 1998 and 2004 One Metre European Championships. Even though Graham Bantock was not present at the 2003 IOM World Championship, the winning boat, helmed by Trevor Binks, was equipped with SAILSetc rigs and sails. National championships too numerous to mention have been won in the UK and elsewhere by boats to our designs or using our equipment since the early 1980's.

Continued large demand for SAILSetc designed boats has led to a good number of moulds being sold to builders outside Britain. In 2010 SAILSetc  IOM designs are being moulded in ARG, AUS, BRA, CRO, FRA, GER, ITA, NED and USA. Designs in other classes are also available on a more limited basis.

The success of SAILSetc sails, spars and other products goes far beyond this and they are the standards against which other products are compared.

Above all, SAILSetc is known for the quality of products AND its service, a reputation we work hard to keep.

2008 was the 30th year since the start of the business and it seemed a good time to look for a new owner for SAILSetc. We indicated our wish to sell the business and received expressions of interest some of which have been followed up although with no firm outcome to date (end of 2009). The prospect of a return to something closer to normality in trade and commerce generally may provide the key to finding a new owner for what has been, and remains, a unique and rewarding business.

Class	Year	Place	Design
Marblehead	1986	3rd	No Secret
	1988	2nd	Hush Hush
	1990	5th	Enigma
	1992	1st	Paradox
	1994	1st	Paradox
	1996	1st	Paradox
	1998	1st	Rad
	2000	2nd	Rok
	2002	2nd	Prime Number
One Metre	1994	1st	Red Wine
	1997	9th	Scream
	1999	1st	Ikon
	2001	2nd	Ikon
	2003	DNC
	2005	2nd	Topiko
	2007	10th	Topiko
	2009	9th	Pikanto
Ten Rater	1999	1st	Prizm
A Class	2005	1st	Sword