A significant year for Doyle Sails International

by Doyle Sails 21 Dec 2017 21:48 PST 22 December 2017

Shamrock V the 1937 Challenger for the America's Cup carries a full suit of Doyle Sails - J- Class Regatta 35th America's Cup Bermuda, June 19 , 2017 © Richard Gladwell

A Significant Year for Doyle Sails

2017 has been an incredibly busy and exciting year for Doyle Sails. Back in June, we announced our bold moves to drive the business forward on both global and local levels. The new management team of myself, David Duff and Richard Bouzaid formally announced our ownership of Doyle International, taking on from the fundamental and vital work of Robbie Doyle and his team since the brand launched back in 1982.

Since June, we have focused our attention on planning for strategic growth as well as continuing our emphasis on design and innovation and simply producing great sails for great customers. In November we held our global lofts conference at METS trade show and the collective feeling of strength and vision was notable across the business globally.

Our sport is evolving very fast with lots of new and innovative developments taking place across all platforms - I firmly believe that Doyle Sails is in the best possible shape for continued growth and a very bright future.

Above all else, I would like to thank our customers for their commitment and continued loyalty, and I wish you all a very active and successful 2018 sailing year.

Mike Sanderson
Doyle Sails CEO

Products of 2017

Cable-less Code Zero was launched in June this year with great success. The new product will be revolutionary for racers and crusiers alike. It’s become a necessity especially for the Maxi 72 class such as, Bella Mente, Proteus and Momo.

Find out why less is more...

Delta was launched in September as a sail solution for cruising and racing yachts under 15 metres (50 ft). Utilizing the same adhesives and lamination process from our Stratis plant this product offers a range of perfect benefits for the club racer and coastal cruiser. The first order was laid a week after it's launch with 50 membranes sold to date.

See the difference with Delta...

Projects of 2017

2017 has been a busy and successful year for Doyle projects ranging from one design to mega-yachts. Here's a glimpse of this year's highest profile customers.

Alex Thomson takes second place in the 2016/2017 Vendee Globe onboard Hugo Boss

Photo Credit: Cleo Barnham

The iconic Mari Cha III makes her sailing debut in Palma, Mallorca in June 2017. The 44m Sensation yacht had a rig extension of 3m, as well as all new Stratis ICE sails with modern-looking square tops.

With a LOA of 106.8 metres, Black Pearl by Oceanco joins the ranks as one of the largest sail yachts in the world - making her one of the most highly anticipated yachts of 2017.
Photo Credit: Piet van Dijk

Peter Duncan's Relative Obscurity wins the 2017 J/70 World Championships in September. Jud Smith, head of Doyle One Design in the USA, has been intimately involved with the team throughout the year. For the World’s the team was using Doyle latest J/70 Class Sails: M2 Cross Cut Main, J6R Bi-Radial Jib and AP Class Spinnaker.

The original creators of Australia’s Grand Prix 18ft skiff circuit televised in the 90’s is back with a new generation of extreme racers. The SuperFoiler is 26ft in length and can get up to speeds of 30 knots. The project has taken over 3 years, 4500 hours, and 4 contributing countries to design and test. Set to air early in the new year.

Our People

We have been building relationships with some of the best sailors from around the world - our true Doyle Sails brand ambassadors. These guys are at the forefront of the racing world and play a really important role in our future development and ensuring that our products and services meet the needs of our customers.

Photo Credit: Tim Adler

One of Britain's most influential and talented sailor's, Alex Thomson has worked closely with Doyle to develop the sail inventory for Hugo Boss in the past two Vendee Globe cycles.

“The reliability of the product is just brilliant and I think that’s where Doyle really are different to everyone else and it’s a big reason why we choose to work with Doyle – it’s the service, product and the relationships and the fact the team really cares and brings significant added value to the campaign.” - Alex Thomson

Stu Bannatyne joined Doyle Sails New Zealand last year as their Grand Prix Race Sales and Projects Rep.

Bannatyne has participated in and won some of the world’s most prolific and challenging offshore races including seven Volvo Ocean Races, eight Fastnet races, three Transpacs, 11 Sydney Hobarts, working as tactician on several high profile race programmes and with significant racing experience on the smallest through to the biggest yachts.

Photo credit: Amory Ross

Doyle Sails Italy announced in September of this year that sailing legends Francesco Bruni and Max Sirena would be joining the team as shareholders.

The appointments of Sirena and Bruni will further cement Doyle's reputation for market leading sail design and the company’s commitment to ensuring that its clients continually benefit from the knowledge of the best in the industry.

Doyle On Display

This year we have put an emphasis on getting out and about, becoming closer to our customers and building relationships for a better understanding of our market place. See below a range of photos of Doyle Sails activities from around the world taken during 2017.

Doyle Around the World

As part of our global review and development of the new growth strategy for our business, we have been amalgamating our presence around the world and loft structure with clear vision - all of our existing and new customers have a Doyle team and loft facility and can access Doyle service near to them.

Click here for our global list of lofts and get in touch with your local Doyle expert.

Get In Touch

Our doors are always open and our loft personnel are always keen to show you around the Doyle Sails facilities. Come by to check out our design equipment, meet the wider team and let's discuss your sailing plans and potential needs for the coming 2018 season. Give us a call or simply drop in.

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