Doyle Sails expand into Palma with new co-owner
by Bliss Neagle 8 Feb 2018 04:44 PST
9 February 2018
Sea Leopard competing in Bermuda, June 2017 © Richard Gladwell
Chris Sherlock has been announced as the new co-owner and managing director of Doyle Sails Palma extending the global and local business development platform for Doyle Sails International.
Doyle, a global leader in high-performance sails as well as a reputation for being proven innovators with new technology, has announced breaking new developments for its presence in the evolving Palma market. Doyle Sails International is owned and led by the team of Mike Sanderson, Richard Bouzaid and David Duff.
Chris Sherlock, world-renowned superyacht Captain and Skipper of the many famous Leopard campaigns, has invested into the co-ownership of the Doyle Palma business together with Doyle Sails International and will lead the Palma business as Managing Director, along with other industry leaders soon to be announced.
Mike Sanderson, owner and CEO of the Doyle International, commented, “since our new leadership announcement back in June 2017, we have been looking closely at all of our key markets and our overall global and local loft presence in order to ensure that we are working with the best people, able to deliver the best technology and products, through the best service in all of our markets. To announce today the new Doyle Sails Palma loft soon to open under the ownership and Managing Directorship of Chris Sherlock is incredibly exciting," he said.
"Our presence in Palma has been under review for some time, given the importance of this location, and the growing number of superyacht and Grand Prix customers operating out of Palma and the surrounding areas. To have a sailmaker, sailor and superyacht captain of Chris’s calibre and experience is going to take Doyle Sails Palma to a whole new level of expertise and experience. We expect to be announcing further developments soon," he added.
Chris Sherlock started working in the sail making industry at the tender age of 15 working in Fremantle, Australia before he moved to the UK in 1992 for the Round Britain and Ireland race and never left!
He worked for 25 years continuously with superyacht owner Mike Slade running all of their maxi yacht ‘Leopard’ programmes, racking up an impressive 300,000 nautical miles and over 30 trans-Atlantics, as well as leading an operations and sailing team of 30 people across race events, charters and corporate guest management programmes.
Chris Sherlock, new Co-owner & Managing Director of Doyle Sails Palma, shared his thoughts on today’s announcement:
“I feel very comfortable coming aboard with the Doyle team. I have known David Duff since 1994 when we sailed together on Longobarda, and Mike Sanderson was instrumental in wind tunnel testing the current Leopard sails in 2006.
"Richard Bouzaid has been part of the Leopard crew for numerous regattas, so I am delighted by the opportunity to join such a formidable team. I have been using the Doyle products for a considerable number of years in some of the most demanding, critical sailing of my career to date.
"In my mind, you have to stand by your products 100% which I can certainly vouch for as the incoming MD of Doyle Sails Palma.”
The Doyle Palma business has been growing over a number of years, but its full potential in servicing the fast-growing superyacht, Grand Prix and 50-80 foot cruising and racing market across the board has not been optimized to its full potential as yet. This change in ownership and management and a new focus for the business with a world-class team, which has directly relevant experience and knows what is expected from a service standpoint, will take the business forward to new levels.
More news will be announced in the coming weeks about further partners, new premises and new team members.
Chris and Doyle Sails Palma are ‘open for business’ from today: to make contact with Chris directly, please email or call him on csherlock@doylesails.com and +34 681 184599