Ratsey & Lapthorn is a superb British model for the YouTube technology

Riding high on the ocean under a magnificent billowing cloud of canvas, the Gucci family’s classic yacht Creole cuts a dash. The display is the work of the world’s oldest sailmaker, Ratsey & Lapthorn, which dates back to 1790.

The company, based in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, has made sails for kings and queens and even Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. 

The topsail from the flagship HMS Victory remains at the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth complete with cannon ball holes.

The firm later became synonymous with the America’s Cup, the world’s oldest international sporting trophy, making sails for yachts from both sides of the Atlantic for more than a century.

Heritage is a big deal for Ratsey & Lapthorn. Hanging in its sail loft in Cowes are the words of Tom W Ratsey dating back to 1833: ‘There is only one standard of work in this loft, that is the very best.’

It is something its current owners – former City fund manager Simon Brazier and Jim Hartley, the founder of the Quba sailing clothing and accessories brand – are keen to emphasise.

And no wonder. Ratsey & Lapthorn prides itself on being one of the very few lofts in the world that can still make a traditional sail. A set can put you back north of £300,000, depending on the size of the vessel.

The emphasis, therefore, is on the ‘craft’ and passing the skills down to the next generation.

‘Our sailmakers are craftsmen of the finest order,’ says Hartley, 51. ‘We focus on making sure our apprentices understand everything about how to make a sail. It has been master to apprentices since 1790 and I don’t think there are many businesses in the world that can say that.’

The sailmakers at work when I visit are in their 20s. Matthew Robinson, 27, is now the master sailmaker, having started as an apprentice at 16. He’s putting the final touches to a new mainsail for a West Solent One Design.

New apprentice Hattie Dumas, 23, is repairing sails from a ‘pit’ sunk into the floor of the loft. Hartley says retired workers return on a regular basis to help out.

But for many years, the future was far from certain. The business fell on hard times after the introduction of synthetic fabrics into the industry. When Hartley bought it in 2017, its annual turnover had fallen to just £79,000.

This was not his first business venture. A keen sailor himself, Hartley set up Quba in Salcombe, Devon, in 1996 and opened the first store in Cowes in 1999, close to the Ratsey & Lapthorn loft.

He knew its then boss, Paralympic gold medal-winning sailor Andy Cassell, and on leaving Quba asked if he could get involved.

‘I thought it was a wonderful old business and could sense it needed a bit of help,’ says Hartley. It required, in his words, ‘a lot of love and cash’. 

In the hunt for investors early on, he sought advice from his old friend Brazier.

As a fund manager of 25 years, whose successful career included stints at leading City investment houses Schroders, Threadneedle and Ninety One, where he managed the UK Alpha fund, he is well accustomed to ‘pitches’ from companies seeking cash. 

But this time Brazier was so impressed he told Hartley: ‘It’s great, don’t show it to anyone else, I want to do it.’

So what did he see in it? He says: ‘I bought in for one simple reason. We were buying an untouched heritage brand. In the back of my mind was how to use that. It has so much latent value sitting in it.’

The first job, however, was to put it back on the map as a sailmaker.

‘If we are not leading in our sailmaking, then we can’t use the brand anywhere else,’ says Brazier, who left the City last year and is now focusing on his new venture, where he is chairman, with Hartley running the firm day-to-day as chief executive.

The founding Ratsey family are still involved with Mark Ratsey life president.

Outside investors have been brought in and now own 10 per cent of the firm. Brazier and Hartley hold the other 90 per cent.

‘The brand only works because of what we are,’ Brazier continues. ‘We are one of the world’s best craft sailmakers. Simple as that.’

They set about raising the profile of the business again, and reminding people just what it can do.

‘We will make sails for anything,’ says Hartley. ‘But our superpower is in classics. So we need to be much more visible where they are.’

That meant setting up shop in Barcelona where the firm now has access to the huge classics fleet in the Mediterranean. The unrivalled heritage, of course, helps.

The mammoth task of restoring the Cynara is a case in point. The 100ft ketch was built in 1927 across the Solent in Gosport at the famous Camper & Nicholsons yard.

It was being refurbished recently in Japan when news reached Ratsey & Lapthorn that the contract for the sails was on the verge of being signed by a competitor.

‘Jim goes into the file and finds the design of the sails when the boat was built,’ says Brazier. ‘We went to the owner in Japan and said, “We hear you’re changing sails, but you do realise we made your original sails and we’d love to discuss it with you”. From the jaws of defeat we won the contract.’

Hartley says the vast archives held on site are ‘part of our maritime heritage’ and also ‘a killer sales pitch’ to owners restoring classic yachts. 

He adds of Cynara’s owners: ‘They were fastidious about the authentic restoration and I think that’s why they loved that we made the original sails.’

Another recent coup involved the restoration of Tally Ho, which was built in 1910 and won the Fastnet race in 1927. 

Bought by boatbuilder and sailor Leo Goolden, 34, for just $1, the project to rebuild it – and fit it with Ratsey & Lapthorn sails – has become a YouTube hit attracting 500,000 viewers so far.

‘These are the interesting projects we want to get into,’ says Hartley. They hope to rekindle Royal connections, too. The late Duke of Edinburgh often took to sea with Ratsey & Lapthorn sails, as did the young Prince Charles.

The Royal Warrant was lost after the Duke stopped sailing – something Brazier hopes to address.

‘Knowing that the new generation of royals do sail, one of our longer-term ambitions is to get our royal warrant back,’ he says.

Ratsey & Lapthorn last year brought in sales of about £500,000 and Brazier says they are ‘heading towards £1 million’. But with two years in the black after years of losses the pair see opportunities to move beyond sailmaking.

The firm also lays claim to being the world’s oldest bagmaker. Hartley says: ‘We’ve been making bags since 1790. We made bags to carry coal and ice to yachts out of scraps of heavy-duty canvas.’

But, say Brazier and Hartley, any move back into bags will only be of the highest quality.

‘There is only one standard of work in this loft, and that is the very best,’ they chime in unison.

Perhaps the most stunning example of Ratsey & Lapthorn craftsmanship is the sails of the Creole, a three-masted schooner that like the Cynara was built by Camper & Nicholsons in Gosport in 1927.

The 214ft masterpiece, the world’s largest wooden sailing boat, was bought by Maurizio Gucci of the Italian fashion house in 1982 and lovingly restored. It has only ever been ‘suited’ by Ratsey & Lapthorn since its launch in 1927, with the latest sails faring well – they were made in the 1990s.

‘Anybody can start a heritage brand. It’s just the first hundred years that are challenging,’ Hartley jokes, adding: ‘We have been around for 230 years, but we need to be around for another 230.’