What does Made In Britain mean? Not in the literal sense of course, that’s obvious, but what does it mean for the sailor. RS Sailing is a British business that supplies thousands of high quality sailboats a year all over the world, a fleet of some 20 classes that are all built in Great Britain. UK manufacturing represents cutting edge engineering expertise and proudly high quality standards, while ensuring a safer and more flexible supply chain to cater for the demands of the modern sailboat buyer.
Different types of sailboat hulls require very different materials and manufacturing techniques to give the ideal properties. A recreational boat like RS Zest needs rugged, robust, maintenance free material like a triple layered Polyethylene, while a 33kg RS Aero utilises epoxy and carbon fibre to give incredible light weight with exceptional stiffness and rigidity. To ensure the right skills and expertise is involved in the different build styles, RS Sailing works with independent third party manufacturing partners, all based in the UK.
For the polyethylene constructed sailboats, RS Sailing works proudly with Rototek in Newark, Nottingham, a world leading multi-layer rotomoulding business operating to ISO-9001 quality standards. Cutting edge engineering and machinery alongside computer controlled build programs give the highest consistency, finish quality and blend of stiffness to weight.
For higher volume GRP mouldings, RS Sailing works alongside automotive and aerospace manufacturer M-TAG in Coningsby, Lincolnshire on supply lines alongside plane and train components. Also operating to ISO-9001 standards, M-TAG work to incredibly tight build and quality standards using epoxy, polyester and carbon fibre to create industry leading sailboat classes.
Bespoke and somewhat custom racing classes are built by top end contract boat builders like Projects By Design on the Isle of Wight and Boatyard At Beer in Devon. Highly experienced and expert sailboat builders in the UK give the necessary personal touch to GRP racing classes in both Polyester, Vinylester and epoxy GRP and are uniquely selected based on their sphere of build experience. This careful selection ensures the RS Sailing quality and race performance expectations are properly fulfilled.
Made In Britain isn’t the cheapest from an international perspective but gives a noticeably higher quality and customisable finish across the different build techniques. Made In Britain ensures the best quality materials, build techniques and safe, sustainable working practices. Made In Britain is something we’re super proud of and hope our customers are – wherever they are in the world – too.
Check out the RS range, in all its British glory here.
