Daring to be different

When stress and travelling long distances day in and day out finally became too much for Exeter’s Tony Blackmore, he decided to give up his well-paid job as a training executive for BT working in London to set up his own chandlery, SailSport, in Devon.

And although his income has dropped dramatically, he says he loves every minute of his new life.
Tony is himself a keen sailor – he’s Flag Captain of Starcross Yacht Club, responsible for the sailing there, and is also principle race officer for the annual Exe Regatta which takes place in June.

He said: “I want to put something back into sailing.”

As part of this, Tony is sponsoring two local youngsters, Lewis Turner who sails a Mirror dinghy at Starcross and Ashley Bower of the Royal Dart Yacht Club who campaigns a Topper, and says he aims to help out more as his business grows.

He said: “I support the Exe junior series with prizes and provided £1,000 worth of prizes for the Exe Regatta. I can do this as I don’t have a retail shop.”
His chandlery is the only dinghy specialist in the South West, offering everything from nuts and bolts to spars, sails and technical clothing. And he can also provide a service to small keel boat owners.

Tony’s catchline is ‘The chandlery which dares to be different’ and he says he carries this out in a number of ways.

He said: “I think I’m the only chandlery in the country which does not have a retail shop. I’ve decided to take the technology route. Customers can buy from the website – www.sail-sport.com or I also take my van to sailing club events along the South Devon coast such as open meetings, nationals and club sailing.”

The advantages to his customers are cheaper prices and longer opening hours. For certain items, Tony will even go to the customer’s house enabling them to try out a product in the comfort of their own home or arrange a suitable meeting place.

He said: “I’ve had people come to my house, I’ll go to theirs, their sailing club or anywhere else. I’ll go to the customer. I believe in offering a high quality of customer service.”
Tony is currently setting up an affiliation scheme whereby if clubs become affiliate members, they can earn five per cent of everything their members spend at SailSport.

SailSport will also visit clubs and inspect their dinghy fleets and carry out any necessary work
And if clubs want to advertise their events on SailSport’s website, they can do this by emailing their details to events@sail-sport.com SailSport can also be contacted on 01392 420043.
Ends

Notes: For further details contact Katina Read at BreezeMarine on 01626 353333 or Tony Blackmore on 0392 420043 or 07977 512673

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