Go Sailing Shop’s history. Thank you for sailing

1. Our beginnings: Making the hobby the job.

I am Miguel Arriola and my passion is the sea, sailing and, overall, racing. Since I was a kid, I have been taking part in countless regattas on all kinds of boats, from local events to Atlantic crossings. In 2000, I made the decision to make a living through my hobby, so I set up a nautical shop at the Real Club Marítimo del Abra in Las Arenas, on the outskirts of Bilbao. As time went on, we specialised in rigs, rollers, ropes, winches, as well as sail supply and maintenance.

2. Business on the rise

I am Enrique, Miguel’s brother, and we have always shared our love for sailing. Like him, I have also taken part in all kinds of regattas, though in recent years I have been focusing more on dinghy sailing: mainly Laser and Snipe. In 2010, I started working in my brother’s business with the intention of branching out and reaching out to dinghy sailors.

3. Going online

It was later on that same year when Steve Cockerill, founder and CEO at Rooster Sailing Ltd, encouraged us to start an online shop. Back then, Rooster was still a small affair and we had a close relationship. We launched www.roostersailing.es and, as it turned out, both businesses got ahead at the same time. As well as the full range of products from Rooster, we would sell other complementary brands such as Harken®, Ronstan® or Optiparts®.

4. Off to a good start

The Rooster® product line was a striking success from the word go and we also provided a really good service. The whole time the website was up and running, we had a client base and orders that counted by the thousands. Customers gave us an average 4.5 out of 5 in over 800 reviews (Yotpo), which encouraged us to keep going.

5. The wonder years

It was a great time as we had the chance of working together with outstanding sports people and professionals. To name but a few, we sponsored sailors such as Javier Blanco (Laser Radial Spanish Champion), Alicia Cebrián (2012 and 2016 Olympic Qualifier), Fran González (Laser 4.7 World Champion) and Joan Cardona (Finn Silver in 2020 Olympic Games). We also took great pride in backing the Spanish Impulse crew who took part in the Youth America’s Cup 2017.

6. Our new online store

At the end of 2019, with the idea of widening our portfolio and improving customer service, we made the difficult decision of closing down www.roostersailing.es in order to launch a new, updated online shop: Go Sailig Shop. In the fateful year of 2020, while still under lockdown, we took the opportunity to give our shop a makeover. After two years of hard work www.gosailingshop.com is finally up and running. We hope you are enjoying a great shopping experience.

7. Our pride and joy

Here at Go Sailing Shop, we truly believe that the best way of learning about sailing is sharing our knowledge with fellow sailors. As a result, we have started our Blog, YouTube Channel and Go Sailing Shop’s Weekly Tip. Please, feel free to post your comments on any of these if you wish. Likewise, we want to rub our passion for sailing off on others through our Facebook and Instagram fan pages, on which we have held a number of raffles and special offers.

8. Sponsorships

We collaborate with several associations, such as the J80 Class Spanish Association, the Snipe Class Spanish Association and the Formula Kite Spain Series. These are small projects but we hope to be able to continue working together with them and they grow little by little over the next few years.

9. Our mission

All this we have achieved so far. However, we keep on working hard in order to help our customers enjoy sailing more than ever.

Thank you for sailing,

Go Sailing Shop Crew.

 

Discover our best-sellers