Developments

Developments 

SAILSetc remains open four days each week, Monday to Thursday. This applies to collection of goods as well as dealing with mail order business - our customers seem to have adapted well to the new format, thanks. As usual the website will be able to take your orders at any time and on any day, but please bear in mind we will not be able to take your phone calls on Fridays. Our total working hours are un-changed so our production capacity remains much the same.

After David’s retirement last year the SAILSetc office is staffed by Lili four days a week, Emma in the mornings, Graham much of the time and Lorna occasionally.

The MYA's AGM and Boat Jumble in December 2023 was well attended and we plan to take part in 2024 too. We will have many of the experimental and slight reject parts that have accumulated in the SAILSetc workshops over the years. Not good enough to offer in our normal range here and too useful to scrap, so we hope they will find good homes via this outlet. 

After looking for a good home and new owner for SAILSetc in 2023 and getting no serious response we have to announce with some regret that we will wind down the business over the coming year or so. This means we will not be re-stocking items that are not essential to larger complex kits unless economically viable to do so. Items will be un-listed from our website when stocks are used. However, we have good stocks of some products that will remain available for some time to come.

Customers, especially trade customers who are dependent on our products for their own production, are advised to ensure they will have continuity of supply into the future either from us or from elsewhere. We can only express our gratitude for the wonderful support we have enjoyed from those we have had the pleasure of working with since 1978 and the very many sailors who have made such good use of our products.

Sailors who have used SAILSetc boats/designs to place well in major events will find their names in a log we have been keeping for some years that is accessible on the History page of this website. Please let us know of any errors or omissions.

What next? Well, it is hard for Graham to imagine not being involved in the sport he has enjoyed for nearly 60 years and, all being well, he will remain involved with the design development of all aspects of model yacht racing equipment for some time to come.

Internet Security - several things to note.

SAILSetc has NO facility to take payment on line. Our preferred payment method is by BACS. We always ask our customers who want to pay by card to phone us with card data or to send it in several e mails. PayPal is a safe alternative but a little more expensive. If you receive an e mail asking for all your card details, it will not have come from SAILSetc - do not respond.

SAILSetc does not store any customer card data on its computers. We are GDPR compliant with regard to personal data.

From time to time customers report not getting a response from us. Usually this is because your junk mail settings automatically filter out any mail that has 'sales' in its title or source address. We are normally very prompt at responding to orders and enquiries about SAILSetc products. If you do not get a reply within a few days then it is worth checking your junk mail settings. If our mails are going there, please identify our mail address as one that should never be blocked.

Export orders

On all sales to customers outside Great Britain we deduct British Sales Tax (VAT) from the cost of goods. This amounts to 16.67% of the headline prices that are displayed on this website. You may have to pay your country's VAT before you receive the goods and this may cause a delay in delivery. Hopefully this will not be a major problem. Experience seems to show that for small value orders the local tax may be waived and delivery is not unduly delayed. Sadly this is not the case for all countries so please allow plenty of time for delays with deliveries. 

Delivery times

While the time taken for our products to travel to customers in Australia, New Zeland, the Far East and the Americas remains much the same as usual, the passage of our products through the customs control of European (EU member) countries has increased to several weeks. In some instances it now takes 6 weeks for our goods to arrive with the customer. This is something we have no control over, is a result of Brexit, and depends on how each European country treats imports from the UK. All we can suggest is that you take this into account when planning your purchases and consider having them delivered by a carrier rather than by post.

Suitability of our products

To help you fiind products that are ideal for your application the website allows you to choose products by class as well as products by category. If you use the products by class route to find, for example, standing rigging, you will be shown only products that are suitable for the chosen class. On some product pages, for example, those for rigging wire and Dyneema lines you will find a link to the SAILSetc Rigging Guide. This guide lists all the major component rigging parts (excluding spars) and the suitable products for the common major classes. The Rigging Guide can also be found on the Downloadable Documents section of this website.

Cheques

We have taken the decision to discontinue taking payment by cheque. Apologies to those who like to use this form of payment - it has become amazingly costly to pay any cheque into our bank account and is totally un-sustainable for any normal value of cheque.

All best wishes for a healthy and happy 2024,

Graham, Lorna, Lili and Emma.

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