30 PROFILEANT BAKER
How did you find moving back to the UK? Was it easy to
readjust?
I had been living in Australia since I retired and one day I woke
up and realised my time there was done. The next day I moved
back to the UK, moved in with my brother and began racing
again. I won a few more UK titles as well as one year winning
the speed and slalom titles. It felt great to be back!
What’s been your involvement with windsurfing up until a
few years ago when you stepped away?
When I returned from Australia, I helped my brother set up the
Fanatic/North agency here in the UK and began doing demos
and basically building the brand in the UK. I started a few
things in windsurfing but nothing really stuck so I decided to
put my sales talent to good use and went to work in London.
Talk to us about why you moved into other areas for a
while.
I expected a quality of life which the watersports industry was
not able to support at that time. Nik had an awesome agency
doing Fanatic and North but that wasn’t big enough to support
me as well, and the other businesses I started were reliant on
conditions etc. So Nat (my gorgeous fiancée) and I decided I
needed to get a real job; I started my sales career which took
me into the recruitment industry. It was one of the best career
decisions I have made as it’s been amazing: it’s so much fun
and also very lucrative. I still run my own recruitment
consultancy business and love it. I’ve just opened an office in
Worthing which means I don’t have to go to my London office
every day which is awesome (and lets me get on the water in
my lunch break).
So, what prompted you to get back in the ring, take a
punt on some different brands and set up 77sports?
I have always loved the sport and a break away has only got
me more excited! My passion lies in helping others to love the
sport I love, and I know that I’m in an ideal position to help as
I can share all the understanding and knowledge I have on
equipment and technique due to developing gear for 30 years.
I started by searching the market to see which brands were up
to the standard of what I was familiar with, and I was excited
by what I found.
S2 Maui were the first I spoke with as they have some of the
best and most advanced race sails on the market, the Venom.
Then Patrik who has, without exception, the most advanced
designs and develops with progress in sight. I knew these two
brands together would make an unstoppable pairing so armed
with these I set about coming up with a delivery strategy that
was unique and that came to me during a trip to Tenerife.
During the trip I met the guys from Challenger Sails and loved
their products too. On my return I had a chat with my old
friend Patrice Belbeoch from Exocet and XO and also loved the
whole range. So now I was armed with the best products
covering all areas and I wanted to get everyone on them to
prove this.
Having been in the industry for a long time, I wanted to use
the standard retail network to make this happen so I set about
visiting all the shops and stood there showing these products
uk
WIND
SURFING