Miles of Smiles - how Duncan Hepplewhite's hours on the M6 keep sailors happy
by Mark Jardine 2 Mar 12:00 GMT
Duncan and Emma Hepplewhite at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show 2026 © Mark Jardine
Scotland-based Sailingfast has grown over the past 20 years, building a reputation of professionalism which is respected by sailors up and down the UK. At its core are Duncan and Emma Hepplewhite, the husband and wife team who live and breathe the business, and all with a smile.
It isn't just the sailors who admire their ethos; those within the industry are working with them more and more, with brands such as Marlow, Harken, Ovington Boats, WASZP, Element 6 Evolution, Oakley and Yeti all choosing to work with Sailingfast on projects. They now supply boats, boards, cleats, blocks, rigging, ropes, clothing and much more besides.
The recent RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show was a perfect example of this, with Marlow choosing the Sailingfast stand to launch Fusion+, their latest control line, which is easier to splice and has core colours matching the outer layer.
Everyone in the industry knows how hard Duncan and Emma work, and Duncan has spent more hours travelling up and down the M6 than he cares to think about, so I spoke to him more about the business evolving and how he's working with other marine companies.
Duncan believes in organic growth, as he describes:
"It's 20-odd years we've been playing this game, and we try really hard to build a reputation of professionalism working with the best brands. And when you work with the best brands, it intrinsically means that more people from the best brands want to keep working with you. So it's just growing and evolving."
Having Marlow on the stand with Paul Honess, Jack Ginty, and ambassadors from the British Sailing Team brought a good energy to the weekend and showed the level of trust Marlow had in the Sailingfast team:
"We had the top people from Marlow - the head of marketing was here on Saturday - working alongside us to deliver their premium product to customers. It's humbling, but it's also brilliant."
Nearly every weekend, Duncan travels from the Sailingfast headquarters in Scotland, located approximately halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh, to a sailing event in the UK. His van and trailer are often filled to the brim with gear for sailors, but while it's him out on the road, he's quick to acknowledge those back at base for their part:
"It's a team effort, genuinely, because we've got Emma and the team in the office who back me up wherever I am. When I'm driving down the M6 for the fifth time in March, the phone's going continually, and I'm talking to them, 'Can you invoice this? Can you sort this? Can you do that?
"They're the part of the team that actually pulls the whole thing together, which allows me to then attend these events and look after the customers. So while I might be the customer-facing element of Sailingfast, there's an army behind me that is enabling me to do what I'm doing."
The RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show is a way for customers to say hi to Duncan, Emma and the team in person, outside of a sailing event, which helps to further cement the connection, as well as taking another journey down the M6, which is often the first question he's asked:
"You've travelled from where? How many miles do you do a year? It's so often what I'm asked, but it allows us to have that face-to-face interaction. This show is like no other show in the world. It is absolutely unique. It brings the very best of the dinghy world, the marine trade, together in one place where we can interact with all the other brands, and they're not competitors - we had Russ Dent from Topper here and Alex Newton-Southon from RS Sailing here two minutes ago - it's a real family affair where all the different brands are communicating, talking, engaging and enjoying the event."
On how the show went, and how he and the team approach it, Duncan added:
"Saturday was very busy. I'd be intrigued to know what the stats and the numbers are, but at the same time, it doesn't really matter as it was rammed here and the atmosphere was superb. The place was going like a fair and thankfully, people were spending money. I had a little pep talk with the team on Saturday morning before the show started. I said, 'Look, guys, we're here, the stand looks amazing, we've worked really hard to get everything set up. We've done everything we can do now. We just need the public to arrive, and if the public arrives, brilliant, that's one thing done. If the public arrives and spends money, excellent. But we can't force that. Now, let's enjoy the weekend,' and that's what we've done. It was quieter on Sunday, as you'd expect, but the quality of the customers coming throughout the day has been very good."
Part of the appeal of working within the marine industry is the people in it, and Duncan and Emma firmly fall into the category of people who are a delight to be around. If you're at an event where the Sailingfast van is parked up then pop over and say hi, Duncan's smile will make the rest of your day just that little bit brighter.
Find out more at sailingfast.co.uk