A sail loft that thinks differently.
At Kraken Sails, we’re on a mission to transform the sailing industry with innovative sail designs, together with exceptional service and workmanship.
Behind the scenes, Ryan and Christie are keen sailors who choose to blast around Bass Strait in their Mini Transat 6.50’s “Wild Child” and “Canapé”. If that doesn’t convince you that they’re not quite right in the head, and might approach things a little differently, then let us convince you.
After all, Kraken Sails isn’t just an online loft. Like David facing Goliath, we challenge the status quo to enhance performance utilising the latest technology. Join us as we redefine your sailing experience.
And if you charge around in a 6.5 meter offshore boat that’s got the energy of an angry toddler, there’s nothing you like more than a David & Goliath analogy*
*Maybe a smock, you probably really also love a good quality smock and some nice warm sea boots.
And why pick a Scandanavian sea-monster when we’re based in Geelong?
Because the language of the oceans is global, and the Kraken is the great disruptor.
Our ambition is to do nothing short of transform the industry. Fighting the monopolies, making sails great (and affordable) again, empowering the younger generation of boat owners to chase their dreams. We want to be the business that rose up unseen and unexpected from the deep and challenged the status quo.
But also, because if you dig into the mythology a little more, the Kraken wasn’t just destruction.
For the bravest sailors, the Kraken came with a great boon.
The Kraken is accompanied by a swarming school of fish, a school of fish that was rumored to cascade down its back when it broke the surface in an attack. So for those brave enough to lean in and embrace the Kraken a great bounty could be found.
We want to support the bravest sailors, both those bold enough to follow their sailing dreams, whatever they are – and those that are brave enough to think a little more differently when it comes time to replace their sails.
We couldn’t find a more fitting symbol.
So then why the Kraken?
*And the name has absolutely nothing to do with Custom’s House on the 30th of December.
Ryan Walker
Ryan started racing Cadets as a kid in Geelong, soon finding himself chaperoned in Poland representing Australia at the age of 16. From Cadets he moved into 49ers, and kept racing through uni.
Offshore came calling on “Prowler” (which holds the Melbourne to Devonport Rudder Cup course record), an Elliot 47, and Ryan completed his first Melbourne to Hobart Westcoasters and Sydney to Hobarts in his 20s.
It was only natural that he ended up in Cowes (Wight, not Philip), racing Farr 40’s and SB3’s, but more importantly while working in the super yacht industry he met his wife Charlotte.
Returning to Australia with his young family, Ryan has settled back on the Bellarine Peninsula, dabbled in Lasers (2nd in State Titles), assorted dinghys and Marley Point’s, but also jumped on a Cookson 50 for more Hobarts. He’s continuing the dinghy/offshore crossover with his Mini Transat.
Out of the two partners, Ryan currently holds both the top speed outright (39 knots on a windsurfer) but the real contest will be mini-on-mini this summer.
When not being a parent and husband, or refitting the mini, he currently sits on the Board for the Royal Geelong Yacht Club.
Christie Hamilton
Christie raced her first nationals at the ripe age of 7, in Manly Juniors out of Middle Harbour Yacht Club in Sydney, before joining the youth development program at Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron at 11.
From there came the inevitable; Lasers, 16foot skiffs, Ynglings, J24’s, then university and a hiatus from sailing while she pursued other adventure sports.
While Ryan was overseas racing in Cowes, Christie was competing in ultra-marathon kayaking, racing solo unsupported across continents on her pushbike, mountain biking the Himalayas and generally being the kind of person that happens when your parents strap you into a trapeze on Sydney harbour before you hit double digits.
After 10 years living in the Victorian alps competing in paragliding (which is really just dinghy racing the sky), cycling and mountain biking, family has seen her relocate to Melbourne, and she now calls Royals in Williamstown her home club, while she serves as Secretary for the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria.
She met Ryan after a particularly gnalry FoS when she tried to buy his mini while alongside at RGYC. Wild Child wasn’t for sale, but he found her Canapé in Auckland, and the rest, as they say, is history.
