I’m going to let you all in on a little style secret. Ratsey & Lapthorn is not only the coolest, oldest, niche-est company that makes sails for some of the world’s rarest classic sailing yachts.

In fact, this wonderfully British company that’s based in its ancestral home on the Isle of Wight (where the America’s Cup was born during the reign of Queen Victoria in 1851) has been in the business of making sails since 1790!

And the bags they’ve recently begun making (tote bags, handbags, duffle bags, etc) are more than just bags. They might just be the ultimate flex for someone who wants to celebrate quality, authenticity, exclusivity, hand craftsmanship, and humanity in our way-too-fast world of artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, and 24-7 digital brain rot on social media.

But don’t take my word for it. Since I love sailing and all things America’s Cup, I sat down with Jim Hartley, the CEO of Ratsey & Lapthorn to learn their whole wholesome story. And as you’ll see, he’s very good at telling it.

“We are the oldest sailmakers in the world,” he says with pride and a smile but without an ounce of bravado. “We've been making sails in Cowes on the Isle of Wight since 1790. And since Ratsey sails always were considered the best, we were there at the very first America's Cup. In fact, we made all the sails for the British Challenger. And we worked on the sails for the schooner America 2.0.

She'd sailed over from the United States to race and her sails needed to be recut for the best performance. We regret that now since you Americans won the Cup in 1851, and we haven't put our hands on it since.

“You could say it was actually the Ratsey Cup,” he says with a self-deprecating smile. “Every Challenger and every Defender in the America’s Cup had full Ratsey sails for well over a hundred years after that first race.

“But, when sails started to be made from synthetic materials in the late 1950s and early 1960s, we lost our competitive advantage.

Our sails have always been made with the finest quality cotton sailcloth in the world.

“And in some respects, that was the end of that once great position that Ratsey had. But on the other hand, since we carried on making traditional gear, our commitment to hand craftsmanship is our superpower.

“We've had a continuous handing down of skills and craftsmanship from master to apprentice for many, many generations. Even our guys on the loft floor now have all learned from a master before them. That’s priceless.

We originally built nearly all the sails for yachts that are over 100 years old (and still racing!)

“And one of our main motivations is to make sure that craft is kept alive because we see the desire for high-quality, handmade products is higher than ever. In fact, our sails are appreciated in the classic sailing yacht world because they are as authentic as can be. We originally built nearly all the sails for yachts that are over 100 years old (and still racing!) now. The owners love to feel that kind of connection to when their boats were launched. And of course, there’s the elegance of historically accurate sails that will always be important on a classic yacht.

“In fact, that was one of the motivations we had for launching the bag side of the business. And it’s important to point out that we are not an old historical sailmaker that's just decided to make bags. We’ve been making bags since we started making sails in 1790 too.

“The Ditty Bag in our new collection was one of the first things an apprentice was taught to make.

We first started making tote bags in the late 1800s, early 1900s.Making their own bag was how they learned the skills they needed to be a sailmaker.

“Our Tote Bag has a similar story. We first started making tote bags in the late 1800s, early 1900s. They were originally designed to carry coal and ice to yachts before heating and refrigeration was invented. Our original bags were made from leftover pieces of 24-ounce Egyptian cotton canvas, which always came on a 27-inch bolt. If you look at modern tote bags now, they're all around 27 inches wide—the same size as a bolt of cotton from our loft. And that’s how we trace it back to the bags we made over 100 years ago.

“We like to talk about the past. But we also like to talk about the future. And so, in addition to our reputation for hand craftsmanship, we've embraced the fluid design systems and analytics for our sails too.

“And our bags have some high tech in them as well— RFID tags—to identify each individual, numbered bag. We’ve only made 50 Ditties. The other bag styles are limited to 100 of each color, and they're all numbered and uniquely identifiable—with your phone, of course!”

Well folks. I think the way Ratsey & Lapthorn is making old world hand craftsmanship, quality, and the heritage cool is, to put it bluntly, cool.