KEVIN BUTLER - Founder of KBR Sailing
Kevin has always been around boats, his younger life was spent on a boat with his mum and dad, and on his Mirror dinghy at weekends pottering up and down the River at Burnham on Crouch, Essex.
After leaving school he went into the Royal Navy where he sailed on their new ocean racing yacht and immediately fell in love with big boat sailing.
In the 80s, after doing the 1987 Fastnet race, he started racing 40 & 50 footers offshore and went on to win the Times Crew search competition which led to Kevin sailing on a 12mtr, ex Americas Cup Contender, formerly 'Victory 83', renamed 'Blue Arrow' and owned by Peter De Savary.
Kev has experience sailing Maxi Yachts as well as quarter-ton, half-ton, three-quarter-ton and one-ton yachts offshore. His highlights include competing successfuly at Kiel Week, Burnham Week and Cowes Week.
After a year racing in and around Europe on the 50ft 'Aida', he was given the chance to sail with sailmaker John McWilliam & well-known helmsman John Taggart in the Irish national team with success in the Scottish series and Belfast regatta, before returning back to the UK and competing in the Commodores Cup in Cowes, then on to the Quarter Ton Europeans.
After a stint with the Finnish national team, he spent some time sailing in dinghies, including Lasers, Europes, Supernovas & the Blaze.
Alongside his sailing achievements, Kev started work in the marine industry working with Trevor Taylor Marine on the River Crouch in Essex. Most of his working life was then spent in Burnham-on-Crouch, a hotspot for marine industry.
After this, he then went on to become a production manager at Devoti Sailing where he was tasked with overseeing the building of olympic 470 dinghies and Finn dinghies ready for the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia. After many late nights making sure the boats were shipped safely to Australia, all the hard work paid off. Luca Devoti, the founder of Devoti Sailing, won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in a Finn built by Kev and his team.
Kevin was then asked to join a sailmakers based in Burnham-on-Crouch, where he learned how to cut sails on a laser cutting machine and supplied local sailors with top-quality sails for their boats.
Kev expanded his skill set further by qualifying as a rigger, travelling down to the south coast to undertake a series of rigging courses. He made his first set of rigging for a friend's mirror dinghy in the 90s, and from there KBR Sailing was born.
We have now expanded out to offer rigging to most types of sailing dinghy, as well as deck hardware, ropes, splicing kits, sail battens and more. Find out more about the products we use here.
Kev prides himself on his deep understanding of sailing, and takes real pride in using that expertise to help others. Every product he sells has been personally tested and trusted on his own boats, so customers can be confident they're getting gear that’s been truly put through its paces. Thanks to his countless hours on the water, he's got lots of experience with different types of boat, rig and crews, and he's happy to help advise customers on what products would be most suitable for their boat.
