GUNSAILS – A SUCCESS STORY OF A FAMILY BUSINESS

More than three decades of world championship titles, speed records, continuous development of our products and innovations in the world of water sports. Always in focus: the family character of our company and the contact to our customers. Over the years, we have welcomed many enthusiastic windsurfers to the GUNSAILS family. Whether as a customer, ambassador or team rider - we all share one passion: windsurfing, the most beautiful sport in the world.

THE GUN SAILS - THE BRAND LAUNCH WITH SPEED

Why The Gun Sails? This is a question we are often asked especially by new customers. "Gun" stands for ultra-fast speed boards, which enjoyed great popularity in the mid-80s. This was also recognized by our company founder, Eberhard von Osterhausen, who presented his Gun Board at the International Speed Week in Wymouth in 1984. Confirmed by the success, he brings the first series of Gun Boards onto the market just a short time later. In addition to boards, Eberhard von Osterhausen also experimented with a Speed Wing, a windsurfing sail with an aerodynamically optimized Styrofoam wing. With the knowledge gained from this, he is now focusing on windsurfing sails. And so our name THE GUN SAILS combines the two passions of our founder since day one.

AT THE BEGINNING THERE WAS A VISION: WINDSURFING PRODUCTS IN DIRECT DISTRIBUTION

Eberhard von Osterhausen already had a vision when he founded The Gun Sails: windsurfing products in direct sales - from the brand directly to the customer. This concept seems risky and innovative at the same time in 1987, but the courage pays off. Through direct sales and the associated unbeatable price-performance ratio, the success is realized immediately. Right from the start, we were the reliable and high-quality partner for all windsurfing matters.

THE 90'S: GUN SAILS DOMINATES SPEEDSURFING

With speed surfing, our brand name The Gun Sails turns into a mission statement. In 1995 Jochen Krauth, Michael Pucher, Sylvie Renart and Roddy Lewis compete for Gun Sails and become Speed World Champions. In the same year, the American Lewis achieved the speed record with 85.41 km/h - a highlight. Now Gun Sails officially has the "fastest sails on the ocean".

SAIL DESIGNER RENATO MORLOTTI BECOMES PART OF THE GUN SAILS TEAM

With his sense for talent, Eberhard von Osterhausen only needs a few hours in the workshop of the skilled sailmaker in Milan before it is clear to him: Renato Morlotti will be our new chief designer. The Italian moves to Tarifa (South of Spain) - The Capital of Windsurf. Renato has now been developing Gun Sails' entire range of sails for over 20 years together with his test team. The talent, innovative spirit and precision of the workaholic Morlotti have been producing sails of excellent quality and performance every year. This is also confirmed by countless test reports in the international trade press. With Renato, Eberhard definitely landed a lucky strike.

GUN SAILS BECOMES MORE INTERNATIONAL

In addition to the German market, as a direct mail order company based in Saarbrücken, we also conquer the market in nearby France from the very first year. With surf shops taking Gun Sails products into their assortment, other European countries follow. Thanks to the increasing acceptance of cross-border online shopping, over the years more and more customers from abroad order directly and easily from Gun Sails.

TRAGIC ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF THE FOUNDER EBERHARD VON OSTERHAUSEN

The sudden death of the founder Eberhard von Osterhausen comes as a great shock to everyone. But this should not stop the success story of Gun Sails and so the co-partner and wife Petra von Osterhausen takes over the management of the company. She is supported by the existing, experienced Gun Sails team. Since then, Marketing Director Jörg Müller has been in charge of operations and Rainer Sprick - an employee from the very beginning - has been responsible for the product management.

SAARLAND WEBSITE AWARD

Gun Sails went online with its own webshop in the early 2000s. As a direct supplier, the company quickly became aware of the possibilities and continuously expanded its online business. In 2006, when the Internet was still in its infancy, the Gun Sails Webshob was awarded the Saarland Webaward in gold for the best online store. More than 15 years and countless relaunches later, gunsails.com is now the place to go for all orders and customer inquiries.

30 YEARS OF WINDSURFING - GUN SAILS CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY

Windsurfing and water sports - we celebrate 30 years of Gun Sails. A lot has happened since our brand was founded in the late 80s: Gun Sails has established its place in the international windsurfing industry through unbeatable value for money, outstanding product quality and a flair for innovation and development. And still today, the courage of our founder to offer windsurfing products through direct sales pays off. For our customers, who benefit from the short distances in terms of nice prices, and for us as a brand, as we can react directly to feedback.

IT´S A FAMILY BUSINESS

In the same year, the son of the company founder Thilo von Osterhausen becomes part of the Gunsails team. As an industrial engineer and passionate boardsports enthusiast, he takes the lead in developing the company. With new ideas and technical background he increases the innovation potential of Gunsails and continuously strives for the further development of the brand.

NEW DESIGN - NEW ERA

After 30 exciting, instructive and thrilling years, we are presenting ourselves with a new logo and a new corporate design: Gun Sails becomes GUNSAILS. Just as the new logo is composed of the familiar components, we as a brand continue to rely on the proven GUNSAILS concept. We are ready for the next exciting years with the new look!

35 years of Gunsails - 35 years of enthusiasm for windsurfing

We are looking forward to celebrating the 35th anniversary of Gunsails in 2022. A proud legacy of the success story of the first and only direct brand in windsurfing. With the support and feedback of our customers, we are continuously working on the further development of our products and services.

After all, we offer more than high-quality watersports equipment - Gunsails is also the service commitment of a medium-sized family business. We live in a fast-moving world that drives us to adapt and meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. That's why we remain true to our past, but we have begun to think in new ways.