![The Vela showroom. "I'm very passionate about design, workmanship and quality and this whole business is about honouring ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170830162404/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/y/5/f/x/6/image.related.afrWideArticleLead.940x529.gy5asu.png/1504075715289.jpg)
When Life & Leisure called Troy Tindill, he was about to board the 66-foot yacht Wild Oats X for a day of racing with Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.
"We're going windward-leeward around the marks today, so it's a bit more boat-on-boat combat than usual," he said. "But sailing with Prince Frederik is keeping everybody pretty happy; no one's yelling and everyone is on their best behaviour."
As a yachtsman who has spent his career sailing in the America's Cup and on the Australian supermaxi Wild Oats XI, Tindill is used to keeping his calm on the high seas, hence his ability to crack jokes to a journalist moments before a major race with Danish royalty on board.
"It's a lot of fun and adds another element to it," said Tindill of his regal guest.
![Vela showroom. "The response to the store has been very international and people are loving the Australian designed and ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170830162404/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/y/5/f/x/4/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1503881845567.jpg)
Our call during the yachtsman's busiest week of the year is because the sailor has added another element to his career with the launch of VELA, a new design concept store in Sydney devoted to furniture, craft and art that builds on his history making sails and building boats in New Zealand and beyond.
With a focus on quality design that is sustainably produced, VELA (Latin for sail) sells chairs, beds, jewellery, rugs and more by top Australian and global creatives at the Woollahra flagship and on a website that is already attracting a global customer base just two weeks after going live.
"We've sold things to places as far away as Sweden already," says Tindill. "The response to the store has been very international and people are loving the Australian designed and made aspect."
Workmanship and quality
Shiny silver Chippensteel chairs by Poland's Oskar Zieta, smoked oak dining tables by Daniel Boddam from Sydney and limestone and brass desk lamps by London-based Harry Thaler are among the selection of items available from designers including Australia's Jonathan Zawada, Faye Toogood from Britain and Italy's Alberto Bellamoli.
![Troy Tindill: "I never expected to become a professional sailor and do the America's Cup."](http://web.archive.org./web/20170830162404/http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/y/5/h/i/r/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1503886390831.jpg)
"I'm very passionate about design, workmanship and quality and this whole business is about honouring the makers who produce original objects in a way that respects the environment," says Tindill.
Moving from sailing to the world of furniture design might appear an unexpected shift, but in fact Tindill honed his own design skills growing up in Auckland making sails and building boats with his father. He has a strong understanding of workmanship and what it takes to make something of the highest quality, honed over years working as a boat builder in the United Kingdom before he was recruited by the late Bob Oatley at the age of 29 to oversee the building and maintenance of Wild Oats XI.
"I was always into the boats for the design side and I never expected to become a professional sailor and do the America's Cup," he says.
"I really enjoyed the workmanship and craftsmanship side of things, and I probably would have gotten into [VELA] earlier if the professional side of sailing hadn't happened for me."
Upon retiring from professional sailing in 2014, Tindill devoted himself to researching the concept for VELA, which also includes a high-end manufacturing and joinery plant he acquired in Queensland.
"It had just closed its doors as a superyacht building business and I bought it at auction, gave it a new direction with furniture and architecture and started it with two people," says Tindill.
Walking distance
The joinery operation now employs 20 people and, as well as supplying bespoke joinery for superyachts, manufactures high-end residential and commercial fitouts and furniture under the VELA brand name.
Locating the store in Woollahra was a no-brainer for Tindill: not only is it one of Sydney's most popular areas for furniture and design, it's also walking distance from the eastern suburbs home he shares with his wife, Nicky Tindill, brand manager of Hamilton Island and granddaughter of Bob Oatley, patriarch of the Oatley empire.
"I can walk to and from work, which is important because since retiring from racing, this business has become my passion and my life," says Tindill.
Designed by architect Kelvin Ho with interiors by Zawada, Tindill hopes the Sydney store will be the first of more VELA stores across the country.
"Brisbane would probably be my next target but any expansion has to be right for Nicky and I and for our life together," he says. "My aspiration is that VELA is a brand that's going to be around for a long time."
NEED TO KNOW
VELA 124 Queen Street, Woollahra. Tel: (02) 9096 3652. See vela.life
AFR Contributor