In 1879 Jim Murphy was an apprentice at Channon Company Ships Chandlers and Sailmakers in Chicago. Every morning at five o’clock, with horse and carriage, he would take Captain Channon to work.

In those days Chicago was the main United States port, receiving the sailing vessels and schooners that transported goods between the cities of the Great Lakes and Canada. All the Channon Company’s sails were strictly handsewn. Then the rise of the railroad gradually rendered waterway transport obsolete and the sailmakers either closed down or started making sails for yachts.

In 1933 Jim Murphy and Harry Nye Jr. established Murphy & Nye in Chicago as specialist sailmakers for pleasure craft and were soon in the avant-garde as makers of sails for Great Lakes scows and battened sails for the ice-boats that glided over the icebound internal lakes in winter. Lynn Williams, owner of the yacht Elizabeth, was Murphy & Nye’s first client for large area sails. These turned out to be competitive, so much so that the Elizabeth won the Mackinac Race that year. Murphy & Nye became progressively more involved in the racing world and only three years later, in 1936, Milton Wagenfurth won the Star World Championship with Murphy and Nye sails.

In the 1970’s the brand was sold to today’s Italian owners, who used it as their inspiration for creating an innovative and unique collection of clothing with a nautical heritage.

Sails were no longer made, but today, the same spirit of research and innovation that moved Jim Murphy and Harry Nye Jr is fundamental to the Murphy & Nye Sailwear collection. High quality versatile clothing that guarantees maximum comfort both under extreme conditions and in everyday life.

The Murphy & Nye Store in Cowes opened Easter 2003. Situated just behind Cowes Yacht Haven, on the busy Cowes High Street, it is ideally situated for visiting yachtsmen, as well as tourists and locals.

Cowes, situated on the Isle of Wight, is the yachting centre of the UK, with a busy sailing season of regattas held by RORC, The Royal Yacht Squadron, The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, and others. Famous for races such as Round the Island Race, the Admirals Cup and Commodores Cup and culminating in the famous Cowes Week in August , with the Classic Power Boat Championships and the Little Britain Challenge Cup following soon afterwards.

Murphy & Nye, Cowes, also takes a stand at the Southampton Boat Show in September and the London Boat Show in January – where you will find bargains from recent seasons.