About Us
The Yacht Shop has been around since 1981, initially starting in Lami and further branching out to Vuda Marina, Port Denarau, Savusavu and the Royal Suva Yacht Club. The chain of five chandleries is part of the Tradewinds Marine Group – a private company owned by the Philp family and headquartered in Suva, Fiji.
The Philp family works and plays in the ocean, and we like to try the products we sell. We’ve built a name for ourselves as innovators, and being first to market we have for many years exclusively represented some renowned brand names in the marine business such as TAHE Sport (formerly BIC Sport), Ronstan, International Paints, Garmin, Hobie, Fusion, Ultra Life Jackets and Leatherman to name a few. We continue to source quality marine products and expand our range so we can fulfil the needs of local and international yachting customers to Fiji.
The Tradewinds Marine Group is a private family company that also operates two international marinas (Vuda Marina and the Copra Shed Marina), in addition to The Fibreglass Shop, a fibreglass factory which builds the Islander Boats, outrigger canoes, pontoons, sailing dinghies and customised builds.
The Philp Family
Our Chairman Anthony C. Philp (President of the Fiji Yachting Association for 35 years), is current President of the Oceania Sailing Federation. A former Olympic sailor for Fiji, Tony skippered the family yacht ‘Tau’ on a circumnavigation around the globe in 1999 / 2000 – a first for a Fiji flagged yacht. Tau is a 27m ketch which family patriarch Colin E. Philp designed and built himself in 1972.
Director David Philp runs the Fibreglass Shop, builder of Islander Boats and was a board member of the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji. He has competed in the Olympic Games in sailing and is a boat captain.