MIO-SHI is not only a Belgian clothing brand – it’s also adventurous sailing courtesy of Maurits and Eline, better known under their Instagram handle @mioshisailing.
The Belgian couple from Antwerp came from very different approaches to become full-time sailors – and where Maurits Dierick grew up sailing for fun and competitively, his partner Eline Meeus hadn’t really sailed before the idea of going on the big adventure came across.
- My family has been sailing for many years, and I have sailed for all my life. Our previous family boat was, however, not used near enough for my liking. I – and now we – wanted to do things differently. Wanted to buy a boat, use it a lot and ideally also start a business out of it, Maurits says.
New ways
In the time between the family boat being sold and Maurits’ family acquiring a new boat, the family did some charters as guests. And by half a coincidence, it led them on the bearing of the ideal boat of their future dreams.
- For me as a former competitive sailor, I had a few requirements for the boat. Our previous family boat would hardly move unless you sailed in a storm, so we were in the market for a cruiser, yet also something that would offer good handling, a nice sail shape and something that was easy to trim and sail in a sporty way. And this was where we happened to rent a Beneteau just like MIO-SHI. It ticked all the boxes so to speak, he says and adds:
- We decided to go for the First Line-model. This is the performance version with better and fully battened Elvstrøm Sails, a better rigging and so on, and it has just been a blast ever since we picked it up. The better rigging is followed by option sails, and it helped us getting a boat which combines great handling with everything you need for adventures and for having guests onboard.
MIO-SHI is a Beneteau 51.1 First Line fitted with Elvstrøm Sails EPEX Technora main and furling jib – both are with double taffetas in grey. A striking addition to the wardrobe is the Elvstrøm Sails A2 spinnaker made from red Contender Maxilite 150 and customized with the MIO-SHI logo, all done in cooperation with Elvstrøm Sails Benelux.
Hatching a plan
Finding ways of sailing income and the right boat for the job was, however, only half the deal sorted. Maurits and Eline started their journey by picking up the Beneteau in Southern France, from where they set off with Greece and their first ever charter as their first goal. Things did get more interesting than first planned, though.
- The first trip soon got more exciting than it should have. The delivery of the boat was delayed quite a lot. Almost two months, in fact, and we ended up having only ten days to make it from southern France to Greece and the first charter in the calendar. We did not have the luxury to wait for easy conditions, and as the Mistral picked up as we left… We started our life as boat owners in 30 knots in the middle of the night and on a boat we didn’t know. Not ideal in any way, but we managed the rough start. It has been great ever since, Maurits says.
And the beginning was equally scary for Eline, who had a steep learning curve to cope with.
- I was scared in the beginning of it all. I had not really sailed before, and until one week before departure, I didn’t even plan on going. I decided to do it anyway – and retrospectively I’m glad I did, but it took a while to learn everything. Maurits has been a great teacher through all of this, and I think we quickly learned how our different capacities match each other well in this setting.
Since buying MIO-SHI, the duo has also sailed further away, and a top experience was to cross the Atlantic and tour the Caribbean. This was the first time Maurits and Eline crossed the Atlantic:
- Crossing the Atlantic was a magic experience. We made the crossing and toured the Caribbean and ended in Martinique before having the boat shipped back to Europe. This was in 2022, and we had the boat back for the 2023 season in Greece where the boat also sits now. We are now back in Belgium and saving up for another adventure, Maurits says.
So, what exactly is MIO-SHI?
So, what exactly is MIO-SHI? And what does a startup clothing brand have to do with yachting, you may ask?
It’s all a family story for Maurits – just like the sailing:
- My sister is in the fashion industry, and alongside her studies, she wanted to try starting and running a clothing brand as a project alongside the studies. We got involved, too – and we tried to make up a good name for the brand. We circled around this Asian or rather Japanese inspiration, and there is a Japanese city with a similar name.
- Later, we learned that you could make MIO-SHI mean energetic healing if you are a little creative with your pronunciation – and energetic healing is just what sailing is to us. So long story short, everything ended up matching rather well!
