It’s hard to believe, but e3 Systems has officially turned 30 this February. Founded back in early 1996 by three partners — Roger Horner, Alan Walker and Jason Abbott — the company has grown from a small, ambitious idea into a global name in marine communications.
Around this same time Roger started writing his first articles for The Islander Magazine, sharing insights into the fast changing world of marine electronics. Alongside building the business, writing about the latest technical development within our sector became a constant for Roger right up until his sudden and tragic passing in early 2024.
A boat, a dream – and no fixed plan
The e3 story really starts a few years earlier. In 1992, after selling his electronics and software business in the UK, Roger and his wife Nicky decided to do all the things that would be much harder once children arrived. With a shared love of sailing, they bought a Moody 33 and set off to explore the Mediterranean and the Caribbean — armed with enthusiasm, curiosity, and very little in the way of a fixed plan.
One of their first stops was the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where at times the boat played host to up to 16 people. Somewhere along the way, they fell in love with Spain — and Mallorca in particular. Although it was meant to be just a stopover en route to the eastern Med, it kept pulling them back.
Eventually, they upgraded to a Formosa 51-ketch, with big dreams of crossing the Atlantic and heading further afield. Plans were firmly in place for the Caribbean when life threw in a wonderful twist: after struggling to have children, Nicky became pregnant with their first daughter, Lucy. Undeterred, they sailed anyway — with a nine-month-old baby on board.
From turquoise bays to business plans
It didn’t take long for Roger’s restless, creative mind to kick in. He chuckled that he became “a little bored of turquoise bays, palm-fringed beaches and reading books,” so the family sailed back to Europe. During night watches at sea, Roger began sketching out a five-year business plan for an electronics company — based in Mallorca, a burgeoning venue for the yachting sector.
When e3 Systems launched, its first office was affectionately described as a “broom cupboard” in Marivent. Even so, the company reached its five-year business target within its very first year.
When the stars align: Alan Walker and Jason Abbott
Meanwhile, connections were forming. Alan Walker first met Jason Abbott in Falmouth, UK, where Jason’s in-laws were building a larger version of the yacht Alan and his wife Linda were themselves commissioning. Jason later bought a Moody of his own and sailed with his wife Sam through the French canals and on to Mallorca.
Jason, who was working for Yacht Electronic Services at the time, mentioned he could introduce Alan to some potential work. Alan and Linda thus sailed into Palma and secured an affordable berth thanks to construction firm Huarte, which had recently extended the pontoons at RCNP.
Word spread quickly. Roger and Nicky moved their Formosa 51 over from the T-quay, joined by Diane Franklin (who would go on to be a director of e3 Systems throughout its history) and her partner Les. With several families and small children living boat-to-boat, friendships formed fast — helped along by trips to the English Mums and Toddlers Group at Coleman Hall.
Recognising Jason as a highly respected IT engineer with an entrepreneurial spark, Roger invited him to become a business partner. Alan initially joined as a contractor and later a small shareholder. In 2002, when Jason and Sam decided to return to the UK for their children’s education, Alan bought Jason’s shares.
And just like that, e3 Systems was born.
The early days of connectivity
Originally rooted in marine electronics and the very early days of the internet, e3 wasted no time pushing boundaries. In its first year, the company opened what was essentially Mallorca’s first internet café — back when there were only around 36 million internet users worldwide.
From there, the focus quickly shifted to telecommunications and technology services, particularly for the marine and superyacht markets. Innovation came thick and fast, including:
- A single-source weather service in 1998
- Early VHF/UHF vessel tracking systems
- GSM communication solutions for yachts in the late 1990s
Growing with marine communications
As internet and mobile technologies evolved, so did e3. The company became a trusted communications integrator for superyachts, building deep expertise in satellite, cellular, and hybrid connectivity. Along the way, e3 hit several major industry milestones:
- Installing the first Inmarsat Fleet 77 on a yacht in 2002
- Introducing the first VSAT satellite system on a yacht in 2004
- Continuing to pioneer hybrid connectivity solutions and flat-panel antennas in the years that followed
From local startup to global player
Today, e3 Systems looks very different from that tiny Marivent office — but the spirit of innovation remains the same. The company has grown into a global maritime communications provider, with administration and engineering teams headquartered in Mallorca and a worldwide network of engineers and partners.
Loyalty and continuity are something that works both ways and of the 30 or so staff employed in Palma, 16 have worked for e3 Systems over 10 years, 9 over 15 years and 5 over 20 years. It´s always regarded itself as a particularly close-knit family and a core reason why Roger´s sudden death in 2024 was such a devastating blow to all who knew him – both within and outside the company, through the numerous bonds and friendships that he had made.
Alan Walker – enormously liked and respected with his quiet strength and commitment and a lynchpin of the company’s ongoing developments and success – has taken on the reins of Managing Director in 2025, after heading up the engineering team throughout the company´s history and takes it into its fourth decade – one that will certainly include further extraordinary revolutions in the world of connectivity.
e3 Systems is now one of nine top-level companies within Grupo Arbulu. Headquartered in Spain, Grupo Arbulu is one of the world’s largest specialists in marine electronics and satellite communications, employing more than 600 people globally.
Thirty years on from that crossing in a small boat with a 9-month-old baby, a bold idea and a business plan written on night watches, the adventure is far from over.
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