New year, new boats and new opportunities at P&B.

After a hugely successful 2014 both on and off the water Pinnell & Bax enter 2015 full of the joys of spring despite the dark days of winter.The brighter climes of Australia is where we start this week, with the teams warming up for the I14 World championships. 69 teams have entered and P&B’s charge is being headed up by Ben Mcgrane and James (Uzi) Hughes. At the time of writing a lack of breeze has led to a slow start with no significant racing as of yet. Remaining on the sunny isle, P&B Fireball sailors Tom Gordon and Jack Fletcher claimed the first podium finish of 2015 finishing a close second in the recent Australian championships and 25 years on from Alan Bax’s (P&B founder) 1990 world championship success in Brisbane the Flying 15’s are in the middle of the their Australian championships with the newest F15 supplied by P&B to Mark Daly fighting hard for the top of the podium. Final reports on Friday.With a number of major championships up and coming in the early part of the year we take a brief look at some of the latest development ideas in the new boats and how they are taking shape.

After a hugely successful 2014 both on and off the water Pinnell & Bax enter 2015 full of the joys of spring despite the dark days of winter. The brighter climes of Australia is where we start this week, with the teams warming up for the I14 World championships. 69 teams have entered and P&B’s charge is being headed up by Ben McGrane and James (Uzi) Hughes. At the time of writing a lack of breeze has led to a slow start with no significant racing as of yet. Remaining on the sunny isle, P&B Fireball sailors Tom Gordon and Jack Fletcher claimed the first podium finish of 2015 finishing a close second in the recent Australian championships and 25 years on from Alan Bax’s (P&B founder) 1990 world championship success in Brisbane the Flying 15’s are in the middle of their Australian championships with the newest F15 supplied by P&B to Mark Daly fighting hard for the top of the podium. Final reports on Friday. With a number of major championships up and coming in the early part of the year we take a brief look at some of the latest development ideas in the new boats and how they are taking shape. First on the agenda are the 505’s with their world championships taking place in South Africa at the end of March. A huge amount of work was put in over the 2014 season with the sails and rig. Chief among these was moving from a cross-cut to a full radial mainsail and tweaking the monster shaped kite. Pleased to say that this culminated in P&B sails taking the 2014 World Championship title and finishing with three boats in the top six overall a superb achievement.

With a number of new 505’s hulls hitting the water from the P&B Northampton stable over the next few months (being shipped to clients both in the UK and Europe)  we have been turning our attention to the hull layout. Using the new maximized Ovington hull shape there have been a number of small but significant changes. First among these is the change in the mainsheet bridle system. Whilst the 505 previously had the self-tacking car and hoop system this latest re-invention now takes this hoop away and the self-tacking bridle (led to either side of course) means the bridle can be pre-set on each tack equating to faster tacking smoother system. Sometimes simple is best… Gone are the clunky bent jib track and cars, replaced by a superb two-line dynema system that allows both the height of the jib and the ‘in/out’ to be controlled at the flick of a rope. These are calibrated to preset settings, vital for changing gears quickly and keeping the slot flowing. (again led to both sides and in the centre console.) Finally and just to emphasise the attention to detail that goes into every  boat that comes out of P&B, we highlight the centre console carbon mount. Individually crafted to fit each boat and changed according to the clients’ layout. Any questions on the 505 please feel free to talk to Ian or Oli on 01604 592808 Whilst we fit-out, prepare, tune and calibrate over 15 classes of dinghy here at P&B ranging from the Optimist through to the 3 man swing keeled SK2 there are other new design boats working through the P&B line in the next few months. These include the new JP SOLO with its beautiful, clean lines and tweaked hull shape and the all-new P&B built Scorpion going through the  final building stages before hitting the fit-out team ready for its virgin competitive sail at the grafham grand prix. For any questions queries or comments on any of the classes please feel free to e-mail Oli on boats@pinbax.com or call 01604 592808

Stop press – New vacancy – Northampton Sailloft – http://www.pinbax.com/index.asp?selection=Vacancies *

The Sail-loft at P&B has an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and driven individual to join our Northampton based Sail-Loft team.

As a Sail Maker, you will be making Championship winning sails, covers and accessories for World Champions. With training provided on the job, no previous experience is necessary. As a member of our P&B workforce, you would have the opportunity to represent the company at shows such as the RYA Dinghy Show, having first hand contact with our existing and potential customer base. As a P&B employee, you would also have the opportunity to join the Zhik P&B Race Team, competing in events across the country alongside some of the nations most talented sailors. For all enquires please forward a current CV to David Wade at sailloft@pinbax.com