P&B supporting sailors and the new generation.

As we roll towards the end of another year it is easy to see the years as separate entities, however at P&B we aim to see the longer term picture.Although we started out as a UK based sail maker we have refined to become, we believe, the country’s only one stop shop for the dinghy market, providing many classes and sailors with support here in the Uk and around the globe.

As we roll towards the end of another year it is easy to see the years as separate entities, however at P&B we aim to see the longer term picture.

Although we started out as a UK based sail maker we have refined to become, we believe, the country’s only one stop shop for the dinghy market, providing many classes and sailors with support here in the Uk and around the globe.

The P&B race team is a division of P&B that plays a vital part in the testing and development of our sails (most still available with 20% off new) and sailing kit. The race team has a long standing commitment to supporting sailors throughout their sailing career from early Optimist and Mirror days all the way through to Olympic campaigns. Former Optimist Champions, Graham Vials who is now a two time Flying Fifteen World Champion and Ben Saxton who is now campaigning a Nacra17 and aiming for the Rio Games are great exapmles of this.

Therefore it is rewarding to see some of the current race team sailors in the nominations list for Yachts and Yachting amateur sailor of the year. This includes the P&B sponsored sailor Michael Sims,

who won the 2013/14 sailjuice series ahead of 800+ entrants. Mike has recently helped us produce the new full radial solo sail that has so far received superb feedback, a string of top 5 results and was recently highlighted in this blog. Also on the nominees list are the 2013 ‘Bloody Mary’ winners and top National 12 sailors Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne:-

Alongside this it has been a stunning year for some of the younger P&B supported sailors. Nominated in the young sailor of the year category are P&B’s Vita Heathcote:-

Vita not only became UK (and Irish) Optimist champion in her first year in the main fleet but also finished in the top 35 at the recent world championships in Argentina, the best placing for a British sailor for a number of years.

Fellow P&B sponsored race team members Rachel Grayson & Gemma Francis-Burnett won both the 2014 Mirror National and European championships and just to round it off Rachel finished with a 6th overall at the Endeavour Champion of Champions Trophy. All at the tender age of 16!

Finally we must not forget the 150+ boat SAP 505 World Championships for the Event of the Year award as the British trio of Mike Holt, Andy Smith and Ian Pinnell all made it a special event for P&B with first, fourth and sixth overall.

Please take a moment to vote for your nominees. http://www.yachtsandyachting.co.uk/articles/yachts-yachting-awards-2014

We end this week with news of another of the new generation coming through. A storming performance at the National 12 Gul series finale saw Tom Stewart crewed by Robert (tender age of 9 years old this time) storming to victory to take not only the event but the overall series win with the aforementioned Graham and Zoe in second overall, both over the weekend and in the series.

The commitment at P&B doesn’t just extend to supporting sailors in all areas (clothing both on and off the water, chandlery,covers, sails, spars, repairs etc) but also to the development of new classes and helping to develop new sailors, as such we are looking forward to making a couple of significant announcements in next week’s blog as we continue to show our commitment to sailing.

Any questions or queries on any of the classes or services we offer please do call and ask to speak to our class experts. 01604 592808 or e-mail:- info@pinbax.com