Who is Pindar?

James Boyd talks to Andrew Pindar and looks at the story behind the company that champions women's offshore racing

This year Richards says that she and Pindar wanted to move the sponsorship up a level. Initially the plan was to buy or ideally build a new Open 60 and the girls had approached Kingfisher's principal designer Merfyn Owen for an updated version which would be raced in the Transat Jacques Vabre, the Route de Rhum and any other races available, but not the Vendee Globe.

But this period - around the time of the Vendee Globe finish earlier this year - was one of change for the girls in other ways too. Merron, after spending years adamantly denying she would ever race singlehanded, decided she did in fact want to do the 2004 Vendee Globe. At the same time Richards had been spending a lot of time in France and was being drawn more and more towards the 60ft trimaran circuit.

It became increasingly apparent that their plans were beginning to conflict and there would have to be an amicable parting of the ways. Ironically this came at a time when the Pindar board had agreed the budget to build a new Open 60.

Seeing the changes Andrew Pindar wanted assurance that an Open 60 was something Richards genuinely wanted to commit to. It wasn't. She wanted to sail 60ft trimarans. "Emma's a bit of a speed freak," says Pindar wryly. "We are committed to Emma for the next two to three years. We had a lot of debate about monohulls and whatever else might be around."

He adds that their sponsorship is slightly unusual in that they sponsor an individual rather than a particular team in a race. "We're sponsoring Emma Richards rather than a boat. Some people own boats and hire the jockeys. We've taken the contrary view. We think that Emma is the star and we want to back her and her career."