Welcome back to the top table! P&B winning in One-Designs
by P&B 1 Aug 09:00 PDT
Merlin Rocket Week at Salcombe © Lucy Burn
It's been a superb start to the 2025 Championship Season for P&B, with their sails winning events up and down the country, as well as further afield.
When Rhys Rollitt purchased P&B, the stated goal was to get out to more events and support more classes, and the results to date in 2025 show an immediate impact.
P&B sailors have been winning across a range of classes and developments have been made across the board. Here are just some of the highlights and the changes which have been made to increase speed and boat handling.
Osprey Nationals at Mumbles - 1st, 4th, 5th & 6th
36 teams enjoyed four days of racing, with strong winds and big waves at times in Swansea Bay.
Osprey sail developments
P&B have been working with Phil Angrave over the last 12 months and have flattened the bottom half of the main, moving the draft as it was powerful, but difficult to lose the depth in the upper wind range. With the range of conditions encountered, the changes clearly worked!
Find out more about P&B's Osprey class sails
505 UK Nationals at the WPNSA - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th
Working with Howie Hamlin and Ian Pinnell, we have designed a new fuller jib that has provided more speed in the medium wind range and is just as fast in the upper and lower ranges as it was previously.
Locking out the top seven in the 24-boat fleet was a great result for P&B! Internationally P&B sails finished 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th & 10th at the French Championship at Loctudy between 11th & 13th July.
Find out more about P&B's 505 class sails
OK Europeans at Warnemünde - 2nd on a tie-break
Ben Flower came agonisingly close to lifting the European Championship title, finishing on equal points with Charlie Cumbley, but losing out on the tie-break as Charlie had one more first place. Ben's counting results were all in the top 3, discarding his 4th in the final race.
OK UK Nationals at Dabchicks - 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th
Oli Davenport wrapped up the win with Ben Flower second, Rich Burton third and Dave Bourne fourth. A great result for P&B!
OK sail developments
P&B loft manager Tom Lonsdale has been refining the OK range over the past 3 years, spending lots of time on the water testing with Oli Davenport, Rich Burton and Dave Bourne. There are now three sails in the range, suiting sailors from as low as 70kg all the way up to 120+kg.
A lot of time has been spent moving the draft position and overall depth to create a sail that works across the range, making a sail that is easy to open and close the leech when needed, enabling a sailor to use one sail at an event rather than having to decide on the day which design to use. The feedback from sailors and results have been overwhelmingly positive
Find out more about P&B's OK class sails
Merlin Week at Salcombe - 2nd
Chris Gould and Sophie Mackley achieved their best Merlin Week result to date in the 102-boat fleet. Their consistency was staggering, with all their counting results in the top three at an event where wind from nearly every direction and strength can be encountered in a single race!
Merlin Rocket sail developments
P&B have worked extensively over the winter to address all three sails but the most work has been done on the mainsail, moving to a Maxx cloth cross-cut sail, for greater ease of use throughout the wind range, producing a lighter all-up weight with better stretch properties. Minor tweeks have been made to the jib and spinnaker, honing their already proven designs.
Find out more about P&B's Merlin Rocket class sails
Solo Eastern Championship at Brightlingsea - 1st, 2nd & 3rd
With light winds on Saturday and must stronger on Sunday, the Solo fleet were tested across the range in the choppy seas. Olie Davenport wrapped up the win with straight bullets ahead of Fergus Barnham in second and Vince Horey third, all using P&B sails.
Solo sail developments
A lot of work has been completed over the last three years by Tom Lonsdale and Oli Davenport. Like the Merlins, this is another class where P&B switched to a Maxx cloth cross-cut design. initially starting with quite a full sail which felt great and powerful, but we felt was a bit too draggy in the upper and lower ranges, so we have dialed it back and produced an AP sail with a flatter design for the lighter sailors.
Find out more about P&B's Solo class sails
Lord Birkett Memorial Trophy - 1st
The National 18 helmed by Michael Wilson, crewed by Phil Hardisty and Stu Bithell won the 2025 edition of this iconic race in a fleet of 206 boats.
Find out more about P&B's National 18class sails
Mirror Poole Open - 1st
Matt & Rosie Burge finished first overall at the Mirror Open held during the Poole Yacht Club Regatta. The fleet was exceptionally strong, with 19 boats racing, including the reigning UK National Champions. The Mirror class is enjoying a resurgence at the moment and the P&B Mirror sails have been proven designs for many years.
Find out more about P&B's Mirror class sails
Scorpion
The Scorpions had glorious sailing in the western Solent during the Lymington Dinghy Regatta, and P&B enjoyed a 1-2 result, with Ollie Meadowcroft & Rob Gardner winning and Imogen Wade & Simon Forbes finishing second.
Find out more about P&B's Scorpion class sails