Pindar, a leading British-based international print and electronic media company, has purchased Graham Dalton’s Open 60, Hexagon, to continue its sponsorship with Emma Richards.

Richards who has just completed an Around Alone 2002 – 2003 campaign, and who has been sponsored Pindar for the past four years, will now have the opportunity to compete at the front of the fleet in a selection of high profile short-handed and crewed offshore races.

The boat will debut in Pindar’s colours at the Transat Jacques Vabres in November – a double-handed transatlantic race from Le Havre, France, to Salvador, Brazil. Emma also plans to compete in other crewed races next year such as the Quebec to St Malo double-handed race, as well as the RWYC Single handed transatlantic race (formally OSTAR) in June 2004. This will be Richards’ final singlehanded yacht race and will give her the opportunity to follow up on her victory in the Open 50 class of the race in 2000.

Following it’s dismasting under the helm of Graham Dalton off the coast of Argentina during Leg 4 of Around Alone, the yacht is currently being shipped back to Europe, where it will undergo a major re-fit. The re-fit will include a new mast, new sails, a new winch and pedestal system, amongst other state of the art improvements. The aim is to have the yacht back in the water in August for fine tuning and training leading up to the Transat Jacques Vabres 2003 in November.

The long-term plan for both Emma and the Pindar team is to use the boat to help launch a potential Volvo Ocean Race campaign. Pindar are currently talking to other companies about potential partnerships in order to secure the necessary finances to run a leading campaign in one of the world’s premier ocean races.