Andrew Pindar, the owner of Bahrain Team Pindar and the yacht which is currently racing round the world carrying the name of The Kingdom of Bahrain, has received an OBE, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to business and to community in the United Kingdom.

Andrew Pindar’s sailing sponsorship (he is chairman of G A Pindar & Son Ltd, a family-owned print and publishing business based in Scarborough) began as a business club member of Sir Chay Blyth’s 1996 BT Global Challenge. Through it he met Emma Richards and agreed to back her for the OSTAR in 2000.

Besides Emma, he has backed women sailors Helena Darvelid, Sophie Luther and Lia Ditton, as well as Mike Sanderson and Pete Goss. Pindar sponsored a yacht in the 2004 Global Challenge and he made it possible for disabled sailor Hilary Lister to sail across the Channel. He has also sponsored young 420 sailor Hannah Mills and match racer Ian Williams.

As our sister magazine’s writer Elaine Bunting reported he has been ‘a Good Samaritan in lots of quiet ways most people don’t realise. He sent Hatherleigh to Portugal with a spare mast when Italian sailor Simone Bianchetti was dismasted in the 2002 Around Alone, he made a personal donation to Canadian sailor Derek Hatfield’s campaign and underwrote the build of a new mast when Hatfield was pitchpoled at Cape Horn.’

‘He again sent the Hatherleigh without a moment’s hesitation to help recover Jean-Pierre Dick’s Virbac when he was dismasted mid-Atlantic in 2004, even though it meant having the trawler re-coded.

‘He was a great supporter of Tracey Edwards and loaned her £550,000 to buy the maxi cat Maiden 2. It went sour when she failed to repay the sum and, no mug he, Pindar was one of the first creditors to be repaid before the whole sorry Oryx Quest business went belly-up.

‘His parents are also champions of sailing; his father Tom was a benefactor of the revived Gipsy Moth IV.

The British New Year Honours List reflects and pays tribute to outstanding achievement and service across the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In addition to his passion and leadership of the printing industry, Andrew Pindar has supported numerous community projects over many years such as the development of young sporting talent in his home town at Scarborough Rugby Club, through to global sporting campaigns particularly in sailing, in which sport he is known and respected throughout the world.

A delighted Andrew Pindar said; “I feel truly honoured to have received this award from Her Majesty the Queen and am looking forward to my investiture at Buckingham Palace in a few weeks time. I am very fortunate to be in a position where I am able to work with committed and able people who share my desire to put more back into the societies in which we work and trade than we take out”.

Bahrain Team Pindar Ambassador, Brian Thompson currently competing in the gruelling, solo, round the world yacht race, the Vendee Globe, also started 2009 on a positive note after resolving electrical problems on board his Open 60 boat. Brian Thompson lies in eighth position as he sails in the Pacific Ocean towards Cape Horn.

For more information on Bahrain Team Pindar, visit: www.teampindar.com