Electronics company B&G, part of the Navico Group, and Breton company Pixel sur Mer have announced a partnership to develop a new autopilot solution for the offshore performance sailing market.
The two already work with solo offshore racing sailors and anticipate the combination of their technologies will be of interest to ocean racers and offshore competition.
“Combining our products to offer the most efficient autopilot solution on the offshore competitive sailing market is a continuation of the close collaboration that we have maintained for almost 20 years with the Pixel sur Mer teams,” said Matt Eeles, product director, digital systems at Navico Group.
Pixel sur Mer was founded in 2008 by French engineer and navigator Jean-François Cuzon who was part of Michel Desjoyeaux’s Mer Agitée team.
The company is geared towards meeting the new technological needs of competitive sailing and has developed its own measurement systems to collect, display and transmit data on board.
High-performance
The engineers have also invented high-performance steering solutions for boats, including foiling boats, sail and motor.
These solutions form part of the company’s Exocet range of products, which are integrated into pilot controllers developed by B&G.
“In recent years, the work of our design office has enabled the deployment of major innovations which have improved the performance and safety of the automatic piloting systems of offshore racing boats,” said Jean-François. “Through this partnership, our ambition is not only to reach a new technological level but also to make these advances accessible to the entire offshore competitive sailing market.”
Matt Eeles, product director, digital systems for Navico Group, added: “After our longstanding relationship with Pixel sur Mer for the last 20 years it was a natural progression to formally integrate our products to provide the best performing autopilot solution to the offshore performance sailing market. “We both support the single-handed race market having supplied autopilot systems to past Vendee Globe winners and we are thrilled to provide the latest generation of foiling race boats with a solution deriving from our combined legacy and expertise in sailing electronics.”
