WHEN the annual Figaro race arrives in Kinsale for its regular Irish stop over this August, the fleet of single handers will have added local interest for the first time. Damian Foxall (27), from Kerry, has been planning his entry for the last two years and a lifetime ambition is about to be realised.
Foxall went to France for the end of the 1995 event to research other campaigns and build contacts for last summer's race. Returning to Ireland, he found the autumn was a bad time to start sponsorship hunting and was forced to delay his plans. He returned to continue crewing on Tom Roche's Mumm 36.
Last summer he struck gold when he secured DHL Worldwide Express as his boat title sponsor paving the way forward in good time for the 1997 season.
Although Foxall would not be drawn on the value of the support, event organisers impose strict one design and cost control rules recommending that campaigns should cost less than £45,000.
At the Paris Boat Show last autumn, Foxall arranged the charter of a suitable second hand boat. Carrying 270 litres of water ballast, the 1990 Figaro/Beneteau 28 footer still needed considerable work to bring her into race condition. Her new skipper also pointed out that older boats can still be very competitive, as the race relies on human skill.
"When I first saw the boats, I thought they were stubby little things, but actually I now think they're quite nice," Foxall said this week. "They are good downwind, but before getting on the plane they can be a bit of a handful." The Figaro/Beneteau was originally a fractional rig, but this proved too much for solo sailors and was changed to masthead.
Since taking delivery of the boat, his original, two week estimate for its refit has turned into two months after extensive keel re modelling. Sailing time on board has been the deliveries to Kinsale and Howth this week for sponsor promotions. But Foxall's main aim now is to get to France to begin practice with the fleet.
Le Solitaire du Figaro is the mid point highlight of the Championnat de France Solitaire season that includes five inshore day races and one other offshore event in the Mediterranean.
Starting from Arachon, near Bordeaux, on July 30th, the race stops twice before sailing to the Fastnet Rock and into Kinsale about August 19th. Each leg is about 450 miles and can take three to four days. Foxall will have a full support team waiting at each port to tend to the boat" while he catches up on rest.
Indeed, the issue of singlehanded sailing remains to the fore following Tony Bullimore's incredible survival and heroic rescue from the Southern Ocean recently.
Foxall maintains that it is still possible to keep a decent lookout and get some rest. "We're talking total sleep of three to four hours per day, taken in 20 minute periods when possible," he said. Foxall and Bullimore will have an opportunity to exchange notes as both will feature at the Dublin Boat Show on Saturday, March 22nd.
Meanwhile, there is a strong Irish presence in the Southern Ocean this week close to the location of Bullimore's incident. Air Corps Search & Rescue helicopter pilot Tom O'Connor is skippering Pause to Remember and its crew through these icy wastes en route from Sydney to Cape Town in the BT Global Challenge. The 65 foot steel hull yacht was 1,000 miles due south of Australia on Monday.
