The world of French offshore yacht racing was turned on its head this week when Irish sailor Damian Foxall won the Prologue event of the Figaro single-handed race. This is the first time in the 18-year history of the course that a non-French national has won any part of the race.
Foxall last year became the first international entrant to win the title of best rookie in La Figaro du Solitaire, sailing's equivalent of cycling's Tour de France, with similar status accorded to its leading performers.
Part of that award included sponsorship for the first part of this year's season, enabling Foxall to compete in the Ag2R two-handed trans-Atlantic race.
In that event, Foxall's progression in the specialised field of shorthanded racing was marked by a highly creditable fifth overall in a fleet that included many notable sailors.
However, the funding package expired and Foxall was forced to search for finance for the Figaro. Following a successful stint as bowman with Harold Cudmore's Class Zero, winner at last month's Ford Cork Week, Barlo Plastics stepped in as his main sponsor and the 29year-old Kinsale Yacht Club sailor was back in the hunt.
Following the inshore course of the Prologue race, the 47-boat fleet yesterday started the first leg of the Figaro proper, from Cherbourg to Howth, Co. Dublin. Although this leg always makes an Irish port its landfall, Foxall can expect a larger crowd than usual and, if his form continues, another nonFrench victory may prove one of the greatest Irish sailing achievements in recent years.
The fleet of 30-foot Beneteau Figaro yachts started out from Cherbourg for a turning mark on English shores, just to the west of Start Point.
They then down the Cornish coast, around Land's End and up across the usually demanding Irish Sea to Dublin.
The leg is to finish on Sunday.
The race consists of four legs of 300 to 500 miles, pushing the skippers hard across the English Channel, the Irish Sea and the Bay of Biscay, then in out of the rocks and tidal waters of the Brittany coast.
Each skipper is crew as well and will rely on sleeping for 10 to 20 minutes, hopefully every hour. The second leg, to Ile de Groix, near Lorient, Brittany, begins at Howth next Tuesday, with the race scheduled to finish in three weeks' time.
In 10 days' time, the European Mirror Championships begin at Kinsale YC, where defending champion David Gebhard and world champion Chris Balding have been confirmed for the seven-race series.
The entry fee for the event has been reduced thanks to sponsorship from Eagle Star and funding from the Sports Council of Ireland.
As many as 25 crews from 13 nations will be in action next week in Cowes. The Inter Nations Youth Week will be sailed from Monday until Thursday. Tom Fitzpatrick and David McHugh, who have returned from a successful second event in their Olympic qualification campaign for Sydney 2000, will head the Howth YC-led Irish crew.
The pair finished 19th in the 470 men's fleet.
David Nixon and David Howard will also be on board for the Inter Nations Youth Week, which will be sailed in Sonars, Etchell's and X Boats.
