Damian Foxall from Kinsale was rescued by a competitor after falling overboard during the third leg of the Figaro solo race yesterday.
After an excellent start to a tightly-fought third leg to Gijon, Spain, Foxall was within minutes of the lead when a submerged fishing crate caught his rudder. In his attempts to release the box he lost his balance and fell over the stern.
His boat maintained its course under autopilot and Foxall was left in the water. However, he was soon plucked from the Atlantic by Frenchman Thomas Coville.
Foxall is unhurt but will be disqualified from the race for receiving outside assistance. He will rejoin the race at Gijon for the final leg but is likely to be out of contention overall. Off the south coast a capsize and broken boom in the penultimate race of the Eagle Star Mirror European championships have cost Dun Laoghaire's Gerbil Owens and Ronan McNamara the overall lead. England's Matthew and James McGovern now lead by two points.
Racing under the shadow of a gale warning three of the top six boats were forced to retire as south-westerly winds reached 25 knots yesterday afternoon. Going into tomorrow's final race Owens and McNamara, now in third place, need a result at least six places ahead of the English pair to take the title and make a unique double for the Dun Laoghaire crew. The host club's Matthias Hellstern and Cathal Donovan, in second place, are in an even stronger position to challenge. Based on provisional results they only need to finish three places ahead of the McGoverns to secure home victory.
Meanwhile in Athens, Olympic singlehander David Burrows recorded his second top-10 result in the Finn Gold cup to be 18th overall in a fleet of 84 boats after four races. The threat of protest may hang over regatta favourite Pathfinder (Philip Watson) in this afternoon's opening race of the Carlsberg Cruiser three championship at Howth. Mumm 36 World champion crew James Hynes has been added to the line-up, which may lead to objections over handicapping.
