Offshore to the fore as Figaro fleet prepare to visit Dublin

SAILINGA NEW 50-berth marina in Dún Laoghaire opposite the East Pier has taken many people by surprise this week as the installation at the Carlisle Pier stands ready to accept boats. Except this facility is only a temporary arrangement as Dublin Bay prepares to receive the second leg of the single-handed Figaro race in two weeks.

The first leg of this classic French offshore race begins on Sunday from Perros-Guirec in northern Brittany and sails a 320-mile course around to Caen via the busy English Channel (or La Manche) towards Plymouth Bay and Eddystone Lighthouse.

This 90-mile section alone “will require careful sleep management”, according to the organisers, and in keeping with usual practice each skipper can be expected to go directly to bed upon reaching each finishing port.

The stage to Ireland from Caen begins a week later on Sunday, August 7th, with a mid-week ETA at the National Yacht Club after a 470-mile stage that once again negotiates the English Channel and then the Irish Sea for only the second time in the 42-year history of the month-long race.

In that time, with just one exception, La Solitaire has included an Irish port in its itinerary: Dingle and Kinsale were regulars, Crosshaven and Fenit also hosted stop-overs, while the course was altered significantly to include the Irish Sea and a stop-over in Howth in 1998.

That was the second year that featured Damian Foxall, Ireland’s first participant in the Figaro, a race that is regarded as a breeding-ground for many of the greatest ocean-racing solo sailors. His debut year resulted in the prize of a new boat for the “best rookie”, and he went on to score another non-French first as winner of a leg in 1998, narrowly missing the overall prize due to a man-overboard incident.

However, while the new facility in Dún Laoghaire will be a worthy welcome for the 52-boat fleet, Ireland will not be represented in the fleet as both potential entrants, Mick Liddy and Paul O’Riain, were unable to raise sponsorship funds to take part.

The fleet of 49 Beneteau-built 33-footers includes just six non-French skippers: four British, one German and one Portuguese.

Meanwhile, the best news on the Irish short-handed scene once again comes from Barry Hurley from the Royal Irish Yacht Club, who last week completed the solo “Channel Series” on Dinah.

He won his class and was third overall after a tough series of seven races around The Solent, the Channel Islands and three French ports in eight days.

Hurley will be competing in next month’s Rolex Fastnet Race, which begins in Cowes on Sunday, August 14th, when his regular crew, Andy Boyle, will rejoin him. Dinah will compete in the two-handed class on the 605-mile race to the West Cork lighthouse and back to Plymouth.

With 250 entries in that event heading west from The Solent, plus the Figaro boats heading south from Dún Laoghaire, the Celtic Sea will be a challenging area as the fleets converge.