Sam Davies gets the big gig

New Figaro and Open 60 sponsor for British solo sailor

After scoring mixed results in her third season in the Figaro class followed by the natural conclusion of her sponsorship with Skandia and then her departure from the Offshore Challenges Racing Team stable back in November, so within just two months British solo sailor Sam Davies seems to have landed on her feet. Today on the Beneteau stand at London Boat Show Sam announced a new sponsorship with leading international clothing brand Roxy that will not only see her through another season in the Figaro class but will also continue in an Open 60 with the aim of competing in the 2008 Vendee Globe.

Roxy is a well known brand of women's clothing but for male readers it might be more relevant that Roxy is the female equivalent to Quicksilver. The brand have been involved with sailing in France for around five years backing the exploits of Mini sailor Alexia Barrier, but got serious when they backed Anne Liardet in the last Vendee Globe. Since then Roxy has further upped their game by acquiring Vincent Riou's Open 60 PRB, winner of the last two Vendee Globe. This Liardet raced with Miranda Merron in the recent Transat Jacques Vabre and also has entered in November's Route du Rhum. Roxy have also this year been sponsoring Eric Tabarly's daughter Marie in the Figaro class (in which nephew Erwan also races).

Sam explains her involvement with Roxy: "Their whole idea is to have a little team and to help people progress and move up. So Anne did the Vendee Globe last time. She still has the boat for the Route du Rhum, because that was the agreement. And they are keen to move someone on to have another opportunity at the Vendee Globe - so that is my spot. I am going to continue in the Figaro next year with Roxy as my sponsor with the ultimate objective being the Vendee Globe 2008 because they want to compete and be competitive and at the same time represent their brand with the right person."

On of the most pressing issues for Sam at present is finding a Benetau Figaro to race this season. "Roxy had already chartered a boat but it wasn’t in very good condition. One of my ideas was to try and buy a boat because then even when I have a 60 when that is in the boatyard or stuck on the dock or the mast is being checked, there is still a boat to go sailing in. So it would be very cool to have a Figaro, but financially it is not a very good idea to buy a boat at the moment, because the charter market is so good: There are too many owners and not enough sponsors."

In fact after many years of shunning the Vendee Globe it is this very point that has tempted her to compete in the ultimate singlehanded offshore race. She says her whole impression of competing in the Vendee was that you didn't sail for two years because you had to build a new boat and then would spend time fixing it or modifying it and then you'd set off around the world singlehanded, non-stop having not sailed for two years.

"Perhaps I had the wrong impression of the race in my head and the way that Roxy have put it to me is that it would be an acceptable and fun as well as competitive. So I just changed the way I looked at the race. It is more just a race rather than a four year commitment. Of course you have to put 100% into it, but it would be nice to have a life as well. I am somebody who has to has a life, because if I don’t have a life then I’m not having fun and if you not having fun then you don’t sail well because you don’t put 100% into your sailing. It is all about finding a compromise between everything so that you put the best into your competition. The way I was looking at how to do a Vendee Globe was not a fun way of doing it perhaps. It is an enormous thing to do the Vendee Globe. I am not approaching it a light hearted way, but you have to approach it the way you will sail it the best."

The upshot of this is that once Anne Liardet has finished the Route du Rhum, Sam will take over the Roxy Open 60. That there is no question of building a new boat is also part of what has attracted her to racing in the Vendee.

"I think with the little experience I have of sailing an Open 60 singlehanded, there are a lot more of mistakes I could make in a better boat. So only having two years to do the Vendee Globe it is better to have a slightly slower boat which is all proven and tested and to be able to do lots of miles in it and gain confidence. If I have a reasonable boat, that is maybe not the fastest on paper then I can go sailing on it for two years and learn about the pilot, get the best systems on board and the best sails, know I can send it and wipe out and recover, and break a rudder and change it - and all the things that if you do lots of miles on the water you learn rather than having a super fast boat but having to be on tiptoes all the time because you are not sure when or what might break."

A sensible move would be get on board as tutors Michel Desjoyeaux or Vincent Riou, both having new Farr Open 60s built for the 2008 Vendee Globe but who have already raced Sam's boat to Vendee Globe victory to show her the ropes. As the Roxy deal has only come to fruition very recently this kind of detail is a long way off being finalised but Sam is in the enviable position of having a year to mull over her Open 60 project before she has to deal with it in person.

"The most important thing is to go sailing with someone really good who has loads of experience so I can find out when you can push the boat and when you can’t and when it is okay to capsize and when it’s not okay and all that kind of thing. This is coming from the Figaro when you just send it until it falls over and then you drop the spinnaker, pop upright and put the smaller one up. It is sounds like that is exactly what they are doing in Open 60s now, but I’m sure you have to be a bit more careful than you can in the Figaro where you have something practically unbreakable in your hands and also a spinnaker which is a lot easier to recover when you trawl it behind the boat! So it would be good to go sailing with someone who knows what kind of wipe-outs are acceptable and what kind aren’t!"

Equally open is the Open 60 race programme she might undertake over 2007-8. The only race Roxy are settled upon is the Vendee Globe which they want her to win or at least be first female finisher. From Sam's perspective the priority is to qualify which with an anticipated full entry list is likely to be no mean feat.

Back to Sam's Figaro campaign this year and it seems most likely that she may end up sailing the boat of her Figaro sailor/boyfriend Romain Attanasio. "It is a very good boat and I’ve seen everything he has done to it. All the ring frames have been relaminated, both the ballast tanks have been changed - all the problems I’ve had he has already fixed before they’ve even broken. So it is a really good boat to have. And it is in Port la Foret anyway." Sam currently lives in Concarneau, close to Brittany's Figaro training mecca. Whether she gets him-in-doors' boat is dependent upon whether or not Attanasio can find himself a sponsor. Quicksilver surely? His and her's Figaros...

After a mixed bag of results in 2005 and a particularly disappointing Solitaire Sam has identified areas where she has to improve and one of them is not to do so much sailing. "I did too much last year because I love sailing and I wanted to do everything becayse Skandia gave me that option because they had a good budget and a good team. So basically I sailed from beginning of February, did all the training, every race and stuff in between on my boat - all the delivery trips and a lot of sponsor sailing with Nick on the 60 just before the Solitaire and the Tour de France for the 8 days I was with the girls. So I was really tired for a lot of the events last year.

"So for 2006 I am not going to do so many races and do maybe a bit more training and get more rest. And it’s good because the objective is 2008 and knowing that next year the 60 isn’t going to be my boat, I can use some of the time that I’m not racing the to hang out on the 60 and learn about it and go sailing if Anne is training or sail testing. With Roxy it is going to enable me to do a bit of both and hopefully benefit from having a bit more rest time and a bit more training and not such a hectic program and learning and getting to know all the Roxy people so that come 2007 it is better for the 60."

Sam Davies: One lucky girl.