Fledgling Figaro sailor

We speak to 23 year old former Mini sailor James Bird about his new, fully funded Figaro campaign

James Bird first made an impression on us when at the tender age of 15 he had the bottle to go down to Hamble to meet a young Ellen MacArthur, at the time living in her famous portacabin in Hamble Yacht Services prior to racing in the Mini Transat. He has been a feature of the British solo offshore racing scene pretty much since leaving school. Aged 20, Bird competed in the 2003 Mini Transat finishing 22nd of 32 boats in the Proto class, an okay result considering he was sailing one of the oldest boats in the fleet, Mike Inglis' ancient Berret design Atomic, but he succeeded in his aim of completing the crossing.

Since then Bird has spent much time as shore crew for both Mike Golding's Ecover program as well as Steve Fossett's maxi-cat Cheyenne sailing whenever possible . However last year he landed the fortuitous job on the 48m Perini Navi ketch, Antara belonging to the British 46 year old Wall Street financier Michael Gooch. A man with strong links to Burnham, Gooch set up the financial brokerage company GFI in 1987 and the company is still headquartered in New York, while having offices in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, Englewood, NJ and most recently Paris. Gooch remains Chairman.

While on board Antara Bird was able to speak to Gooch about the plans for racing in the Figaro class he had been cooking up since competing in the Mini. "He told me what he was doing next year and I told him what I wanted to do and he seemed to think it would be a good medium for his company to sponsor in terms of corporate networking using the Figaro events as a backdrop for a lot of his deals in France," says Bird. "There’s places like Marseilles, Les Sables, a lot of those places where the races start from which are pretty easy for him to get to."

Significantly a lot of French banks such as Banque Populaire and Credit Agricole are already heavily involved with the Figaro class, while British companies like Aberdeen Asset Management and most recently Artemis have or are also seeing the benefits of being involved with the French shorthanded racing scene.

And so James Bird, aged just 23, now has a major backer for a Figaro campaign. "I have got a good budget," admits Bird. "I have enough for a shore crew for certain races. I am looking to take on someone for the doublehanded race from Marseilles to Istanbul and keeping that person on for the Solitaire and the Tour de Bretagne. Then at least that person knows the boat, they know you and it is easier to keep someone on a monthly wage."

For this year's season he's chartered Sam Davies' OC Group-owned former Skandia Figaro and is at present delivering her to La Rochelle, firstly to get some Figaro miles under his belt (despite it being January) and secondly to get the boat reweighed. "The boat is very well set up and it has been well looked after as well," says Bird of his new steed. "One of the reasons for the weigh-ins is that a lot of the boats have had damage which means there is extra laminate on their hulls and the boats have got heavier. Whereas this hasn’t had anything like that other than the odd scratch which you have got to expect. So it is probably one of the lightest and best prepared there which is a nice comfort factor."

While he competed in the Mini on a shoe-string budget, now he has better funding Bird recognises the importance of training himself up. There is no better school for learning solo keelboat racing than the Figaro class. In Port la Foret, France, the Pol Atlantique training centre attracts most of the top Figaro sailors who come to the Breton hamlet solely for its facilities and to learn alongside the best. Emma Richards, Miranda Merron and most recently Sam Davies have all passed through its training program and the centre also handled the race preparation for some of the most experienced solo offshore racers in the ORMA 60 trimaran class. The school is not full of French people sitting around smoking and drinking small cups of coffee, they have a truly scary fitness program as well as some of the best classroom and on the water tuition available (read more about the centre here).

Unfortunately Bird says it is unlikely that he would be able to enroll at the Pol Atlantique as this is his first year in the Figaro. However he is working with Mr Fixit Howard Gibbons and it is likely Brian Thompson will help in his on board training. Mike Broughton has been called in to help him on the navigator side and Lymington-based Andrew Cape has also offered assistance.

Given that Bird, Nigel King, Dee Caffarri and Jonny Malbon are all looking for similar shorthanded offshore training one wonders if some sort of joint training scheme in the UK could be organised for them. Inevitably of course they all have different programs and schedules and while this may be a good idea the chances of this working are realistically minimal.

Experienced well beyond his 23 years, Bird realises the importance of getting miles under his belt and hopes to have ot 1,200-1,500 miles clocked up in his new boat before the start of the season. Having competed in the Mini and been involved with numerous other events in France on the shoreside, he is aware of the French scene but it will obviously come as some comfort that he is being joined on the circuit by fellow Brit Nigel King.

So how does Bird think he will get on? "I am finding it quite daunting with the amount of work to do and the level of the fleet being incredibly high, a lot higher than the Mini," he admits. "The Mini is quite diverse as is the ability of the people who are competing, but the Figaro people are at the top level. You have Mich Des [Michel Desjoyeaux, winner of the Solitaire twice, as well as the Vendee Globe, Route du Rhum and the Transat] who has announced he is coming back this year. Nigel King who has done the Volvo, Jules Verne, etc. But I think with enough training and if I have the right people to help me out, there is no reason why I can’t do well. It is how well you are prepared mentally when you get to the start line, whether you are happy with your preparation is a big thing. I know I have got the ability it is just whether it all comes together for the race. The learning curve is going to be steep on this – it is the Figaro, it will be a hard nut to crack."



The circuit for the Figaro class has changed over recent years. Once upon a time there was a lot of round the cans races mingled with just a few major events such as the Solitaire and the Transat AG2R. Now the calendar is primarily major offshore events and this change is fortunate as these are the events Bird wishes to compete in.

Fortunately his credentials including a Mini Transat and numerous transatlantic and shorter delivery trips on Open 60s and 50s is enough to gain Bird entry into the first and tough first race of the season - the Trophee BPE singlehanded transatlantic race on the somewhat unusual course of Belle Ile (off the Bay of Quiberon, near La Trinite, Carnac, etc) to the island of Marie Galante off Guadeloupe.

After this Bird plans to compete in the two handed race from Marseilles to Istanbul, hopefully an event with more wind than the competitors saw last year. But the big deal in the class as ever is the annual Solitaire Afflelou le Figaro, singlehanded in four long legs around the Bay of Biscay visiting France, Spain and Ireland. Bird's main aim of the year is to be first 'bizuth' (ie Figaro 1st seasoner) in this, but will obviously face stiff competition from the more worldly and substantially older Nigel King.

Beyond the Figaro Bird says that he would like to do the Vendee Globe, but his real ambition is to do the Volvo Ocean Race. "Whether this is the right route to getting there I have no idea. If you look at Damian Foxall he did the Figaro for three years. I don’t know how he got on to PlayStation. I guess you have to know someone to get a position like that."

At 23, Bird has already been involved with solo scene for eight years and as a bit of market research we are keen to find out if looking back he would have done anything differently. "I’d do more keelboat racing out of the UK and try and get on other boats as well like the TP 52s. Especially if you want to go on and do Volvo you need that round the cans experience, so maybe Farr 40s, some IMS as well. But something like the Figaro should be good because it is good offshore experience. A lot of the Volvo is about being a good all rounder, proving you have the skills to do it. And you have to be a tough person. Round the cans is good for your skills but you are still in the hotel room every night."

While it is phenomenal what Bird has achieved at such a young age, we would still like to see someone coming out of the RYA's youth program in the UK, gunning for the same objectives as he has - Figaro, Vendee Globe, Volvo - rather than solely the Olympics. For winning the Solitaire is every bit as hard as winning an Olympic medal. There - we've said it.