SAM DAVIES ENTERS TOUGH SOLO FIGARO CIRCUIT - FIRST UK FEMALE FOR 25 YEARS...

IN BRIEF:

* 28-year old British woman Sam Davies mounts challenge for French solo sailing title, racing under banner of Ellen MacArthur's Offshore Challenges Sailing Team.

* Davies has sailed over 35,000 nautical miles, raced solo across the Atlantic and holds four world records in sailing as crew.

* First British female entry in quarter of a century - Davies' goal for her first season is is to win the "Rookie Title" - an accolade fought over by newcomers to the Figaro circuit.

* The Solitaire du Figaro is the highpoint of the six event circuit. Four five-hundred mile legs take the high-profile fleet to France, Spain and Ireland...

IN DETAIL:

Sam Davies, one of the fastest women on the planet, aims to be the first British female in over 25 years to complete the gruelling French-based solo offshore yacht race, La Solitaire du Figaro this August.

Former single-handed trans-Atlantic racer turned international best-selling novelist Clare Francis was the last British female sailor to race the Figaro in 1975 and 1976.

The three-week 2,000 nautical mile Solitaire du Figaro is the highpoint of a six-event solo and double-handed racing circuit based around the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of France.

Twenty-eight year old Davies will be the only British entry and is racing under the banner of Ellen MacArthur's Offshore Challenges Sailing Team. The project team are still speaking to prospective title sponsors.

MacArthur herself is currently on a short break while her new Kingfisher sponsored 75ft trimaran designed for solo record-breaking is under construction in Australia.

She believes Davies has the talent and determination to make her mark in the fiercely competitive Figaro fleet. She said: "Sam will be racing against Europe's top solo sailors but she has already shown her talent and determination in events such as the Mini-Transat. We had no doubts about taking on Sam as the third team member of the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team (OCST) - she has raced in many events and knows what it takes to run a successful campaign."

Davies professional sailing career has rocketed in recent years and she has now covered over 35,000 miles racing at sea. The Cambridge University Engineering graduate now living in Hamble in Hampshire, was a member of Tracy Edwards' crew for a Jules Verne Trophy attempt (fully-crewed non-stop round the world record) on the 92-foot Royal Sun Alliance catamaran in 1998.

In 2001 Sam took her first foray into solo racing with the Mini-Transat - an extreme ocean race from France to Brazil in tiny 21 foot yachts. She finished 11th in an international fleet of 65.

Sam also crewed for Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson in the Yngling class three-person keelboat campaigning towards the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. She later decided that offshore racing was instead her passion.

Last year she was again recruited by Edwards for her latest speed project, Maiden 2. Davies was onboard when the 110' catamaran (one of the biggest ever built) smashed four world records in four months, including the 24-hour distance record (now a 697 nautical miles) and the Round Britain and Ireland record.

But the Figaro circuit will be Sam's biggest personal challenge to date. The last three winners of the Vendée Globe (the non-stop solo round the world race in which MacArthur finished second in 2001) have cut their teeth in this event. Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux, winner of the last Vendée Globe, returns to the Figaro this year and must rate as favourite.

"I see it as the toughest of the single-handed race in terms of the competition you're up against," says Sam. "The Vendée and the Around Alone are endurance events whereas the Figaro is a pure sprint.

"The combination of the 50 boat fleet and the 500-mile duration of each leg (two to three days) means you're going to be close racing at least a dozen boats all the time. The legs aren't long enough to sleep, you're continually up, pushing the boat and yourself until you reach the finish line. Even when you're fatigued, your tactics and navigation need to be spot on as the boats are so closely matched and one small mistake can ruin a leg.

"My focus for the 2003 season, my first year on the Figaro circuit, is to learn as much as I can and I will be going for the 'Rookie' title. All the new sailors on the circuit want to win this so you often end up with a race within the race between the newcomers for that award," added Davies.

Offshore Challenges Managing Director, Mark Turner, who manages the sailing programmes of Ellen MacArthur and Nick Moloney said, "Much like the Mini-Transat and the Vendée Globe, the Figaro circuit has been a very French affair since its inception and, like the Mini and Vendée, we hope to not only progress in terms of performance on the water, but also in terms of communicating outside of France how extraordinary this event is."

He continued: "The level of competition is second to none, uniting past Vendée winners and Olympic sailors, in one very tough formula of solo racing. The 'Figarists' race like they are doing Olympic triangles, but for days on end - it takes sleep deprivation to another level."

The skippers race identical 32-foot yachts called the 'Beneteau Figaro 2' - a brand new design for 2003. Offshore Challenges received the first Beneteau Figaro 2 class yacht in Britain this week. It's being tuned and prepared at the team base in Cowes on the Isle of Wight and will leave for France on 9 May.

Sam Davies' 2003 Figaro Campaign

Tour de Bretagne à La Voile (double-handed)
Start : St Malo - 18th May 2003
Finish : Lorient - 24th May 2003

La Générali Méditerranée (solo)
Start : Marseille - 13th June
Finish : Porquerolles - 28th June

La Solitaire du Figaro (solo)
Start : Les Sables d'Olonne - 30th July
Finish : St Naziare - 23rd August

La route du Ponant (solo)
Start : 3rd September
Finish : 13th September
Course to be confirmed

Le Trophée Banque Privée Européenne (double-handed)
Start : St Nazaire - 21st September 2003
Finish : Dakar - 10th October 2003

Solo events count towards the 2003 ranking/championship.

La Solitaire du Figaro starts from Les Sables d'Olonne on July 30th. The opening 449 nm leg sends the 40-50 boat fleet across the notorious Bay of Biscay to Bilbao in North Spain.

Leg two is 494 nm to La Rochelle in France. The third and longest leg at 536 nm sends the fleet north past the rocky coastlines of Brittany and across the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel bound for Dingle in Ireland. The final 500 nm leg takes the fleet back to Saint-Nazire in France - a total of 1,979nm.

Further details of Sam Davies' programme can be found at http://www.samdavies.com