Jean-Pierre Dick, skipper of Paprec Virbac, has selected experienced Irish sailor Damian Foxall as his co-skipper for the Barcelona World Race. Damian, a professional sailor, with over 25 years of ocean and dinghy racing experience already lists five round the world races on his impressive CV and 18 trans-atlantics, adding up to over 280,000 miles of sailing.

Among his sailing achievements Foxall, aged 37, has competed in two Volvo Ocean Races in 2005/06 onboard Team Ericsson responsible for bow, mast and rigging; then again in 2001/2002 with Team Tyco. He was part of the America’s Cup 2004 K Challenge crew for Acts 2 and 3 and was one of the Cheyenne crew for their successful assault on the Jules Verne non-stop crewed round the world record, setting a new time of 58 days, 9 hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds.

Foxall is the ninth skipper to be named for the new double-handed Barcelona World Race that starts on 11 November 2007 with five top IMOCA 60 campaigns confirmed so far and more expected over the next couple of months. These nine skippers already represent five different nationalities – French, British, Australian, Swiss and Irish – from an extensive mix of solo and crewed experience.