The accident happened when Foxall, Ireland's leading professional sailor, was challenging for the lead against Groupama-2, only two days into the Jacques Vabre race from from Le Havre, across the Atlantic ocean to Brazil.
The accident not only rules him out of any further participation in this race but puts a doubt over his fitness to compete in this weekend's Volvo round the world race where he was to sail as a helmsman on board Brazil 1 with Olympic gold medallist Torben Grael on the second leg of the course from Capetown in January.
Clinging on to one of the upturned hulls his co-skipper Armel Le Cléac’h liaised with shore crew by radio yesterday in order to get a rescue mission underway as waves washed over Foxall as he lay injured on the port hull.
Other competitors in the Jacques Vabre – including Ellen McArthur – continued to be battered by storm force winds that have swept through the fleet.
By lunchtime a French naval helicopter had located the sole Irish entrant (36) and his French partner (28) and sent a diver on board to winch the pair to safety.
The injured Derrynane sailor was put on board the aircraft carrier Jeanne d'Arc ship to receive medical assistance some 220 kilometres off the French coast.
Other boats in the race were also seeking assistance after shifting strong winds forced the fleet to tack.
Also out of the multihull division are two Swiss skippers Steve and Yvan Ravussin from Orange project who were also dropped off on the Jeanne d'Arc.
Thomas Coville and Jacques Vincent on Sodebo (dismasted) were picked up by fishermen off the Brittany coast yesterday morning and are heading back to Brest on the fishing boat with the trimaran in tow. The sea state was so rough that the fishing boats in the area had stopped working and so were able to come to the assistance very quickly.
While Foxall was competing with with the youngest sailor in the fleet Foxall is no stranger to the Jacques Vabre race.
After 11 days 3hrs, covering some 4, 500miles, Karin Fauconnier and Foxall finished third arriving 4 hours 9 minutes and 47 seconds behind the leader Groupama and Belgacom in second in the 2003 race.
