ROYAL St. GEORGE YACHT CLUB, DUN LAOGHAIRE, IRELAND3

Irish sports journalist David Branigan’s debut novel, Ocean Fever, traces the high-risk career thus far of Kerry sailor Damian Foxall. High risk, extreme weather, knife-edge decisions, rivalries and challenges in the toughest environment are all in a day’s work for this exceptional Irish sailor. From a remote bay in Kerry to the Southern Ocean, Damian has raced around the world eight times. Co-authored by Damian and David, Ocean Fever was recently launched by Collins Press to high acclaim.

Based in Dublin, David’s writing career all began with his passion for marine sports. His creative talent revealed itself at a young age, when English was his best subject at school. Over the years, he has been the author of articles for the Irish Times, the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner, all thanks to his astounding skills as a sports photographer. It was only by pure coincidence that he entered the field of journalism in the first place.

'Photography was, and is, my principal activity,' he says, 'but writing came about when several editors remarked that they would like to use my pictures but had no specialist writers available. So I thought, ‘Why not?’ and I was given a quick class on the basics of newspaper reporting.'

David believes that his love of sport and writing was a natural progression of his work: an inevitable combination that would change his life. 'At the time, the National Union of Journalists, of which I am still a member, was very strict on mixing disciplines, but it was accepted that as a specialist writer there was no conflict.' Sports journalism, for him, is like 'being the ultimate fan, with often unique and privileged access that also carries certain responsibilities on behalf of the reader'.

Pursuing this path has not only satisfied his adventurous spirit, but it has allowed him to unite himself with nature, giving him wonderful recollections that he will always treasure. He has had 'many special experiences, not all necessarily resulting in stunning photographs or ‘scoop’ stories. Probably my best memories are from travelling with the Whitbread Round the World Race, sorties to Cape Horn with media colleagues that have become lifelong pals, or perhaps sailing through the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand, in the middle of the night, beneath a moonless star-field and being escorted by dolphin racing through the phosphorescence-filled ocean. Magic.'

David is well known for his vivid sports photography: the beautiful way that he can capture a moment in time, retain it forever and share it with the world. David reveals that the best sports photography is 'as much about anticipation as it is about composition or technical equipment. To achieve this, knowledge and interest in what’s happening on the field of play or track is essential and often only comes with time and patience.'

David's ideal writing takes the form of the present-day Volvo Ocean Race, which introduced a Media Crew Member (MCM) role three years ago. David is delighted with the creation of this position, and believes that it will encourage technology-savvy young writers, who are enthusiastic about sailing, to gain a wealth of invaluable experience.

'The MCM is present on board but may not race the boat: rather, they write, film, record, blog, upload, interview, be interviewed live or almost live throughout the 39,000-mile race around the world,' David says. 'Had the MCM been introduced twenty years ago, I would have been first in line, admittedly without the experience I now have that would have qualified me for the role. However, in terms of following a sport, just like the war correspondents ‘embedded’ with the coalition forces in recent conflicts, this would be the ultimate story-telling experience.'

David is no stranger to story-telling, of course. The idea for his novel, Ocean Fever, first came about when he worked with the sailor Damian Foxall for the Irish Times during the prestigious Barcelona World Race. They wrote a weekly log for the newspaper together describing Damian’s experience in the around-the-world yacht racing competition, which he won alongside the renowned French sailor Jean-Pierre Dick.

'Each week, Damian would call from the race, often from the remotest parts of the planet, recounting how they were steadily wearing down the miles and staying in front of a gradually reducing pack of followers. The log had a popular following including the then President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, and afterwards, publisher Con Collins emailed Damian suggesting he write a book. At the same time, Damian and I were also contemplating that, though he had mixed feelings about it. He had said in the past that he often thought a book would be a good project for when he was older and had hung-up his sea-boots.'

David convinced Damian to tell his tale when they discussed the vast amount of experiences that Damian had had, and the various people that he had met, on his journey to become a world-class sailor. They did not, however, want it to be an egotistical blow-by-blow account of Damian’s life. 'Instead, we wanted to paint a picture of sailing that could be read by anyone without technical knowledge. Damian’s life so far is only the backbone for Ocean Fever, that offers an insight into a world we don’t always realise is around us.'

The love of water and words drew David and Damien together, and this true infatuation with the sailing world is captured brilliantly in their book where they convey a fast-paced, frantic life on the ocean. 'To a non-sailor, sailing sometimes appears odd, with risks such as seasickness, being wet and cold, or having to suffer yacht club types,' David explains. 'After trying and liking the sport, it is often the case that it becomes all-consuming, much like other sports, except this one offers participation from age eight to eighty and develops into a lifestyle as well. Writing Ocean Fever with Damian drew on many shared personal experiences, even though he operates at a far higher standard in terms of competition and seamanship than I do.'
David found the experience of co-authoring a book 'challenging', but claims he would 'definitely undertake it again, though differently after a fairly steep learning curve.' The complications of the collaboration arose due to the busy schedules of both men, but the finished product reveals the extraordinary effort put in by the pair to get Damian’s story firmly down on paper.

'After agreeing to proceed with the project, Damian was signed up by the French team for the Volvo Ocean Race and the demands of this project meant work on the book was slow and heavily relied upon Skype and email, as well as travelling to France for interviews and research. This wasn’t a problem but our original timelines slipped by a whole year, which was as much due to my inexperience producing a book rather than a 2,000-word newspaper article.'

David’s next plan, after celebrating the success of Ocean Fever, is to figure out 'how to match income with overheads from fairly low-revenue activities, such as photography and writing!' He offers practical advice for any aspiring marine journalists, saying to 'be realistic about what can be achieved'. He also recommends that writers have an array of talents if they want to break into journalism. 'Offer a range of services. Be customer-focused to survive and thrive, while keeping personal interests and projects in proportion to what you are trying to achieve.'

Ocean Fever traces Damian's years as a restless teenager in Derryanne, Co. Kerry, and his successes and failures on many teams, lifting the lid on this toughest of sports. Foxall has raced with the world’s best, such as Alan Gautier, Steve Fossett and Tracy Edwards. In 2008 he won the Barcelona World Race with Jean Pierre Dick and sailed with Ireland’s Green Dragon team in the 2009 Volvo Ocean Race. He recounts how professional sailing has evolved to push human performance ever further to the mythical edge. Damian’s positive attitude, stamina and courage shine through as he shows what takes place in the white heat of competition. While he has accomplished much, finding proud moments and tragedy, Foxall’s journey still has a distance to go.

© Marése O’Suillivan, December 2011.

Published on http://www.writing.ie. Link: http://writing.ie/meet-the-authors/non-fiction/general-interest/449-david-branigan-ocean-fever.html

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