YACHTSMAN Phil Sharp is set to tackle the Atlantic again.

The Jerseyman, CI Sports Personality of 2006 for his solo crossing triumph in the Route du Rhum, has entered the highly-competitive Figaro Transat, a 3,700-mile two-handed race from Concarneau in western France to St Barts in the Caribbean.

Starting on 20 April, former Victoria College student Sharp will race with the Czech Republic’s top offshore sailor David Krizek in a 30-ft Beneteau. Sharp, who sprang to national prominence with his Rhum heroics, is the only British sailor in a fleet dominated by the French, including some of the best short-hand sailors in the world.

Sharp sees the Figaro, the only current large fleet one-design class in existence, as a vital stepping stone towards his ultimate ambition of tackling the Open 60 Vandee Globe in 2012.

The 26-year-old said: ‘The Figaro class is about going back to college in ocean racing. The competition is unbelievably high – no matter what boat you’ve sailed before, you get a reality check and learn fast. If you want to progress to the top of ocean racing, the Open 60 class leaders, then the Figaro class is almost essential – it hammers home the fundamentals around offshore yacht racing better than any other class.

‘What is incredible is how hard people push their boats – there are tales of people keeping their large spinnakers up in 45 knots of wind and averaging 20 knots and that’s seriously quick for a 30-ft boat.’

Sharp, having been unable to get a competitive boat, Sharp deemed this year’s Vandee as not feasible – and he is determined to be competitive when he tackles the ‘pinnacle’.

‘I believe the best time to step up to the Open 60 circuit is after the next Vendee. That will mark the start of a four-year preparation programme culiminating in the 2012 event which is my ultimate goal in sailing. Next year will be a good time to buy a second-hand Vandee craft to develop in before building a new boat to race. We are looking for partners with which to progress to the pinnacle of ocean racing.’

Sharp and Krizek, who finished third in the 2007 Rhum, have set up a training camp in Lorient, France, with Tanguay Leglatin, one of Brittany’s top ocean racing coaches. They will enter this Spi Ouest, France’s biggest sailing regatta, and Sharp will also go in the three-day single-handed Figaro race from Les Sables d’Olonne.