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Irish Sailor Tom Dolan and French Co-skipper Secure Fourth Place in Laura Vergne Trophy

27th March 2024
Irish sailor Tom Dolan (pictured) and his French co-skipper Paul Morvan were fourth in France's Laura Vergne Trophy
Irish sailor Tom Dolan (pictured) and his French co-skipper Paul Morvan were fourth in France's Laura Vergne Trophy

Irish sailor Tom Dolan and his French co-skipper Paul Morvan secured a commendable fourth-place finish in the Laura Vergne Trophy following a 270-mile offshore race that ended on Monday.

Dolan and Morvan, who sailed Dolan’s Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan, held their own in the early and middle stages of the race, which took place off the Breton coast between the Isle de Yeu and the Glénan islands. Despite a strong offshore route option, the duo played it safe and opted to control their position, finishing the race in sixth place.

Dolan was quick to praise his young co-skipper, who has an Olympic classes background, for his contributions during the race. The next challenge for Dolan will be the new Niji40 race across the Atlantic to Guadeloupe, which is set to start on April 7.

Published in Tom Dolan
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Tom Dolan, Solo Offshore Sailor

Even when County Meath solo sailor Tom Dolan had been down the numbers in the early stages of the four-stage 2,000 mile 2020 Figaro Race, Dolan and his boat were soon eating their way up through the fleet in any situation which demanded difficult tactical decisions.

His fifth overall at the finish – the highest-placed non-French sailor and winner of the Vivi Cup – had him right among the international elite in one of 2020's few major events.

The 33-year-old who has lived in Concarneau, Brittany since 2009 but grew up on a farm in rural County Meath came into the gruelling four-stage race aiming to get into the top half of the fleet and to underline his potential to Irish sailing administrators considering the selection process for the 2024 Olympic Mixed Double Offshore category which comes in for the Paris games.