Solo Sailing and Circumavigation News
Tom Dolan Secures 12th Place Finish in Solo Concarneau Before August's Figaro Race
28th July 2023 Tom Dolan
Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan achieved a tenth-place finish on the 395-mile offshore race of the event, which took place on Friday afternoon. After two days of inshore races, Dolan recovered from a disappointing start to the offshore race and…
After a series of mainly double-handed and crewed races so far this season, Irish sailor Tom Dolan returns to solo racing mode this week when he takes on the 47th edition of the Solo Guy Cotten – Concarneau against high-calibre…
Conor O'Brien 'Saoirse' Rally Hailed a Success as Fleet Prepare to Depart Madeira
17th July 2023 Conor O'Brien
The centenary international Irish sailing event called the ‘Saoirse Rally’ has come to a successful end on the 8th of July 2023 after a series of celebrations hosted in Funchal, Madeira by the Clube Naval de Funchal, Madeira Tourism Board…
Conor O’Brien Two Year Saoirse Circumnavigation Centenary Celebration Now Well Under Way
11th July 2023 Conor O'Brien
A hundred years ago on this day, Conor O’Brien of Limerick’s 42ft own-designed ketch - newly-built by Tom Moynihan of Baltimore with some of the West Cork shipwright’s small but very effective hull shape improvements - was well into a…
Tom Dolan and French Co-Skipper Kevin Bloch are Top 5 on the Tour of Brittany
7th July 2023 Tom Dolan
After five races on the Tour de Bretagne à la Voile, the Irish-French pairing of Tom Dolan and Kévin Bloch, racing the Irish skipper’s Smurfit Kappa–Kingspan, are holding fifth place in the 26-boat fleet as of Friday (7 July). Still…
New York Vendée Set for Return as Final Confrontation Before the Vendée Globe 2024
7th July 2023 Vendee Globe
Organisers of the Vendée Globe have released the Notice of Race for the transatlantic New York Vendée–Les Sables d’Olonne in May 2024. Last held in 2016 with 14 IMOCAs, this second edition will be the first organised by the Vendée…
Dolan and Bloch’s Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan Fifth Into Brest on Tour of Brittany
4th July 2023 Tom Dolan
Ireland’s Tom Dolan and his French co-skipper Kévin Bloch took a hard earned fifth place on Tuesday (4 July) at the end of the first offshore leg of the Tour de Bretagne a la Voile, racing from Saint Quay-Portrieux to…
Irish skipper Tom Dolan eagerly looks forward to Saturday's Tour de Bretagne à la Voile, where he believes a podium place is within reach. The four-stage, double-handed race starts on Saturday, July 1st and goes around the Brittany peninsula starting…
Vessel Found in Search for Missing Cork-Bound Sailor as Family Appeal for Information
29th June 2023 Solo Sailing
A vessel has been found in the search for a solo sailor who went missing last week while en route to West Cork. However, there is still no sign of its skipper, whose family have issued an appeal for any…
Jakub Ziemkiewicz is Building His Own Racing Yacht in Cork Harbour to Race the Mini Globe
22nd June 2023 Tom MacSweeney
Jakub Ziemkiewicz tells me he was “born to sail but forced to work.” He is working as I talk to him - on the yacht he is building in a shed at Aghada in the northeast corner of Cork Harbour…
Ketch Ilen is Lead Vessel in Saoirse Rally to Celebrate Legendary Irish Sailor Conor O'Brien
20th June 2023 Conor O'Brien
An international Irish sailing event called the “Saoirse Rally” organised by the Irish Cruising Club, launched from Dun Laoghaire harbour, Co. Dublin, Ireland last Saturday, 17th June 2023, to commemorate the heroic achievements one hundred years ago of legendary Irish…
Conor O’Brien Honoured With Ilen Dun Laoghaire Celebration For Saoirse Circumnavigation Centenary
18th June 2023 Ilen
The Commemoration of the Centenary of the pioneering global circumnavigation south of the Great Capes by Conor O’Brien of Foynes, sailing the 42ft ketch Saoirse between June 20th 1923 and June 20th 1925, was put underway yesterday (Saturday) from Dun…
Ilen Departure from Dun Laoghaire Harbour Marks Start of Conor O'Brien’s Saoirse Centenary Celebrations
18th June 2023 Historic Boats
The Royal Irish Yacht Club was the focus on Saturday afternoon for the beginning of celebrations of the centenary of Conor O'Brien's departure in Saoirse from Dun Laoghaire Harbour on his pioneering global circumnavigation. An Irish Cruising Club/Royal Cruising Club gathering was hosted…
Conor O'Brien’s Saoirse Departure Centenary Underlines Dun Laoghaire’s Central Role
17th June 2023 W M Nixon
A hundred years ago next Tuesday, June 20th, Conor O'Brien (1880-1952) of Foynes took his departure with some fanfare aboard his 42ft Saoirse from the harbour her skipper preferred to call Dunleary, though most of its citizens saw it as…
Re-Born 'Saoirse' Stars With 'Ilen' And Many Others In Baltimore Woodenboat Festival
2nd June 2023 Historic Boats
With just three weeks to go to the Centenary of the departure from Ireland on June 20th 1923 of Conor O’Brien’s world-girdling 42ft Baltimore-built ketch Saoirse, the public debut of the re-born Saoirse (Fred Kinmonth) at last weekend’s Baltimore Wooden…
Leonie King's Memories of Her Late Father Solo Sailor Commander Bill King
31st May 2023 Wavelength Podcast
“There’s a Japanese man coming, it’s probably revenge..would you just go away, I’m old; I don’t mind dying “ “I came back three hours later and they were on their third bottle of white wine..” That’s one of many memories…