Solo Sailing and Circumavigation News
Twenty years ago, the thought that the two Conor O’Brien-designed and Baltimore-built ketches – the 1922 42ft world-girdling Saoirse and the 1926 56ft trader-ferry Ilen - would be sailing together at their birthplace in 2023, the Centenary Year of the…
Kirsten Neuschäfer has made history as the first woman — and first South African — to win a solo round-the-world sailing race with her victory in the 2022-23 Golden Globe Race on Thursday (27 April). She also took line honours…
Tom Dolan is on Standby for “Faux Solo” 700-mile Round Ireland Speed Sailing Record Bid
24th April 2023 Tom Dolan
While his boat Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan has now been berthed at Greystones Harbour, south of Dublin, since Wednesday, Irish solo skipper Tom Dolan will start his 'stand by' period when he is reunited with the Figaro Beneteau 3 this weekend. Dolan…
Ireland's World-girdling Saoirse Is Re-born - All Welcome At Thursday's Skibbereen Launching Of Photo-Book Of The Magical Process
18th April 2023 Conor O'Brien
Anyone who doesn't respond at several emotional levels to the atmosphere in an ancient boat-building shed when a traditional wooden boat is being re-created in the time-honoured style can only be soul-dead. And when the boat in question is Conor…
Irish sailor Tom Dolan bid farewell to his Figaro Beneteau 3 Smurfit Kappa – Kingspan today in Concarneau, France, as the boat left for the delivery to Dun Laoghaire where he will go on standby to wait for an optimum…
The best news for Ireland thus far in this developing sailing season of 2023 is that, at last weekend’s 400-boat four-day Spi Ouest Easter Regatta at La Trinite in Southern Brittany, Meath’s own Tom Dolan won the hyper-keen Figaro 3…
Ireland’s Tom Dolan, sailing with a crew comprising England’s Alan Roberts and French ace Gildas Mahe, took overall victory today in the hotly contested Figaro Beneteau 3 class in France’s huge annual Easter showcase regatta Spi Ouest France. Racing over four…
Irish sailor Tom Dolan and his French co-skipper Achille Nebout should have been content with finishing in ninth place when they crossed the line off La Trinite sur Mer, Brittany yesterday, concluding the 315 nautical miles Laura Vergne Trophy, but…
Tom Dolan Sailing with French Co-skipper Achille Nebout for Trophee Laura Vergne
3rd April 2023 Tom Dolan
Two weeks after his encouraging sixth in the 2023’s season’s first race, the Solo Maître CoQ, Irish sailor Tom Dolan transitions to double-handed mode as he pairs up with French ace Achille Nebout for the new 316 miles Trophee Laura…
Ireland’s Conor O’Brien Circumnavigation Centenary Celebrations Feel Like Fantasy Fulfilled
1st April 2023 W M Nixon
Let us imagine that you are both an enthusiast for Conor O’Brien (1880-1952), the Shannon Estuary’s great pioneering voyager, and that you are also one of those number-crunchers who enjoy calculating on what particular day significant anniversaries will fall in…
True to its tradition of hosting world-famous sailors, Les Sables d'Olonne, the global capital of single-handed ocean racing, is now home to the International Association of Cape Horners Cape Horn Hall of Fame. The International Association of Cape Horners (IACH)…
Figaro Sailor Tom Dolan in Solo Round Ireland Speed Sailing Record Bid
24th March 2023 Round Ireland Speed Record
Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan plans to return to his native Ireland from France in May when he will seek to break the singlehanded record for sailing 698 nautical miles around Ireland. The skipper of Smurfit Kappa –Kingspan is aiming…
Ireland’s leading solo offshore racer Tom Dolan laid to rest the ghosts of three past Solo Maître CoQ events when he finished seventh overall from a 30-boat fleet Saturday. After his 11th in Wednesday’s short inshore race the skipper of Smurfit…
As expected the weather conditions and more significantly the sea state with a swell greater than 5 meters off Les Sables d'Olonne, required Race Management of the 20th Solo Maître CoQ to give up the idea of a short coastal…
Tom Dolan Staying 'Mentally Focused' as Gales Cancel First Solo Races of 2023
13th March 2023 Tom Dolan
After Monday's severe gales which buffeted the French Vendee coast to keep Ireland's Tom Dolan and the 29 other solo skippers tied to the dock in Les Sables d'Olonne unable to race, a proposed new programme for the Solo Maître…
Kinsale is Part of 2023 La Solitaire du Figaro Three Stage, 1850 Miles Course
8th March 2023 Kinsale
The course for 2023's 54th edition of La Solitaire du Figaro will be contested over three stages over the period August 27 to September 13 and will call to Kinsale in late August. As Afloat reported earlier, the route was…