A glutton for punishment? After a tough, stamina-sapping 408 nautical miles second leg of the Sardinha Cup in strong, gusty winds, freezing temperatures which even brought hailstones, Ireland’s Smurfit Kappa pair Tom Dolan and Damian Foxall cannot wait to go back racing, looking ahead to the third and final stage to try and better their 20th place on Leg 2.
They started well and were well among the contenders in the early stages of the leg which drew a long downwind and upwind between the Gironde estuary, off Bordeaux, and a northerly turning mark off Glenans, south Finistère.
"After the initial losses, Dolan feels they took a riskier option at the Ile de Yeu which did not pay"
Dolan reported, "Just as during the warm-up, we started very well and the early stages were really good for us. But on the downwind to the buoy BXA, we got a fishing line and rope on the keel. It took a while to realise what was happening as we were still making 11-12 knots! We were three or four knots slower than the others for while. We just did not know what was happening. We swapped helming a couple of times. When we did we had to take the kite down and back up. That probably cost us 20 minutes alone.”
After the initial losses, Dolan feels they took a riskier option at the Ile de Yeu which did not pay. “I guess we were frustrated and felt we had to take a bigger risk and lost three boats there.” Smurfit Kappa lies 19th overall in this first series of offshore races for the new Figaro Beneteau 3. The third stage starts on Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s a bit frustrating that happened, it was bad luck. But we are fast. I don’t think we have any problems there. We are probably one of the fastest boats at the moment. There is no real hierarchy at the top, probably 15 good boats emerging with a chance of winning legs. Now for us, it has to be third time lucky doesn’t it!”
