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Tom Dolan's First Solo Maître CoQ Race Now Planned for Wednesday

14th March 2023
Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan has been forced to stay ashore for two days due to weather
Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan has been forced to stay ashore for two days due to weather

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 course on Tuesday.

There is positive news for Ireland's Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan) and the 29 other solo competitors who have been forced to stay ashore for two days.

The situation is expected to improve significantly by Wednesday and should allow the organization to launch the first contest, a coastal course of 15, 5 miles between Petite Barge and Port-Bourgenay.

The start of this race which has a coefficient of 1.5 is scheduled for 1100hrs.

The winds should be from the south-southeast blowing between 6 and 12 knots.

Then Thursday at midday is the start of the main 340 miles offshore between the Iles de Ré, Yeu and Belle-Ile.

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.