Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

County Meath solo sailor Tom Dolan is confident he will be fighting fit for the double-handed Transat en Doible Concarneau to Saint Barthelem which starts May 9th. This is despite an ankle injury sustained by Dolan in the Season Opening…

The annual Solo Maître CoQ, the traditional curtain-raiser for the Figaro season, has never gone very well for the Irish racer Tom Dolan but the skipper of Smurfit Kappa has this time made a strong start to the early season…

Ireland’s leading solo offshore racer Tom Dolan was recognised for his exceptional 2020 season, during which he finished in an unprecedented fifth place in La Solitaire du Figaro, when he was named Irish Sailor of the Year. The award, now…

With not enough wind to run Stage 4 of La Solitaire du Figaro Ireland’s Tom Dolan secured an excellent fifth place overall on Smurfit Kappa. It is the best international overall placing in the historic French multi-stage offshore race series…

The newfound more robust, cool-headed approach continues to work for Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan who today finished seventh on Leg 3 of the 51st La Solitaire du Figaro, an epic four day 492 miles light winds slog from Dunkirk…

Tom Dolan is hoping the same measured, steady approach that has served him well on the first two stages of La Solitaire du Figaro will work just as well on Stage 3, a challenging 504 miles leg from Dunkirk in…

Finishing 11th into Dunkirk, France on the 404 miles second stage of La Solitaire du Figaro this evening Ireland’s Tom Dolan has maintained the level of consistency which he was seeking when he left Saint Brieuc on Sunday morning. As…

 The second stage of the La Solitaire du Figaro started on the Baie de Saint-Brieuc, northern Brittany in a light to moderate north-easterly breeze at 1100hrs this Sunday morning. The 404 nautical miles stage takes the 35 strong field of…

Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan made the solid start he wanted to open the 51st La Solitaire Figaro, the annual French multi-stage solo offshore race when he brought Smurfit Kappa across the finish line on the Baie de Saint Brieuc…

Ireland’s Tom Dolan sailing Smurfit Kappa is looking to the 380 nautical miles Solo Concarneau Trophée Guy Cotten, which starts Thursday, to confirm that he has everything in place for the season’s pinnacle solo event, the 1830 miles, four-stage La…

Early mistakes in very light and very fluky winds cost Tom Dolan dearly, leaving the Irish solo racer with no real chances to recover and make the solid opening he had wanted in the 340 nautical miles Solo Maître CoQ…

With the gradual easing of the French lockdown and offshore racing sailors now having returned to training, the future is again looking brighter for Irish solo racer Tom Dolan. Since relaunching at the beginning of June the Brittany based racer,…

After April's Transatlantic race, Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan is planning to bring his boat Smurfit Kappa to Ireland for six weeks to trial some potential female sailors with a view to forming an Irish campaign for the two-handed offshore…

Tom Dolan, the Irish skipper of Smurfit Kappa, finished his first season in the Beneteau Figaro 3 on something of a high note when he took fourth place on the last stage of the 12th Tour de Bretagne à la…

Finishing into Dieppe today 22nd place less than 45 minutes after Stage 4 winner Eric Peron (French Touch) after just under four days of hard racing Ireland’s Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa) finishes in 25th place overall on the 50th La…

Tom Dolan started the fourth and final leg of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro this afternoon off Roscoff, looking to finish inside the top 10 on the stage, just as he did on the previous stage finishing into the Bay…

Following a general recall which really underlined how competitive and keyed up the 46 strong fleet was to get under way, the 460 miles Stage 3 of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro started this afternoon from Roscoff on the famous…

Keeping a cool head, making carefully assimilated decisions and managing himself to ensure he has enough energy for the second half of the four stages, 2115 miles race from Nantes to Dieppe via Kinsale, Ireland. These are the key maxims…

Tired, slightly disappointed but nonetheless armed with a number of valuable lessons which he will take forward to next month’s La Solitaire URO Le Figaro, Ireland’s Tom Dolan finished 28th into Les Sables d’Olonne on Smurfit Kappa yesterday afternoon (Saturday)…