Solo Dolan Lying 24th in Mini Transat Îles de Guadeloupe

4th November 2015

Turning west, like most of the fleet, Ireland's debutante entry in the Mini Transat lies in 24th place this morning with a daunting Atlantic crossing ahead of him. County Meath's Thomas Dolan is in a mid–fleet position in his 44–boat fleet and keen to repeat his first stage top twenty performance.

mini transat course

Lying 24th in his fleet, Dolan's position is marked in red

Following the retirement of Davy Beaudart, it is Radek Kowalczyk's turn to throw in the towel after having to abandon his brand new Calbud.

It is a harsh blow for the Polish sailor. Radek was innovative in his concept of having the prototype be built in series, hoping to encourage new vocations and inspire sailors of less fortunate means to dive into the prototype experience, allowing each to fix and fiddle with his own boat from a common basis.

In 2011, Radek completed his first participation in the Mini Transat, on an old prototype, fired by the promise of returning on a much more powerful boat. He had to wait until 2015 to fulfil his dreams, but the adventure will not see completion. The Mini Transat Iles de Guadeloupe loses a particularly endearing, unassuming sailor.

As expected, the fleet has started to turn west before reaching the Cape Verde archipelago. However, the skippers are facing a true dilemma. The wind is still stronger in the south and everyone is confronted by the same question: how far are they going to lengthen the route?

Ranking 3rd November at 18h (TU+1)

Prototypes (Ranking Eurovia Cegelec)
1. Frederic Denis, Nautipark, 2195 nm to finish
2. Jean-Baptiste Daramy, Chocolats Paries, 41 nm to leader
3. Michele Zambelli, Illumia, 48
4. Ludovic Mechin, Microvitae, 53
5. Clement Bouyssou, Le Bon Agent - Bougeons l'Immobilier, 56

Series (Ranking Ocean Bio-Actif)
1. Ian Lipinski, Entreprises Innovantes, 2257 nm to finish
2. Benoit Hantzperg, YCA Dhumeaux Secours Populaire, 7 nm to leader
3. Julien Pulve, Novintiss, 8
4. Tanguy Le Turquais, Terreal, 45
5. Dimitri Simons, Teamsolo.nl, 54

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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.