Irish ocean racer Tom Dolan from the National Yacht Club and his co-skipper Tanguy Bouroullec had moved inside the top ten in the Transat AG2R La Mondiale on Tuesday as the finish line draws close.

The pair have less than 700 miles to sail to the finish in the Caribbean island of St Barts having set sail from Concarneau in France on April 22, and currently lie tenth.

Their battle with 12th-placed Erwan La Draoulec and Loïs Berrehar, fellow newcomers – or ‘bizuths’ in French, continues with less than 20 miles separating the two teams in terms of distance to finish.

"The pair have less than 700 miles to sail to the finish in the Caribbean island of St Barts"

“A little over four days to go before arriving and the Battle of the Bizuths is in full swing,” Dolan said from his boat Smufit Kappa - Cerfrance.

“Yesterday morning as the sun rose it was panic stations on board Smurfit Kappa - Cerfrance as the first position report of the day revealed that the other young guns on board Concarneau Entreprendre had gained six miles on us in the night! 

“A cloud line from the north had given them a turbo boost that we were yet to receive. Luckily the same cloud line passed us over later in the day and the gap widened.”

With only a handful of days remaining, Dolan and Bouroullec also have to deal with the threat of Justine Mettraux and Isabelle Joschke on Teamwork, in 11th place.

“This morning we were just a half a mile behind Justine and Isabelle on board Teamwork and our objective of a top ten finish,” added Dolan, from Kells in County Meath.

“Even though they both have a number of seasons of Figaro behind them, it is their first Transat AG2R La Mondiale so they qualify for our Battle of the Bizuths on a technicality.

“A windy night last night helped us scream along the rhumb line. Less than 700 miles to go to Saint Barts and there is a big lateral split in the fleet, hard to know who will come out on top!”