National Yacht Club Solo Sailor Tom Dolan 7th in the Allmer Le Havre Cup

28th May 2022

Tom Dolan of the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour finished in 12th in today’s 27-mile coastal race

Ireland’s solo skipper Tom Dolan of Smurfit Kappa Kingspan finished in a very creditable seventh place overall today in the second event of the French Elite Solo Offshore Championship, the Allmer Le Havre Cup which was raced out of the Channel port of Le Havre for the fifth time.

Dolan of the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour finished in 12th in today’s 27 mile coastal race in the Bay of the Seine. Added to an excellent fifth on Friday on a slightly longer coastal race the Irish skipper has shown a marked improvement on the shorter inshore races which have been his Achilles Heel before now.

“I could have done better and by finishing 12th in this final race, I let a top 5 slip away. But in the end it's still a Top 10 which is pleasing after a disappointing Solo Maitre Coq earlier in the season. In terms of the fleet then Tom Laperche maybe seems a bit untouchable at the moment but otherwise he first ten places are very open and that is encouraging.” Concluded Dolan who lines up with Briton Alan Roberts in the double handed Sardinha Cup, from June 3 to 19.

Published in Tom Dolan, Figaro, National YC, Solo Sailing

Published in Tom Dolan

Tagged under

Tom Dolan

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

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.