Irish skipper Tom Dolan eagerly looks forward to Saturday's Tour de Bretagne à la Voile, where he believes a podium place is within reach.
The four-stage, double-handed race starts on Saturday, July 1st and goes around the Brittany peninsula starting from Saint Quay Portrieux, in the NE, on the Bay of Saint Brieuc, with offshore stages to Brest and Lorient before finishing on July 9th in the SW of Brittany in Quiberon. At each stop, there is a day race.
It is a key event on the Championnat de France Elite Course au Large and an important chance to check in with a very high-level Figaro fleet before September’s pinnacle event, the Solitaire du Figaro
After a break to recover from his unsuccessful challenge for the Round Ireland speed record, Dolan has been training hard on the water and is pleased with his form.
The National Yacht Club sailor will sail this double-handed race with French co-skipper Kevin Bloch, a highly talented and sought-after allrounder who has just won a very competitive Class40 in the CIC Normandy Channel Race with Italian skipper Ambrogia Beccaria.
“I have done a lot of sailing in the last week or so and I am very happy with the speed I have. The boat is going well. It is all good. And I have been working on setting up the new sails I will use on La Solitaire du Figaro. I will keep them for good, for La Solitaire, but we have worked on a few things which I feel are good to have in my pocket. And I am glad to get that preparation phase completed.” Said Dolan after arriving in the pretty coastal town of Saint-Quay.
“I am so keen to get going. There was a Transatlantic race which kind of split the fleet up, those who did it and those, like me, who didn’t. And so there is a real sense of anticipation here now. And believe me there are some very good duos, a few of the older, top guys back for this, so it will be great competition.” Dolan adds.
“And this is double handed so the performance level is sustained at a higher level, and over the next week or so, there is a lot of racing; it is very intense, and so good preparation for La Solitaire."
Of his French co-skipper, Dolan comments, “Kevin is someone I got to know in 2020 when he raced La Solitaire and finished first rookie, I was on the podium as best international, and so we got to know each other. And then this winter, we have done a bit of work together on the new autopilots. He is an engineer as well as a good sailor. He is a great allrounder.”
The Irish racer believes a podium finish overall is within reach.
“I have the boat, I have the speed, I have the experience now, so that is what we are aiming for,” Dolan concludes.
