Irish Solo Sailor Tom Dolan Lying Fourth in La Solitaire du Figaro Race to Kinsale

28th August 2023

Afloat.ie Team

Tom Dolan, who is representing Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan, had a strong and safe start to the first stage of the 610-mile race off Ouistreham

Irish sailor Tom Dolan is currently in fourth place on the second day of the 54th La Solitaire du Figaro race, which is taking place in France.

Dolan, who is representing Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan, had a strong and safe start to the first stage of the 610-mile race off Ouistreham on Sunday afternoon.

A good first night for Tom Dolan sees him in fourth place

He is not typically known for his performance in the short, opening round the buoys courses, but he surprised his competitors with his early success. Dolan is now heading across the Channel towards Nab Tower, the Isle of Wight, and the Needles Fairway buoy, before making his way to his native Ireland.

According to Dolan and his fellow competitors, the journey is expected to be filled with surprises and challenges.

The race began on Monday, and the leaders are expected to reach Kinsale, County Cork, early on Thursday morning.

Published in Tom Dolan

Tagged under

La Solitaire du Figaro

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.