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Tom Dolan, Solo Sailor
Tom Dolan and Alan Roberts on Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan
Tom Dolan and his English co-skipper Alan Roberts were taking the many positives from the seventh place finish that they secured early this morning (Thursday 5 May) when the Trophée Banque Populaire Route Sur La Route Iles Ponant finished into…
Ireland’s Tom Dolan (left with England’s Alan Roberts
Ireland’s Tom Dolan pairs up with England’s Alan Roberts looking to cash in on new 800 mile Trophée Banque Populaire Grand Ouest race. Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan paired up with on-form top English racer Alan Roberts on Sunday when…
Tom Dolan - shorter courses have been the Achilles heel for the Irish solo sailor
A hard-earned 12th place in the final coastal race (Sunday) was small consolation for Irish solo racer Tom Dolan. Added to his 13th from Saturday’s light wind windward-leeward circuit Dolan, skipper of Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan finishes the first major race of…
Tom Dolan - itching to be back racing solo on his Figaro Beneteau 3 Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan
A long, comprehensive spring season of training and preparation comes to an end Tuesday as Irish solo offshore sailor Tom Dolan takes on the first major solo race of the 2022 season. The Solo Maître Coq is the traditional curtain…
Ireland’s leading solo offshore racer Tom Dolan
Ireland’s leading solo offshore racer Tom Dolan has almost finished his training phase prior to the start of the five events which comprise the 2022 French Elite Offshore Racing Championship, the season-long solo and short-handed circuit which has La Solitaire…
Tom Dolan and Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan have clear air and are on their way to first at the Fastnet Rock.
The exceptionally-demanding final 642-mile stage of La Solitaire du Figaro 2021 took the 34-strong fleet from Morlaix in Brittany northwest round the Fastnet Rock, and then southeast to the finish at Saint-Nazaire on France's Biscay Coast. After three frustrating stages,…
Podium place plus for a cheerful Tom Dolan in Saint-Nazaire, with Vivi Trophy victory and third in the final Figaro stage
Ireland’s Tom Dolan was in fine form last night (Friday) in Saint-Nazaire at the awards ceremony for the 52nd Solitaire du Figaro, winning the Vivi Trophy for the best-placed non-French skipper in the demanding fourth stage, and taking third place…
Taking third place in stage four a jubilant Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa - Kingspan) crosses the line at Saint Nazaire to complete the podium of the final stage of La Solitaire du Figaro
Tom Dolan with Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan threw aside the earlier frustrations of the Figaro Solo 2021 by taking third place at the conclusion of the final stage at the finish off St Nazaire tonight (Thursday). Having been in the lead in…
Tom Dolan is in third place and vying for a stage four win this lunchtime in the closing stages of the 2021 La Solitaire Du Figaro
Having led the fleet round the Fastnet rock, Ireland's solo sailor Tom Dolan is in third place and vying for a stage four win this lunchtime in the closing stages of the 2021 La Solitaire Du Figaro off Saint Nazaire,…
Tom Dolan leads La Solitaire du Figaro Towards the Fastnet
The Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan is leading the 52nd La Solitaire du Figaro fleet towards the Fastnet Rock with high hopes that he will be able to stay in front and lead the 34 boat fleet round the iconic…
Ireland's Tom Dolan is expected to return to the Fastnet Rock this week in the final stage of the 2021 Figaro solo race
Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan was placing his faith in a slightly different, more westerly strategy as he left Morlaix Bay in north Brittany this afternoon at the start of a mammoth 685 miles final stage of La Solitaire du…
Disappointed in Roscoff - Tom Dolan rues the loss of a top ten finish on leg 3
The disappointment was etched into Tom Dolan’s tired face as he docked Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan into Roscoff this afternoon at the end of a tough 624 miles Stage 3 of La Solitaire du Figaro. Having been ninth at Bishop Rock, at…
A friend in need? Even with the support of friendly dolphins, the final leg of Stage 3 of the Figaro Solo 2021 has not gone well for Tom Dolan
Things had been looking good for Tom Dolan on Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan going into the final 120-mile Isles of Scilly to Roscoff leg of Stage 3 in the Figaro Solo 2021. He’d worked his way up to 8th as they made…
Tom Dolan has ranged through the fleet in Stage 3 of the Figaro Solo 2021, but is currently in the top ten in the final 120-mile leg from the isles of Scilly to Roscoff in Brittany
In the exceptionally challenging sailing of the 620-mile third stage of the Figaro Solo 2021, Tom Dolan on Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan was lying eighth as he rounded the Bishop Rock at the western point of the Isles of Scilly at 1400…
Ireland's Tom Dolan lies 17th in the 34 boat fleet of La Solitaire du Figaro
Ireland’s solo offshore racer Tom Dolan set out from Fécamp on the north coast of France at midday today ready to take on the 620 miles Leg 3 of La Solitaire du Figaro. After two tough stages which both featured…
Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan arrives in Fécamp
It was a tired, disappointed but totally objective Tom Dolan who arrived in Fécamp, France this morning in 22nd place at the end of a tough 490 miles Leg 2 of La Solitaire du Figaro which started on Sunday afternoon…

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.