Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Monday 0900am - After 17 hours at sea, Tom Dolan is making strong progress off the Donegal Coast on Bank Holiday Monday morning, having departed Dublin Bay just before 4 pm yesterday in a northabout bid to break the solo and double-handed…

Day One (start): Just coming up to 4pm on Sunday, 29th October 2023, Ireland's leading solo sailor, the French-based Tom Dolan, embarked on his latest adventure to round Ireland in under four days and break the 2020 doublehanded record according to the bid…

Follow Tom Dolan during his Round Ireland Speed record attempt in the live tracker below. The course is approximately 700 miles long.  Check out all Afloat's regular Tom Dolan updates on the record bid right here

On stand-by in Greystones, County Wicklow for his second attempt at a Round Ireland speed record since early October, Tom Dolan will set off this afternoon for the Kish lighthouse startline on Dublin Bay. After some final weather discussions with…

 Ireland's leading solo sailor, the French-based Tom Dolan, is still waiting at Greystones Harbour Marina in County Wicklow for the right wind to embark on his second bid at the Round Ireland speed sailing record. Sunday night (October 22) brought the…

As solo star Tom Dolan said when he arrived this week in Greystones to position himself on stand-by for his waiting-game round Ireland record challenge from the Kish Lighthouse, the current increasingly Autumnal weather pattern is much more encouragingly dynamic…

Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan is back in Ireland with his Figaro Beneteau 3 Smurfit Kappa Kingspan, aiming to set a Round Ireland speed sailing record, a bid sparking debate about the status of solo sailing in Irish waters and the…

Pip Hare picked up a magazine one day to read about the BOC challenge, which was the forerunner to the Vendéé Globe. “And all of a sudden, there is Isabelle Autissier, absolutely kicking arse and being written about in the…

A solo sailor who sought assistance off the west coast in Storm Agnes is being towed to safety. RNLI lifeboats from Achill and Clifden responded to the alert when the yacht, believed to be Norwegian, reported being in difficulty ten…

True to its tradition of hosting world-famous sailors, the town of Les Sables d'Olonne in France, the global capital of single-handed ocean racing, is now home to the International Association of Cape Horners Cape Horn Hall of Fame. Les Sables…

Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Royal Irish Yacht Club and professional services firm BDO will co-host an exclusive evening with Pip Hare, the solo ocean sailor, on Thursday, October 5 at 7:00 pm. As Afloat reported at the time, Hare, who turned…

The annual French solo, multi-stage one-design offshore race, La Solitaire du Figaro is an incredible sporting challenge, and this year’s edition, the 54th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec, which finished into Piriac-sur-Mer on Thursday morning was no exception. Although there…

Tom Dolan of Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan has made a commendable climb up the leaderboard in the latest update from the 2023 La Solitaire du Figaro, positioning himself in sixth place. He was 4.5 miles behind the leader, Benoît Tuduri of CAPSO…

Benoît Tuduri of CAPSO en Cavale has made a formidable comeback on the third and final stage of the 54th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec. Tuduri was denied the Stage 1 win due to a rookie rules transgression but has…

Ireland's Tom Dolan was eighth at the first turning mark in the third and final leg of the  La Solitaire Figaro this Sunday afternoon and well in the match in the race. Last Thursday and Friday, Roscoff may have yielded one…

Irish sailor Tom Dolan is preparing for the final stage of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec, bracing himself for another bout of light winds that could present a significant challenge. Dolan, who sails for Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan, had a disappointing second…