Displaying items by tag: Tour De Bretagne a La Voile

7th July 2023

Tom Dolan and French Co-Skipper Kevin Bloch are Top 5 on the Tour of Brittany

After five races on the Tour de Bretagne à la Voile, the Irish-French pairing of Tom Dolan and Kévin Bloch, racing the Irish skipper’s Smurfit Kappa–Kingspan, are holding fifth place in the 26-boat fleet as of Friday (7 July).

Still to be contested are the weekend’s offshore race from Lorient to Quiberon and a Sunday day race on the Bay of Quiberon.

“We’re in the game and it’s nice, even if we have not really hit the high spots yet, but we have been quite consistent,” said Dolan.

He reported that after he and Bloch really struggled in the calm in the last miles of the first stage between Saint-Quay-Portrieux and Brest, on Thursday night (6 July) they were snared again in light airs off the Glénans islands after they had been going very well up to that point.

“We led almost the entire race but we got caught up in the light stuff at the end once again,” Dolan said. “It’s a bit frustrating because we go well offshore and we work hard and smart and then we end up being trapped in the calms near the finish. But, hey ho, that’s the way it goes sometimes so all in all we are happy.”

In fifth, Dolan and Blochare now 16 points behind the leaders, Basile Bourgnon and Corentin Horeau, and 13 points from the podium.

“We have a good rhythm on board. Today on this race around the island of Groix we didn't get off to a very good start but we managed to climb through the fleet,” said Dolan.

“And now there are still plenty of points left on the board with two races left, including this shorter offshore from Lorient to Quiberon with a points coefficient of two so we will stay focused.

“There will be a few twists and turns at Belle-Ile on this course so there is everything to play for right to the end.”

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Dolan and Bloch’s Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan Fifth Into Brest on Tour of Brittany

Ireland’s Tom Dolan and his French co-skipper Kévin Bloch took a hard earned fifth place on Tuesday (4 July) at the end of the first offshore leg of the Tour de Bretagne a la Voile, racing from Saint Quay-Portrieux to Brest via a turning mark, Hands Deep, off Plymouth.

Sailing Dolan’s Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan, the duo crossed the line off Brest 19 minutes and five seconds after the stage winners Romain Le Gall and Julien Pulve (Centre Excellence Voile-Secours Populaire 17).

The duo raced an excellent southwards leg between Hands Deep and the Brittany peninsula. Staying west of the fleet which tended to sail low to try and go fast, Dolan and Bloch elected to maintain a high, westerly route which paid off handsomely on the second half of the leg. By the Chaussée de Sein at Ushant they were up to second, challenging for the lead.

But the winds died on the final stretch into Brest and Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan lost places when they sailed into a calm zone.

“Well we are happy enough with the result,” said Dolan on Tuesday afternoon. “I feel we sailed a good race all in all and were a bit unlucky in the end, but that is what happens when you finish into a big port like Brest like that coming in from offshore.

“We tore the jib early on which in the end did not seem to harm us too much. At Hands Deep we were with the lead group and then in the leg south we stuck to our plan. Everyone seemed to want to go low and fast but we always knew there would be less win to the east.

“We stuck to what we thought and actually stopped monitoring the fleet as much on the AIS. So in the end it is a good result, if a little frustrating to have been higher up.”

After this 280-nautical-mile course, the duo were looking to maximise their rest before Wednesday’s (5 July) 23-mile coastal course out of Brest.

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Two Irish Offshore Boats Start France's Tour De Bretagne a La Voile

The 13th Edition of France's Tour De Bretagne a La Voile kicked off yesterday (2nd July) with the Prologue race, which saw the 32 teams in a challenging battle with light winds around the Bay of Saint-Malo.

For the first time in race history, two Irish boats are on the start line.

Race debutantes Dun Laoghaire and Greystones Kenny Rumball and Pamela Lee under the RL Sailing Team banner are sponsored by Hanley Energy.

Tom Dolan, who achieved Ireland's best-ever finish in the Figaro last year, is teamed up with French Coach Tanguy Leglatin Tanguy. Dolan and Leglatin are sponsored by Smurfit Kappa and Kingspan.

Tom Dolan and Tanguy Leglatin (second from left) in the Tour De Bretagne a La Voile prologue

THE RACE COURSE

The 13th Tour de Bretagne continues with the same ambition that has made it so successful: to welcome and bring together fans of the circuit, outstanding racers, as well as youngsters who come to learn their trade before launching themselves into shorthanded offshore sailing.

The short but sporty stages offer a lot of suspense thanks to the numerous difficulties of the coastal navigation. The double-handed race is filled with technical and tactical courses vary from 24 miles to 350 miles along the French Coast. Many of the skippers will have raced and experienced these waters before as part of the Figaro circuit, but for newcomers such as Irish ‘Bizuth’ Pamela Lee of RL Sailing Team, this will be a new, complex and tactical navigational challenge to take on.

“The landscapes are sumptuous and the playground exciting from a navigation point of view: currents, tides, rocks, sandbanks, mythical lighthouses, varied and sometimes changing weather ... there is really something to enjoy and/or tear your hair out.” - explains Jean Coadou, Race Director

THE COMPETITORS

The now traditional Tour de Bretagne A La Voile is a key event in the Figaro circuit, and is a part of the French elite ocean racing championship. The race has an amateur and a pro ranking, and like the rest of the Figaro circuit sees highly experienced ocean racing champions on the same race course as ambitious new-comers, as well as every level in between.

Ireland has had three skippers partake in the race to date, Damian Foxall in 1997 and 1999, Joan Mulloy became Ireland’s first female entrant in 2017 and Tom Dolan raced in 2019.

THE Tour De Bretagne a La Voile SCHEDULE

July 2nd: 12h30 - Prologue
Saturday, July 3rd : 12:30 - Start of the race Saint Malo -> Saint-Quay-Portrieux
Sunday July 4th : 10h00 - Start of the race Saint-Quay-Portrieux-> Saint-Quay-Portrieux
Monday July 05 : 15h00 - Start of the race Saint-Quay-Portrieux-> Douarnenez (arrival in Douarnenez on 7/07 in the morning)
Thursday 08 July : 08h00 - Start of the race Douarnenez -> Concarneau
Friday July 09 : 11h00 - Start of the race Concarneau-> Concarneau Grand Prix " Guy Cotten
Saturday 10th July : 10h00 - Start of the race Concarneau -> Quiberon
Sunday July 11 : 10h00 - Start of the race Quiberon-> Quiberon 8:00 p.m. Prize-giving ceremony for the Tour de Bretagne à la Voile 2021

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National Yacht Club Facilities

Facilities include a slipway directly accessing Dun Laoghaire Harbour, over eighty club moorings, platform parking, pontoons, fuelling, watering and crane-lifting ensure that the NYC is excellently equipped to cater for all the needs of the contemporary sailor. Berths with diesel, water, power and overnight facilities are available to cruising yachtsmen with shopping facilities being a short walk away. The club is active throughout the year with full dining and bar facilities and winter activities include bridge, snooker, quiz nights, wine tasting and special events.

National Yacht Club History

Although there are references to an active “club” prior to 1870, history records that the present clubhouse was erected in 1870 at a cost of £4,000 to a design by William Sterling and the Kingstown Royal Harbour Boat Club was registered with Lloyds in the same year. By 1872 the name had been changed to the Kingston Harbour Boat Club and this change was registered at Lloyds.

In 1881. the premises were purchased by a Captain Peacocke and others who formed a proprietary club called the Kingstown Harbour Yacht Club again registered at Lloyds. Some six years later in 1877 the building again changed hands being bought by a Mr Charles Barrington. and between 1877 and 1901 the club was very active and operated for a while as the “Absolute Club” although this change of name was never registered.

In 1901, the lease was purchased by three trustees who registered it as the Edward Yacht Club. In 1930 at a time when the Edward Yacht Club was relatively inactive, a committee including The Earl of Granard approached the trustees with a proposition to form the National Yacht Club. The Earl of Granard had been Commodore of the North Shannon Y.C. and was a senator in the W.T.Cosgrave government. An agreement was reached, the National Yacht Club was registered at Lloyds. The club burgee was created, red cross of Saint George with blue and white quarters being sky cloud, sea and surf. The Earl of Granard became the first Commodore.

In July of 1950, a warrant was issued to the National Yacht Club by the Government under the Merchant Shipping Act authorising members to hoist a club ensign in lieu of the National Flag. The new ensign to include a representation of the harp. This privilege is unique and specific to members of the National Yacht Club. Sterling’s design for the exterior of the club was a hybrid French Chateau and eighteenth century Garden Pavilion and today as a Class A restricted building it continues to provide elegant dining and bar facilities.

An early drawing of the building shows viewing balconies on the roof and the waterfront façade. Subsequent additions of platforms and a new slip to the seaward side and most recently the construction of new changing rooms, offices and boathouse provide state of the art facilities, capable of coping with major international and world championship events. The club provides a wide range of sailing facilities, from Junior training to family cruising, dinghy sailing to offshore racing and caters for most major classes of dinghies, one design keelboats, sports boats and cruiser racers. It provides training facilities within the ISA Youth Sailing Scheme and National Power Boat Schemes.

Past Commodores

1931 – 42 Earl of Granard 1942 – 45 T.J. Hamilton 1945 – 47 P.M. Purcell 1947 – 50 J.J. O’Leary 1950 – 55 A.A. Murphy 1955 – 60 J.J. O’Leary 1960 – 64 F. Lemass 1964 – 69 J.C. McConnell 1969 – 72 P.J. Johnston 1972 – 74 L. Boyd 1974 – 76 F.C. Winkelmann 1976 – 79 P.A. Browne 1979 – 83 W.A. Maguire 1983 – 87 F.J. Cooney 1987 – 88 J.J. Byrne 1988 – 91 M.F. Muldoon 1991 – 94 B.D. Barry 1994 – 97 M.P.B. Horgan 1997 – 00 B. MacNeaney 2000 – 02 I.E. Kiernan 2002 – 05 C.N.I. Moore 2005 – 08 C.J. Murphy 2008 – 11 P.D. Ryan 2011 – P. Barrington 2011-2014 Larry Power 2014-2017 Ronan Beirne 2017 – 2019

At A Glance - National Yacht Club 2024 Events