Noted marine climate expert and weather router, Chris Tibbs has commented that the Round Ireland Ireland Record poses one of the most intriguing yet manageable sailing challenges on earth. And it's particularly so when you're doing it in a mono-hull in the 30ft to 40ft size range, when your maximum potential speed is such that you're likely to experience the effect of at least two weather systems coming in from the Atlantic, whereas boats like the multi-hull record holding MOD 70s and the mono-hull Titleist Rambler 88 could do it in the one fell swoop of fairly consistent weather conditions.

With smaller craft, the ideal is an unusually prolonged period of either west-to-northwest winds, or southeast-to-east winds, with a bit of cunning required as to when you're in the different arcs of wind direction. Beyond that, it's generally agreed that any windward work - though it should be as little as possible - is best done on the east coast. And over and above all that, it's generally agreed that the sooner and more crisply you can deal with the long stretch through the North Channel between the South Rock Light and distant Malin Head - in the midst of which the tides are at their most ferocious at Rathlin Island - then the better it is for the overall project.

In looking at this midweek's developing southeast-to-east wind pattern, many seasoned observers had assumed that solo sailor Tom Dolan with his foiling Figaro 3 Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan, would head off today bound northward, to time his arrival at the South Rock in order to maximise the tidal boost all the way to Malin Head in a strengthening fair wind.

"Things don't look good at all for rapid progress from Tory Island back to Dublin Bay"

For sure, a boat like this minimises the effect of tides. But they matter nevertheless, particularly as regards sea state, and being west of Malin Head in minimal time with a prospect of the wind drawing more from the east to favour rapid progress south down the west coast seemed a sensible idea, with the only unknowable being just when he would begin to feel the initially adverse effects of the new weather system bringing in wind from the south.

If he had made good southing going anti-clockwise while the easterlies lasted, he could have been well along the coast of Kerry or even West Cork as the southerly established itself, and that would then give him fair winds all the way back to the Kish. But as it is, although he certainly looks very likely to get to Tory Island extremely quickly, things don't look good at all for rapid progress from there back to Dublin Bay. That's according to wind forecast charts for Friday, though of course he has until 06:00 hrs on Sunday to break the four-day barrier. And despite his initially slow progress off the Wicklow coast, he is now past the Tuskar and already ahead of Michael Kleinjean's established time, so clockwise or widdershins, Round Ireland is as fascinating a challenge as ever.

See the tracker below

Day One (start):  Just before dawn on Wednesday, May 3rd 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 lodged with the World Speed Sailing Record Council. He also in attempting to set a 'faux' solo record.

The 10-day wait is over, and at 04 hours, 27 minutes and 54 seconds, Dolan headed south at 185 degrees for the Tuskar Rock, leaving behind the starting line between Dún Laoghaire harbour and the Kish lighthouse and establishing a new time for the fastest single-handed sailing time around Ireland.

It’s a journey of 700 nautical miles around Ireland and all its islands; his seven-sail boat is capable of hitting speeds of up to 26 knots, or 52km per hour but averaging much less than that, about seven knots.

"The first 24 hours are critical; it will be windy from Tuskar Rock to the Fastnet and beyond"

As the County Meath sailor, whose French rivals refer to him as 'Irlandais volant' or the 'Flying Irishman', approached the start line in upwind mode just after 4 am, conditions at start time were gentle on the Kish Bank, not exactly record-breaking stuff, with only five to eight knots from the south in a flat sea. But, as per the carefully chosen forecast, all that is about to change. Dolan will confront much stronger winds along the south and west coasts of Ireland over the next 48 hours so he can live up to his French billing.

Round Ireland speed record keepers -  Gerry Jones, Tom Dolan's campaign manager (left), and Dublin Bay Sailing Club officials Brian Mathews and Rosemary Roy authenticate the record bid start at the Kish Light on May 23rd at 04 hours, 27 minutes and 54 seconds, IST. Photo: Afloat

Dolan has been rewarded with a great weather window, winds of 25-30kts around the south of Ireland, but there is a danger that if he drops off the frontal weather system, he could be left with little wind. The fly in the ointment in this circumnavigation may be the North Channel off the Antrim coast which Dolan expects to pass sometime on Friday. He plans to clock up as many miles as possible before then so as to have some 'time in the bank' to negotiate the notoriously tricky final passage down the Irish Sea back to the Kish. 

"The first 24 hours are critical; it will be windy from Tuskar Rock to the Fastnet and beyond, 25 gusting to 30 kts; you will do the whole south coast of Ireland on one gybe, and then the west coast on the other and the seas should be perfectly flat for a lot of the time", Dolan told Afloat before the off.

This morning's record start time was officiated by Irish World Speed Sailing representatives from Dublin Bay Sailing Club, Brian Mathews and Rosemary Roy, who authenticated the record bid at the Kish Light on May 23rd at 04 hours, 27 minutes and 54 seconds, IST.

In order to comply with the rules of Irish maritime affairs prohibiting single-handed sailing for several years, the skipper will be accompanied by a media man, Romain Marie. Under no circumstances will the latter affect the performance of the boat, Dolan claims.

Dolan has agreed with the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) that he will attempt to break the 'Round Ireland Double-handed less than 40ft record'.

While the WSSC is not recording this as a solo attempt (as Dolan has a journalist onboard), Dolan says he is also seeking to set a 'faux record' by attempting to break the Belgian Michel Kleinjan's solo 2005 record time.

The course is approximately 700 miles long. 

Reference times are the 2005 solo record by Kleinjans aboard a Class40: 4 days, 1 hour and 53 minutes and 29 seconds and the doublehanded record set in 2020 by Pamela Lee and Catherine Hunt on a Figaro3 of 3 days, 19 hours, 41 minutes and 39 seconds.

The record bid has attracted some mainstream media overage with Ian O'Riordan's piece in The Irish Times here

See the tracker below

Tom Dolan has advised of a 'Code Green' for his Round Ireland Speed Sailing Record attempt from tomorrow morning, meaning a start off Dun Laoghaire within 24 hours.

Based on the latest weather forecast grids, the plan is to start on Wednesday, May 3, around 0600 (exact time to be confirmed) from the Dublin Bay starting line.

The current weather forecast files show the National Yacht Club sailor returning to Dublin on Saturday early morning.

You can follow Tom live using this tracker below and here and read his interview here

Tom will have a cameraman on-board who will not take part in any of the manoeuvres or tactics but will be recording as much of the World Record attempt for a one-hour-long documentary to be aired later in December!

After waiting in Greystones for ten days since his boat Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan arrived from its home in France, Dolan has been rewarded with a great weather window, winds of 25-30kts around the south of Ireland, but there is a danger that if he drops off the frontal weather system he could be left with little wind.

Dolan considers that if things go perfectly, he might be able to go under three days.

“If it is good is could be three days, and if it’s not, it could be six.” Smiles Dolan, “ But it looks good. There is a weather window which, if it works, means I could beat the record by a good bit and if it doesn’t work out, I would not get it by a lot.”

He will have to be on his game, pushing hard from the start line all the way through the first 24 hours of the clockwise circumnavigation.

“The start will be tricky. There is a trough moving south to north and the idea is to be staying with that to get strong SE winds the whole way, or three quarters of the way around. The longer you can stay in front of this front the better it will be.

With 25kts from the SE you can be straight line sailing all the way around to the north of Ireland.”

And while the weather modelling looks good on the westabout routing, the concern is the NE corner of Ireland to the finish line.

“ You don’t really know what we will get between Ireland and Scotland where there are strong tides. If it goes right to the routing, I would still have two days to sail 150 miles which is very, very doable.

The first 24 hours are critical, it will be windy from Tusker Rock to the Fastnet and beyond, 25 gusting to 30kts you will do the whole south coast of Ireland on one gybe and then the west coast on the other and the seas should be perfectly flat for a lot of the time.”

The 688 miles course requires Dolan to average more than 7.2kts. The course distance is very similar to a longer leg of La Solitaire du Figaro – the annual French pinnacle solo race.

“ It will be all about where to set the cursor, as the French say, it is different from racing like in the Solitaire. If it gets hairy around the Fastnet then I will ease back on the small spinnaker, for example and changing sails I will take it slightly easier but nor do you want to drop into cruising mode.

I will have two big spinnakers and two gennakers.” He explains.

He is very much in the zone now after a period of nervous tension on Tuesday,

“I was nervous yesterday, and now I am excited to be going. I am a bit nervous to be going out there on my own, you are pretty isolated in these conditions, 25-30kts under spinnaker. Racing you have boats around you, and it is safer. So it is all about setting the level right.

I won’t get much time sleep, the first 24 hours are really about pushing to stay ahead of that trough, that system, because if you drop off it, it would be hard. I can rest a bit after the SW coast and ahead of the front, but it will be a solid, hard first 24 hours.”

In order to comply with the rules of Irish maritime affairs prohibiting single-handed sailing for several years around Île Verte, the skipper will be accompanied by a media man, Romain Marie. Under no circumstances will the latter affect the performance of the boat, Dolan claims.

Dolan has agreed with the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) that he will attempt to break the 'Round Ireland Double-handed less than 40ft record'.

While the WSSC is not recording this as a solo attempt (as Dolan has a journalist onboard), Dolan says he is also seeking to set a 'faux record' by attempting to break the Belgian Michel Kleinjan's solo 2005 record time.

The course is approximately 700 miles long. 

Reference times are the 2005 solo record by Kleinjans aboard a Class40: 4 days, 1 hour and 53 minutes and 29 seconds and the doublehanded record set in 2020 by Pamela Lee and Catherine Hunt on a Figaro3 of 3 days, 19 hours, 41 minutes and 39 seconds.

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

While his boat Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan has now been berthed at Greystones Harbour, south of Dublin, since Wednesday, Irish solo skipper Tom Dolan will start his 'stand by' period when he is reunited with the Figaro Beneteau 3 this weekend.

Dolan is prepared and ready to go at a moment's notice, just as soon as the best weather window opens to allow him to challenge for a new record time for the 698 nautical miles passage round Ireland. Officially stand-by starts Monday, April 24th.

Over the next five weeks, the skipper of Smurfit Kappa – Kingspan will carefully monitor the weather situation, looking for the best opportunity to set a new mark and break what Dolan refers to as a 'reference time' established in 2005 by the Belgian Michel Kleinjans aboard a Class40: 4 days, 1 hour and 53 minutes and 29 seconds.

Ironically, as luck would have it, last week's conditions would have been perfect. The ideal scenario Dolan says would be "An anticyclone over Scandinavia which would then generate an easterly flow with shifts between the South-East, East and South-East, which would allow me to circumnavigate Ireland on single tacks taking advantage of a more favourable sea on the west side of the island, which is generally quite bumpy otherwise", comments Tom Dolan.

But that is the perfect scenario. The prevailing winds are from the west-southwest, and the course can be sailed in either direction.
"Round Ireland is a fairly complex course, with strong currents and many windy areas", recalls Dolan, who looks at each new weather file carefully in collaboration with his French coach Tanguy Leglatin, of the Lorient Pôle Grande Large; Dolan asserts, "If the window is good, we estimate that it is possible to get round in three and a half days".

It is a "faux solo" attempt

Stand-by codes are in force; Black means no start is possible in less than 96 hours. Red indicates a start could happen between 72 and 96 hours. Orange between 47 and 72 hours. Yellow, between 24 and 48 hours. Green implies a start within 24 hours.

"The boat is less than seven miles from the start line of the record, which is between Dun Laoghaire and the Kish Bank lighthouse, and everything is already ready to go", says Dolan, who likens the challenge to one long stage of La Solitaire du Figaro.

"For this challenge I will carry two gennakers. On the Figaro Bénéteau circuit, the class rule limits the number of sails, which is not the case here," explains Tom, who has also had to double the food rations on board. During the record attempt, he will be accompanied by an onboard reporter. This media man, Frenchman Romain Marie, is not allowed to contribute in any way at all to the performance of the boat but will be present to produce photo and video content, but most importantly, it allows Dolan to comply with Irish maritime regulations, which expressly forbid solo sailing around Ireland imposed after the last record.

"I can't wait, and I want to share this epic with the Irish people", concludes Tom Dolan, whose stand-by period will end, whatever happens, at the end of May before he is due to resume racing in France on the Figaro circuit.

Tom tells you about his motivations, his expectations and his fears concerning this adventure in this youtube below:

See Tom Dolan's Round Ireland tracker below: 

Irish sailor Tom Dolan bid farewell to his Figaro Beneteau 3 Smurfit Kappa – Kingspan today in Concarneau, France, as the boat left for the delivery to Dun Laoghaire where he will go on standby to wait for an optimum weather window to allow him to challenge for a new solo round Ireland record.

After fulfilling his family commitments at home in Concearneau and completing his final cycle of physical training, Dolan will travel by ferry next Friday to meet his 10 metre, foil assisted Beneteau One Design in Dun Laoghaire and make ready for the record challenge. He has entrusted the delivery to a pair of long-time friends of his who has known since he campaigned in the Mini 650 class.

"I will keep an eye on their progress, but they have great conditions and should get there on one gybe and I reckon on an ETA between Tuesday and Wednesday." Dolan remarked after seeing his boat off.

 

The best news for Ireland thus far in this developing sailing season of 2023 is that, at last weekend’s 400-boat four-day Spi Ouest Easter Regatta at La Trinite in Southern Brittany, Meath’s own Tom Dolan won the hyper-keen Figaro 3 Class racing Smurfit Kappa Kingspan. Admittedly it was by just one point in a real ding-dong series, but a win is a win, and anyone who has thrown themselves into the maelstrom of Spi Ouest will tell you that this is a very big deal indeed.

Before that, in the last weekend of February, before the real winter arrived (though little did we know it at the time), the University College Dublin Firsts team skippered by Jack Fahy found themselves involved in the absurdly elitist Top Gun Series hosted by Oxford University.

Easter eggs in the basket – Big Tom Dolan at the centre of last weekend’s prize-giving at Spi Ouest. Photo: Justin Burke

That event makes no pretence whatever at being an everyday happening – it’s an invitation-only series, and the social highlight is a black-tie ball in the historic St Edmund’s Hall in the heart of college. But the racing on Farmoor Reservoir is totally a meritocracy, yet although UCD found themselves up against all the might of Cambridge in the finals, they won – the first time for an Irish team.

The image of a sunlit evening in late winter is belied by the ferocity of the actual competition afloat in the Top Guns Team racing at Farmoor in England. Photo: Nigel Vick

UCD Firsts as Top Guns were Jack Fahy & Emily Riordan, Liam Glynn & Triona Hinkson, and Tom Higgins & Cian Lynch. Photo: Nigel Vick

For your reasonably switched-on club sailor in Ireland, these two international achievements mean that Irish sailing is in good heart in 2023, as a late winter finally gives way to welcome spring. Yet if you take the narrow official view of our international competitive sailing as it challenges the world from Ireland, then - so far - 2023 has been little short of disastrous.

NEWS IS BAD THROUGH NARROW OFFICIAL LENS

Admittedly 2022 was such a golden year in every way - emerging as we did with a glorious flourish from the pandemic - that 2023 would have had to take successful flight with full rocket boosting to be in any way comparable. Yet without delving into the depressing details, the fact is that the final outcome of the first official major of the season, the recently-concluded Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma de Mallorca, was little other than bad news.

Oh for sure, we can find glimmers of hope for the Irish squad in specific episodes in this very significant event. But such bright spots are ultimately obscured by the darkness of the final results, which in today’s rapidly-churning news cycle, is all that will be remembered in a couple of weeks’ time, as equally will be the fact that the British squad returned with six medals.

It’s a matter of regret that fringe sports such as sailing are only evaluated at official and governmental level in Ireland by the number of high-value medals they collect in major world championships and Olympics-related events. But that’s the way it is, and with only 15 months to go to the 2024 Paris Olympics and its sailing events at Marseille, the national funding focus closes ever more closely on the accumulating Olympic countdown results.

GULF BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND ENTHUSIASTS’ VIEW

Politicians are dictated to by fickle public opinion, and whereas sailors are fascinated by the minutiae of their sport and its boat and equipment and the lovingly-analysed details of each and every race in events such as Spi Ouest and Top Gun, the public - and hence the government - are only interested in narrowly-focused high-profile value for money in the hope of a return in the form of medals. Consequently, the public funding for sailing – a sport in which only a tiny minority will ever have a serious interest in Olympic participation – is inevitably skewed in favour of national high-performance squads.

International sailing success as understood by sailors – Annalise Murphy makes a neat and admirable job of consolidating her position in the final leg at the Rio Olympics in 2016 to bring home the Silver Medal

That in turn means there is a very biased reliance on the success of rising stars. In fact, an entire mini-industry has grown up around the hope of the continuing emergence of young Irish sailors who will have the ability and character – almost inevitably with exceptional and extraordinary support from their families and circles of friends – to bring home the Olympic-flavoured bacon. Ultimately, it’s just as crude as that.

International sailing success as understood by the public and politicians – Annalise Murphy returns in style to the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire with her Silver Medal.

It’s something of which everyone is particularly aware this weekend, with the Youth Nationals 2023 at Howth seeing the adult stars of tomorrow being put into the pressure cooker of junior performance to become the youth stars of today.

EXTREME PRESSURE ON YOUNG STARS

For some, it’s magic. For others? It’s tough, and heaven only knows what longterm psychological problems it might be engendering. And as for its relationship with the gentler yet genuinely competitive club sailing which is the backbone of our sport, there are times when you’d be hard put to see any natural connection at all.

So is there a way in which we can build a healthier funding relationship between Irish sailing in general and government expenditure? True sailing by its very nature – and through its special history in Ireland – may be largely a private and self-reliant activity. Yet sailors are tax-payers like everyone else, and while they aren’t looking for government handouts at every turn, it would induce a pleasanter atmosphere if there was even a feeling that their rather weird activity is better understood.

Shannon One Design veteran Alan Algeo in full flight. In 2022 the SODs very successfully celebrated their Centenary, yet how do we explain the enduring popularity of such a class and boat type in the generally-held context and image of “yachting”?

Thus it’s fascinating to observe how the Irish attitude compares with other nations as we see the accelerating buildup towards the Paris Olympics. Indeed, one of the most intriguing cases is France itself, as the remarkable French explosion in sailing is based on individual offshore superstars who go back in a direct line to Eric Tabarly.

OTHER NATIONS DEALING WITH SAME PROBLEM

In French sailing, Olympic effort is only one of several main lines. But with the Olympics in their home waters in 2024, don’t be at all surprised if the French still somehow manage to get an offshore category included, despite the fact that altering the course of a super-tanker is a doddle by comparison with getting that ponderous beast World Sailing to re-direct its line of progress.

Eric Tabarly in Cork, a place he visited whenever possible as his “pet boat”, the 1898-vintage 43ft gaff cutter Pen Duick, was built in Cork Harbour at Carrigaloe

Taking a broader view, we have to realise that sailing’s special requirements bring other factors into play. And there’s the national context, to begin with. There is absolutely no doubt that Ireland is one of the most sports-enthusiastic nations on earth. Yet there’s so much sport going on that sometimes the talent can get spread very thin indeed.

Let’s accept for a start that the country is horse mad, and puts so much interest, energy, resources and talent into equine competition that it attracts naturally athletic, competitive youngsters who – in a warmer climate – might equally think in terms of sailing.

And yes, climate is of huge significance, whether we like it or not. For sure, those pioneers of Irish sailing who went afloat with the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork 300 years ago did so when Ireland was marginally colder than it is now. But local factors of time and place and circumstances were involved, and there were far fewer options available for recreational sport at every level of society.

GAA MOVES IN ON HISTORIC SAILING HEARTLANDS

So now it’s very telling that on the eastern shores of Cork Harbour, the former site of Rostellan House – the ancestral home of the Earls of Inchiquin who led the way in forming the Water Club in 1720 – is the location of the extensive playing fields of the Aghada Gaelic Athletic Association. The GAA was still a very long way into the future when the Water Club was formed. Yet today it provides a non-vehicle sport to thousands, with a healthy social matrix to support it. So much so, in fact, that it’s difficult to escape the feeling that the Round Ireland Race won’t really have arrived until there’s a GAA entry.

Aghada GAA Club at Rostellan on the eastern shores of Cork Harbour. The now-demolished Rostellan House was the ancestral home of the Earls of Inchiquin, who provided the first Admiral of the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork in 1720

When you’re up against a sporting monolith like the GAA when searching for public funding, you become only too well aware of the crude metrics through which international success in minority sports is assessed, and so – depressingly – we come back again to the unhealthy reliance on the success or otherwise of young sailors who have to perform spectacularly well in a very narrow international spotlight.

The only consolation is that most other sailing nations have to cope – well or otherwise - with their own particular problems in seeking Olympic funding and success, and in this the British have set a standard to which most others can only hope to aspire. Ultimately, it all goes back to one man - John Major, arguably the most under-valued British PM since Clement Attlee was in the top position from 1945-1951.

For Major was in the hot seat when the British National Lottery came into being, and he sorted the debate about what should be done with the resulting funds by simply insisting that every last cent should be spent on sport at all levels, with enough ear-marked for the Olympics to provide no excuses for poor performance.

Former British Prime Minister John Major and Taoiseach the late Albert Reynold as they negotiated the vital early stages which led eventually to the Good Friday Peace Agreement. Major was Prime Minister when the British National Lottery was inaugurated, and it was his straightforward decision that all profits should go to developing British sport of all kinds and at every level which led to the emergence of Greet Britain as a leading force in Olympic sailing. Photo: Longford Leader

For sailing, this may have meant that would-be Olympians have had to relocate themselves to the top sailing hotspots in southeast England. But in terms of results, the Major Plan worked, and it’s still working - six medals from the Princess Sofia require no further comment.

But for Ireland, with a much smaller population and other sports carrying a higher profile, there’s a feeling of bouncing from one financial year to another, with the most recent Olympic-context successes – or lack of them - significantly affecting the future funding.

SHORT-TERMISM SEEMS INEVITABLE

It smacks of short-termism, and each time round, rumours circulate about budget over-runs, about families and friends being called on to divvy up for an extra round of essential fund-raising, and then inevitably the usual clichés of “heads will roll” as people seek to safeguard their own pensionable positions after a disappointing result.

The International 49er is the most athletically-demanding of all the Olympic classes. How can young sailors be expected to give consistently of their best in a boat like when their funding and management support is barely adequate, and constantly in doubt?

How can any young athlete can be expected to give of their best in such a stressful framework? And it’s very poor consolation to have to grasp at the idea that most other nations – regardless of their “natural” situation or otherwise as a foremost sailing country - can also have their structural support problems.

For instance, within the recent past, the French national sailing authority has to all intents and purposes experienced bankruptcy. In a corporate state like France, such a thing may seem unthinkable, yet apparently such was the case.

But being very much a corporate state in the administrative sense, French sailing administration was able to rely on enough support to continue functioning with barely a visible glitch. In the USA, however, the official ambition is to reduce the role of the State if at all possible – as Ronald Reagan put it, the thing most red-blooded Americans fear and detest is having someone in a uniform turning up and saying: “We are from the Government, and we are here to help you”.

AMERICA’S UNIQUE PROBLEMS MAY BE A POST-OLYMPIC ATTITUDE

Yet in America, corporatism is in a completely different non-State form of the huge resources of big business conglomerates, and funds can be raised for something like Olympic sailing through having the right person – someone of real power and status – approach the promotional expenditure controllers of these industrial and financial behemoths.

Paul Cayard, one of the world’s truly great sailors and an inspirational leader. Originally from France, he raised Italian sailing to new heights, but despite a successful sailing career in his adopted home of America, even he has failed to re-invigorate the US Olympic Sailing Programme

Perhaps. But American Olympic sailing has been in the doldrums for some time now. And there are many possible explanations. For a start, the world’s only super-power with its enormous population is allowed only the same number of entries in the Olympics as the smallest sailing nation on earth. Yet the reality is that American Olympic participation could be given a boost if a greater element of more local pride could be introduced into it, and sailing states like Florida, California or a combined New England squad were allowed to take part as full national entries in their own right.

As it is, it’s difficult to avoid the notion that the USA may have reached a post-Olympics attitude in its sailing history. Let’s face it, the repetitive nature of the Olympic Regatta sailing programme and its classes is hardly likely to float the boat – in every sense – in a huge and energetic nation in which novelty and innovation and continually improving vehicles is what they live for.

PAUL CAYARD’S RESIGNATION FROM US SAILING

So there may be more to the sensational news of a month ago that the great Paul Cayard – just two years in the job of American Olympic Sailing Overlord – had quit. His statement said much, yet leaves much to be conjectured about the nature of America’s sailing culture:

“Unfortunately, over the past couple of months, the US Sailing Association and I had a complete breakdown on several levels. The process of resolution was not good and ultimately unsuccessful. Despite my passion for our mission and my perseverance, I can no longer work with US Sailing.
In 2020, I was told that trying to build a successful Olympic Team, within US Sailing, would be very challenging. Changing the processes, culture, and support for the Team is an extremely difficult task. We are just starting to make gains. Raising two or three times the amount of money ever raised in the USA to support that goal is also a difficult task. Starting and building an endowment so that future leaders will have something to rely on financially is another tall order.
Ultimately, the relationship with US Sailing proved to be one that I could not cope with. It pains me to admit that, as I did sail around the world twice, and generally feel pretty capable of dealing with adversity”.

There’s so much in that brief statement that people are still chewing over it, and for some of us it may point to the fact that sailing in the magnificent and diverse and inventive United States of America is entering a post-Olympic phase, for it is such a universe unto itself that it holds events like the Super-Bowl and other world titles in which no other nation is involved.

Back to doing what he does best. Paul Cayard in winning form in the International Star, which has thrived as a class since it was de-coupled from the Olympics

And come to think of it, here in little old Ireland the USP for the success of the GAA is that an Irish team is always guaranteed to win. But enough of such thoughts. All we’re trying to say is that it’s disturbing to think that much of the government funding for sailing in Ireland is reliant on the international success of a few talented and very dedicated youngsters whom we may praise to the skies when they achieve international success, yet the apparent glamour of their position disguises the fact that they often find themselves on a very lonely mission.

TOM DOLAN CHEERS US ALL

So it’s much more cheering to think that, this weekend, the indomitable Tom Dolan is due in Dun Laoghaire to prepare for a round Ireland record challenge. At no stage in his courageous career has he been strait-jacketed into the official narrow vision of what constitutes performance progress under the international public service approach. Yet for ordinary sailors everywhere in Ireland, he’s right up there with the best of them. And he’s as welcome as the flowers in Spring, for he has brought the Spring back with him as he comes home to Ireland.

Tom Dolan nicely placed in a series in Brittany in the first weekend of April. Next on the agenda is a Round Ireland Record Challenge from Dun Laoghaire.

Ireland’s Tom Dolan, sailing with a crew comprising England’s Alan Roberts and French ace Gildas Mahe, took overall victory today in the hotly contested Figaro Beneteau 3 class in France’s huge annual Easter showcase regatta Spi Ouest France.

Racing over four coastal races spanning the holiday weekend, Dolan and the team finished one point clear of the second-placed French crew after finishing with a third place today in the 11-boat class. Dolan, Roberts and Mahe scored a conclusive race win on Saturday when the breeze was very light, reading the transition zones and the tidal currents well.

“It was very close until the very end of the regatta. It was down to the last leg of the last race and we won with just a point in it.” said Dolan.” Saturday’s race made the difference to us winning though. Anyway, it is nice to race with your friends like this, we all know each other so well there is a good mood on board all the time. We sailed well. And from my point of view, my first time at Spi Ouest, where you are in amongst a fleet of over 400 different boats, there are many people out on the water, and it is nice to earn a win.”

“The last two days we have sailed for the points we need, that is to say, keeping a close eye on our rivals which is quite interesting.” Tom Dolan summarised.

Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan will be delivered later this week to Dun Laoghaire Harbour where the Irish sailor will prepare for his round Ireland solo record bid which will take place when an optimum weather window arrives between late April and May.

Irish sailor Tom Dolan and his French co-skipper Achille Nebout should have been content with finishing in ninth place when they crossed the line off La Trinite sur Mer, Brittany yesterday, concluding the 315 nautical miles Laura Vergne Trophy, but the duo were mildly disappointed to lose two places in the final miles because of a tactical choice.

Racing Dolan's Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan the Irish-French pair led the 22 boat fleet not long after starting on Monday afternoon and through the whole passage were among the top four boats. But choosing to go to windward of the island of Houat cost them places.

"It is disappointing, it really is after having worked so hard and been up there. But it is a good lesson in risk management at the right time. This is not a championship race so I learn from it and am just glad it's not La Solitaire du Figaro, the big event." Dolan said on the dock in La Trinite.
The duo finished less than 15 minutes behind race winners Guillaume Pirouelle and Sophie Faguet.

“We kept hard at it, and it was great to be up with the frontrunners throughout the race. With Achille, we did, however make a stupid mistake right at the end, when we chose to go windward of the island of Houat. The wind was expected to strengthen from the West and move to our right. That is indeed what happened, but unfortunately too late for our option to pay off,” said the disappointed Irish racer.

He was nonetheless pleased with their speed and tactical choices. “On the very long 120-mile reaching tack between the tip of Brittany and Rochebonne, we started and finished with the same gap to the leaders, Région Normandie and Mutuelle Bleue, the references on the circuit, so that is encouraging,” added the skipper who will be making the most of a well-deserved rest tomorrow before competing again out on the water on Friday in the 45th Spi Ouest-France – Banque Populaire Grand Ouest.

He will be racing in the crewed division with Brit Alan Roberts and France's Gildas Mahé.

Two weeks after his encouraging sixth in the 2023’s season’s first race, the Solo Maître CoQ, Irish sailor Tom Dolan transitions to double-handed mode as he pairs up with French ace Achille Nebout for the new 316 miles Trophee Laura Verge which started this afternoon.

Over last year’s race season the Irish-French duo tested and trained a lot together, on the same boat and boat on boat testing. This Monday afternoon at 1500hrs aboard Dolan’s Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan they crossed the start line of this new race which has drawn a high-quality 22 boat fleet.

The race started off La Trinite sur Mer where it is due to finish on Wednesday after completing a loop down to the south in what look set to be mainly light winds, especially towards the finish when there might be a regrouping with the fleet compacting near the line. But Dolan is confident their pairing will prove a strong one.

“ We are good friends and have complementary skills, we have worked together, trained together and shared logistics before so we get on very well.” Dolan summarises, “He is from an Olympic background, so good at making the boat go fast.”

Although the pinnacle event of the season, August and September’s La Solitaire du Figaro, is a solo race Dolan is pleased to have the opportunity to race with a co-skipper of Nebout’s experience,

“ I like sailing with someone else, sailing solo can get monotonous sometimes so it is great to have someone to bounce ideas around with. And Achille is good, he is strong on starts, manoeuvres and boat on boat. And de got a podium overall on La Solitaire du Figaro. We know what works as we worked together last year and so we are very much on the same page.”

Before this afternoon’s start Dolan spoke of the weather and likely strategy, “For now, the weather files do not agree with each other. It's very difficult to know what's going to happen but in any case it promises to be interesting. They are taking us south instead of north to stay away from a high pressure system and its light winds. ”

To follow the race, see chart below