Irish offshore solo sailor Tom Dolan is currently sitting in 14th place (results downloadable below as a pdf) from 34 starters at the Solo Maître CoQ Figaro circuit event in France’s Vendée region.

Dolan expressed his 'frustration' after the second race of the event had to be abandoned after six hours of racing due to a drop in breeze.

Despite the setback, Dolan is happy with his performance in the first race, where he 'gained more places than he lost'.

“It’s annoying to have spent so much time fighting it out on the water and to end up with no score to carry forward. That is very frustrating, even in the grater scheme of things if the race only had a coefficient of 1,”

The skipper of Smurfit Kappa – Kingspan is known for his offshore skills and is optimistic about the course set for this year's event, which places the fleet racing in the middle of the Bay of Biscay.

The offshore race component of the event, spanning 390 miles, is set to take place on Thursday, with the race expected to finish between mid-morning and mid-afternoon on Sunday.

Dolan is confident about the race and is looking forward to some challenging upwind conditions.

From Tuesday until Saturday Irish solo skipper Tom Dolan will compete out of Les Sables d’Olonne in the Solo Maître CoQ, the second of five events counting for the 2024 French Elite Offshore Racing Championship.

“The crewed transatlantic race was a great experience for me. It was really re-energizing. It was a real breath of fresh air, but here I am, super happy to be back on my own boat now, even if it seems very small to me!” grins Dolan.

Racing starts Tuesday at 1100hrs local time out of the famous Vendée marina.

“I’m ready, even though my legs are still a little weak after so much time on the boat. Conditions look fairly calm for the first two days, but with a lot to play for. It promises to be interesting,” says Dolan.

There are two coastal courses of around twenty miles Thursday’s 390-mile offshore race on the Bay of Biscay.

“My objective is to make good starts especially as it looks set to be light and there is a lot to be lost over these first two races. And there does seem to be a risk of the racing being a bit follow my leader with few strategic options.” Says Dolan who finished sixth overall last year.

“The idea is obviously to be able to do better this year,” he concludes.

Irish skipper Tom Dolan is gearing up for his next challenge, the Solo Maître CoQ race, after finishing fourth in the new 3,430 miles Niji40 Class40 race between Belle-Ile-en-Mer, France and Marie-Galante Gaudeloupe. The 21st edition of the Solo Maître CoQ will see Dolan racing solo again after competing in a crew of three for the Class40 race. The event is part of the 2024 French Elite Offshore Racing Championship and will consist of two coastal races out of Les Sables d'Olonne in the Vendée region, followed by a 340-mile offshore race between Belle-Ile and the islands of Ré and Yeu.

Dolan and his crew worked hard to build a lead through the early days of the Class40 race, however, damage to their main halyard and a carbon 'bone' stopper meant they had to sail with a deeply reefed mainsail, causing them to lose miles to their rivals. After a four-hour repair stop in the lee of the Azores, they found themselves almost 300 miles behind the leaders and were unable to make up the deficit.

Despite the setback, Dolan enjoyed racing as a trio, which gave him several areas to work on for the future, particularly sailing on a larger boat and managing heavier loads and manoeuvres. He also set some impressive average speeds on the scow-styled Class40, similar to those of the 60-foot IMOCAs of the pre-hydro-foiling generation.

Looking ahead to the Solo Maître CoQ, Dolan is optimistic despite some past difficulties at the event. He is pleased with the changes to the format of the long race, which will now have a more open course and longer days and shorter, milder nights.

Irish offshore solo racer Tom Dolan is taking advantage of a break in the Figaro circuit to participate in a new crewed Class40 race - the Niji 40. Dolan is a key member of a three-strong international crew, skippered by top Figaro racer Gildas Mahé. The team, which also includes young Spanish racer Pep Costa, will compete in a 3,430 nautical mile Transatlantic course from the French Atlantic coast to reach Marie-Galante off the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

Starting on April 7th, Dolan and his team expect the passage to take around 13 to 14 days. They will race the Class 40 Amarris at the request of its usual skipper, who has to remain on land on paternity leave. Dolan's objective is to win, and he believes that the team and boat are capable of delivering, even though a transatlantic race always has surprises in store.

According to Dolan, the boat is good reaching, especially tight reaching. The three sailors have experience in the class, and Dolan and Mahé, in particular, have experience with the boat, Amarris, a Lift V2 which Mahé raced across the Atlantic on the Transat Jacques Vabre and Dolan sailed back from Martinique to France. 

Dolan is excited about the opportunity to expand his racing horizons and improve his skills in a different class. He believes that racing outside of the Figaro class gives him a new perspective and experience, a different way of looking at things, and different strategies and ways to set up a boat.

With three days before the start, the exact weather pattern for the first few days on the Bay of Biscay is not completely clear, but Dolan is expecting big winds and seas. He anticipates that there will be a bit of low pressure coming in, which will bring quite a lot of wind. They will be upwind for a bit, which is good for their boat, which is good on tight angles. The course will be quite open, as the only waypoint is the Azores, so it opens up the northern route more than some courses, where the waypoint you have to leave to starboard is down at the Canaries or Madeira, for example, and that makes the course shorter.

Dolan is confident about the upcoming race and is looking forward to the challenge. The team is hoping for a successful and safe journey across the Atlantic.

Irish sailor Tom Dolan and his French co-skipper Paul Morvan secured a commendable fourth-place finish in the Laura Vergne Trophy following a 270-mile offshore race that ended on Monday.

Dolan and Morvan, who sailed Dolan’s Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan, held their own in the early and middle stages of the race, which took place off the Breton coast between the Isle de Yeu and the Glénan islands. Despite a strong offshore route option, the duo played it safe and opted to control their position, finishing the race in sixth place.

Dolan was quick to praise his young co-skipper, who has an Olympic classes background, for his contributions during the race. The next challenge for Dolan will be the new Niji40 race across the Atlantic to Guadeloupe, which is set to start on April 7.

Irish offshore sailor Tom Dolan is all set to take part in the Laura Vergne Trophy offshore race, which is a part of the 2024 French Elite Offshore Racing Championship. The event is named in memory of Laura Vergne, who was a prominent figure in the administration of the Figaro class of boats used in the championship.

Dolan, who recently suffered a ripped spinnaker in the Solo Guy Cotten Trophy season opener, will be sailing the Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan boat with French sailor Paul Morvan. The duo finished fourth in the championship's coastal race, showing great promise for the 270-mile offshore race scheduled for Monday.

Dolan had a week of solid training ahead of the championship, which included sailing the Class40 Amarris with Gildas Mahé and Spain’s Pep Costa. Though the weather forecast for the offshore race looks complex, Dolan seems optimistic about the race.

"The positive is that we can expect to do a lot of downwind racing, both on the way out and on the way back. If this does happen, it promises to be quite fast, and that's ideal because there is a gale coming in with between 35 and 40 knots on Wednesday, and it would be good to miss that!" said Dolan.

The Irishman and his team are ready to give their best shot at the championship and are hoping to make their mark.

Tom Dolan overcame a torn spinnaker to finish in 11th place on the 370-mile offshore race of the Solo Guy Cotten-Concarneau, the Irish solo skipper’s first offshore race of the 2024 season.

The spinnaker tear happened within the first couple of hours of the race. With a small initial cut threatening to open up the sail completely, Dolan hung on adeptly until the big gennaker finally tore its full length.

Required then to use a smaller sail on the longest downwind leg of the course he lost a few places, but ultimately this morning he was moderately happy with the way he had sailed and, especially the strategic choices he had made.

Mea culpa, that’s operator error in a mechanical sport like this and you can’t get away with it in this fleet - Tom Dolan on his ripped spinnaker Photo: Gilles Dedeurwaerder

Skipper of Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan was objective “Mea culpa, that’s operator error in a mechanical sport like this and you can’t get away with it in this fleet. I was lucky it held on as long as it did. I had hoped to repair it on the long leg to Rochebonne but it was too far gone. But, otherwise I sailed well and made some good calls.”

Around the midpoint of the course, Dolan was between fifth and sixth, having called a windshift correctly on the long leg south, which allowed him to make his expected gains. But, lacking sailpower, he had no way of holding off his rivals who could still fly their big sails.

“It was a typical Figaro race in March. It was wet, intense, short, sweet and great to be back in it. I was happy to have got up to where I wanted to be, in the top group, but a little disappointed with how it worked out in the end. Under the small kite, I really struggled a bit when the wind was right down to 12-13kts, and it felt like there were boats passing me all the time.” Dolan concluded.

“I tore the kite when I was launching it at Penmarch. Initially, there was a little hole. I thought I would repair it on the long-reaching leg between Occidentale de Sein and Rochebonne, but shortly after Pierre Vertes, it broke. It’s a shame because I really liked that sail.”

He explained, “After that, I anticipated the big right shift. It is something I had worked on a few days ago. It worked well. I had fun and made sure to sail as fast as possible because I knew that then I was going to lose out when they were back under the big spinnaker and me the wee one. After Yeu, I limited the damage, but without the right sail, the loss was two knots of boat speed and 5° of VMG.”

“Overall, I felt very good in terms of speed. It’s a real shame about that big spinnaker.”

Looking ahead Dolan says, “Next thing is the Laura Vergne Trophy. I have Class40 training this week before that.

Irish solo offshore sailor, Tom Dolan, is starting his 2024 racing season with a new approach. Rather than spending most of his time on the water, the skipper of Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan has prioritised his physical and mental preparation. Dolan is seeking to maintain his energy and focus at a higher level over the entire racing year, which he believes will lead to better results.

Dolan has been in the class for six years and feels like he knows the Figaro Bénéteau 3 by heart. Instead of being out sailing in search of tiny percentages in speed, he is trying to have and retain more energy and focus through each race of each event. Dolan says, “In turn, that should allow me to sail faster for longer and to have better energy to make better decisions and maintain a higher level of concentration.”

The Solo Guy Cotten races out of Dolan’s adopted home port of Concarneau from Monday until Thursday. Courses on the Bay of Concarneau are followed by a major 300-mile race between Pointe de Bretagne and Ile d’Yeu.

“I have trained a bit less on the water to make sure I am always hungry to go sailing and to do well, I have improved my strength and fitness and have worked hard on my mental game..” He says.

He has made some small tweaks to his sail program and is very happy with his boat speed. Dolan recently did some training with French skipper Jules Delpech under the watchful eye of Gildas Mahé.

“That has allowed me to look more closely at the sails again and to just validate my different trim settings. This Solo Guy Cotten will allow me to find my marks in the fleet. My goal will be to complete all the races in good shape, avoiding the pitfalls over a period of very high tides and doing the best I can against the competition, which is higher than ever with a few new faces coming in. I want to be practicing my starts and just rediscover the feel for solo racing under pressure. I don’t have a specific performance objective. My goal is to concentrate on what I can control,” says Dolan.

Dolan will race the Class 40 Amarris to Guadeloupe in April along with two other "Figaristes," good friends of his, Mahé, and Catalan Pep Costa. “Actually, that will be the first-ever crewed racing across an ocean I have done. I raced a Transatlantic before with Gildas, but this will be very different. The Class 40 is bigger and heavier and needs more physical work. Right now, I am about learning all I can on other boats too and learning from sailing with other people.”

Overall, Dolan had good results last year, and he is quite happy with his speed and experience. However, he believes that his biggest enemy is himself. He will do the best he can, just looking to chain together little wins and small victories along the way, rather than looking to achieve a ranking. The important thing for him is to have the feeling of having managed all the processes well and to feel he has sailed a good race.

Renowned Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan is set to showcase his upcoming documentary "Around my Island" this St. Patrick's weekend at the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris. The documentary focuses on Dolan's record-breaking attempts to sail solo around Ireland's coastline. The screening of the documentary will be part of the Irish national holiday celebration and will provide a unique insight into Ireland's stunning coastline.

See the YouTube trailer below.

The documentary follows Dolan as he sails around the 700-nautical mile stretch of Ireland's coastline, passing through historical landmarks that serve as milestones of his journey. The film also delves into Dolan's personal journey, from his unlikely rise to the pinnacle of sailing to the people who know him best and understand what drives him to undertake one of the most challenging feats in the sport.

The film includes interviews with leading commentators, including W M Nixon, who documented Dolan's round Ireland speed record attempts on Afloat. As regular Afloat readers will recall, Dolan's second attempt was dashed by Storm Ciaran last November.

The screening of "Around My Island" will be followed by a discussion session with Tom, where he will share his experiences and insights on the journey. The session will be conducted in both English and French, and early booking is essential due to limited availability. 

Tom Dolan halted his latest Round Ireland speed challenge on October 31st  due to worsening weather  forecasts off the South and Southwest coast. It was a disappointing decision for him and his team and a great many readers who had been avidly following his record attempt.  Afloat's coverage of that decision included commentary based on a Tom Dolan Racing Team press release that caused Tom and his team upset, which was never  Afloat's intention. We are, therefore, very grateful to Tom for bringing clarity to a number of our assumptions while touching on some of  the many factors that led him to conclude he needed to retire to Dingle Harbour. 
 
In light of the recent article on Afloat, I want to respond to comments that were incorrect or based on incorrect assumptions. As the sailor concerned, who had the best available weather and forecasted sea state information at the time, who has known that coast since I first went offshore and who ultimately made the decision to stop with no external influences, I feel it important to clarify a number of assumptions in the original article.  

Safe Havens 

The phrase that  was included in the Tom Dolan Racing Team press release - "Dolan was not prepared to take the risk on his 36 foot Figaro Beneteau 3, particularly with no safe havens to shelter in on the SW and S of Ireland - I think was misunderstood or taken out of context. 

The intention was not to suggest that the South and Southwest coast of Ireland doesn’t normally have safe places to shelter. What we wanted to convey was that the tidal and weather conditions on the night in question had rendered it unsafe for me in the given circumstances, as can happen in many regions (Northern Brittany is a good example). 

I have included an example for one of the ports mentioned in the Afloat article, Cahersiveen, below, which is dredged at 1.9 metres. 

Below is a tidal graph for low tide on that night. 0.33. (Let’s call it 0.4)

Tidal graph for low tide

1.9 + 0.4 = 2.3  Metres 

Draft of Beneteau Figaro 3 = 2.5. Metres 

This example shows that using this port was simply not possible. The same was the case for many of the ports mentioned, apart from Knightstown.  

There was an amazing full moon during the entire trip, and there were exceptionally big spring tides, with a tidal coefficient of 96, meaning a larger-than-normal range. 
  
The forecast for the night at the Fastnet was 35 to 45 knots GRIB, meaning possible gusts of over 50, especially during the passing of the cold front, with a swell of 4.5 increasing to 4.9 metres and higher with a 7-second period.  The period is a very important factor here. 

A gale warning for strong gale force 9, as well as a heavy swell warning, had been issued by Met Eireann. 

The north harbour of Cape Clear was mentioned in the Afloat article. By the time I would have arrived there, there would have been 35 possibly gusting 45+ knots of wind from the West-Northwest. 

Dropping the sails and then tying up any boat safely in the north harbour of Cape Clear in these conditions, at night, at low tide, is extremely dangerous, and I would argue almost not possible. It is important to call attention to the dangers of a lee shore. 

In addition, I needed somewhere to shelter the boat not only for the night in question but also for the following week or more as there was a storm that was arriving with its associated heavy swell.  

There were many factors to consider: Firstly, and most importantly, the height of tide. Secondly the wind and sea forecast for that night. Thirdly, the forecast for the following week or more. 

So I reiterate, and stand completely by our statement, that there were no safe ports for me to shelter in. This is a statement of fact, given my evaluation of the conditions forecast for that night. I have the competence and experience to make that evaluation. 

I accept that we could perhaps have added "for the night in question", or "with the current forecast" or even simply "tonight" in our press release but I hope you will understand the fatigue and disappointment I was feeling at the time. 

The main objective of this record was to showcase the beauty of the Irish coast while creating an event that would appeal to the general Irish public who are not sailors. Everybody loves a record! 

I would never criticise any part of the coast and to suggest so was quite hurtful to both me and my team. Imagine my disappointment at having to pull out, especially added to the fatigue of a long and difficult racing season during which I have spent the equivalent of almost 150 days at sea. 

Shore team 

The Afloat article also suggested that decisions about safe havens and weather forecasts were made by my “shore team – particularly in France”, and described my team as “Franco-centric in their outlook, opinions and decisions”.

There were no French people working with me on the weather. There was one Irish, one Spanish and one Dutch person advising me. One of whom is the best of the business and has won multiple Jules Verne trophies and Volvo Ocean Races. None of them advised me to stop or to go on - this is not how on-land routing functions. 

The only person of French nationality in our team for this project was managing social media, and he does not sail. 

So I disagree with your suggestion that we are "franco-centric" in our decision-making process. We are professionals, and the decisions we make are based on years of experience. I consider myself lucky to work with a great diversity of nationalities (7 different) , and I see this as a huge strength, as in any high-performance sport or business. In fact, strategy building and decision making at sea is a methodology based around a hierarchy of factors that are always changing and which are the same in whatever country you are sailing (sea state, synoptic wind, tide, local effects, racecourse geometry etc.....)
  
I and I alone made the decision to halt the record attempt due to the dangerous sea state forecast along the Southwest and South coast of Ireland. It’s a decision which I stand by. 

There were absolutely no outside influences or pressures from anyone, including my sponsors.  

Tom Dolan during his Round Ireland record run Photo: Afloat

The dangerous sea conditions, which were pushed from the Atlantic by the approaching Storm Ciaran, had been a concern since before we left Greystones , so this was NOT a sudden or "abrupt" decision. I was ahead of the record, but actually 5 or 6 hours behind the routings and thus slightly too late for the safe window that I had targeted to get around the SW corner of Ireland before the sea state and wind forecast deteriorated. The forecast for wind and sea state along the SW and S coast had been worsening at each update since I started and on all GRIB files. In meteorology, it is important to follow tendencies as they are often a sign of the evolution of what is to come.  

Strong wind by itself is not really a problem, and the boat is designed and maintained to a standard that allows for it. I always set the limit at conditions less than might cause a capsize by a breaking wave.

This significant wave height and the reduced wave period (I must reiterate the wave period being the key point here) combined with the direction of the swell from the SW and wind from the WNW causing a crossed sea are definitely very relevant to the decision. It was not safe to sail into these conditions, so I took shelter in what I felt was the only suitable port.

There were absolutely no communications coming to me from anyone to suggest that I was putting myself or the project in danger. I have the experience and competence to decide this on my own. 

The conditions encountered at the start of this year's Fastnet race and those forecast for the night in question are simply not the same. Comparing courses that are held during the summer months, like the Round Ireland and Fastnet Races, to ones done in November is unbalanced as weather systems do not evolve or displace at the same rate.

Attended marinas 

Your Afloat article also claimed that “The setup of a solo sailor in a voluminous 36ft Figaro 3 with foils to be protected means that the only reasonable berthing option is a proper marina, with attendants available to take mooring lines at all hours, day and night”. 

I don’t know of any marinas in Brittany, or western France, that are open 24/7," with attendants available to take mooring lines at all hours, day and night". They are not private companies in France, but public bodies run by local town councils so the attendants go home at 6 o'clock and they have great holidays. 

The marinas can also be quite cheaper, but even during the day, you will struggle to find an attendant to take your lines. 

The foils are actually the toughest part of the boat, numerous start line tests have been done. They are designed to generate 300 kilograms of maximum vertical lift.  

Please see a photo of a Figaro 3 on a mooring buoy for your records. It is easily possible, actually quite easier than larger cruising boats with a higher gunwale and a heavier displacement. We even have two anchors on board. 

A Figaro 3 on a mooring buoy

Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a fridge, and the toilet arrangements are far from ideal so extended stays can lack certain comforts.