Displaying items by tag: Sardinha Cup

20th June 2022

Dolan, Roberts Take Eighth Overall in Sardinha Cup

With a ninth place earned this Sunday morning when, exhausted, they crossed the second leg finishing line back into Saint Gilles Croix de Vie on France’s Vendée coastline, Ireland’s Tom Dolan and English co-skipper Alan Roberts finish eighth overall in the Sardinha Cup, the two-stage, doublehanded race to Figueira da Foz on the Portuguese coast and back to France.

With an eighth on the outward leg, sailing Dolan’s Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan, the duo achieve their goal of finishing in the top 10 of the 22-boat fleet.

The second stage, which started at lunchtime last Tuesday, saw an incredible range of weather, from long, long periods drifting windless in searing heat, to a final night of thunderstorms and huge swings in wind direction with squalls to 30kts.

The duo stuck to their pre-race strategy throughout and while their fortunes ebbed and flowed between second and 18th at different points, they were in the main body of the peloton at the line and the solid finishing position gives them both confidence for the future.

“That was tough. I feel like we had a whole season’s worth of different weather in that one leg. At one stage we were doing sail changes every five to seven minutes. Last night the wind was going through 180 degrees it was hairy at times with more than 30 kts in the squalls. But we never really went off the plan to stay in the north of the route and it paid off in the end.” Dolan explained back in the Vendée fishing port this morning.

“We achieve our goal, finishing in the top ten, yes, and our strategy was good, we sailed the boat well and we really get on well, but the guys who won were right beside us in the middle of Biscay on the way back, they took one hitch away from by about a mile and went on to win. So on the one hand we were in the right place and were that close to being on the podium but I kind of don’t want to be missing out again like we did on the way down.” Dolan added.

“But that was one of the maddest, most intense races I have done. We saw whales, sharks, dolphins close up, Portuguese fishermen close up but we are very happy in the end.” the Irish sailor from County Meath enthused. “But I have to admit I am tired. We have had four big races back to back since the start of the season and now I need to make sure I get rested before the start of La Solitaire du Figaro in late August.”

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Irish-Anglo Duo Tom Dolan and Alan Roberts Are Set For Sardinha Cup Offshore Race To Portugal

The Irish skipper Tom Dolan teams up again with his English friend and counterpart Alan Roberts to compete on the Sardinha Cup, a two-handed race which starts from Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie on the west coast of France and races 580 miles across the Bay of Biscay to Figuiera da Foz on the Portuguese coast midway between Lisbon and Porto.

The duo will compete on Dolan’s Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan in a strong fleet totalling 22 pairs and harbour realistic hopes of finishing in the top five. Fresh from a seventh overall in the Allmer Le Havre Cup just over a week ago the Irish skipper is on good form ahead of a race which promises to be testing in terms of the weather patterns, especially during the first half of the race. Dolan and Roberts already finished seventh together this season on the Banque Populaire Grand Ouest Trophy offshore races series.

Even so, the County Meath sailor warns, the outcome of the outbound race might be decided from a cluster of boats in very light winds close to the finish.

“Certainly it is going to be intense over the first part and then I suspect just as intense during the second part, so all in all a real challenge.” Dolan noted on the dock in the Vendee town of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie ahead of Monday afternoon’s start.

“There will be a couple of fronts to get through to start with maybe up to 30knots in the gusts close to Cape Finisterre and after that high pressure and light winds into the finish. So it should be good with quite a lot of upwind sailing.” Dolan adds, “But that means different options and when you are going through fronts like this getting the timing of your tack right is key. Get it right and you can make a nice gain, get it wrong and you can be left behind.”

“I feel good about the course and sailing with Alan. I have been down the Portuguese coast eight or nine times but never as close in as we will go. And I still think this first race can be decided four miles from the finish with a bunch of boats floating around in light winds. But we feel good. We have done a lot of good miles together now and I know this boat backwards so we are hopeful.”

The outwards race starts on Monday afternoon from the Vendée coastal town and the return race starts the following Tuesday afternoon.

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Ireland & La Solitaire du Figaro

The Solitaire du Figaro, was originally called the course de l’Aurore until 1980, was created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault.

Half a decade later, the race has created some of France's top offshore sailors, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a new boat equipped with foils and almost 50 skippers Including novices, aficionados and six former winners.

The solo multi-stage offshore sailing race is one of the most cherished races in French sailing and one that has had Irish interest stretching back over 20 years due to the number of Irish stopovers, usually the only foreign leg of the French race.

What Irish ports have hosted The Solitaire du Figaro?

The race has previously called to Ireland to the following ports; Dingle, Kinsale, Crosshaven, Howth and Dun Laoghaire.

What Irish sailors have raced The Solitaire du Figaro?

So far there have been seven Irish skippers to participate in La Solitaire du Figaro.

In 1997, County Kerry's Damian Foxall first tackled the Figaro from Ireland. His win in the Rookie division in DHL gave him the budget to compete again the following year with Barlo Plastics where he won the final leg of the race from Gijon to Concarneau. That same year a second Irish sailor Marcus Hutchinson sailing Bergamotte completed the course in 26th place and third Rookie.

In 2000, Hutchinson of Howth Yacht Club completed the course again with IMPACT, again finishing in the twenties.

In 2006, Paul O’Riain became the third Irish skipper to complete the course.

In 2013, Royal Cork's David Kenefick raised the bar by becoming a top rookie sailor in the race.

In 2018, for the first time, Ireland had two Irish boats in the offshore race thanks to Tom Dolan and Joan Mulloy who joined the rookie ranks and kept the Irish tricolour flying high in France. Mulloy became the first Irish female to take on the race.

Tom Dolan in Smurfit Kappa competed for his third year in 2020 after a 25th place finish in 2019. Dolan sailed a remarkably consistent series in 2020 and took fifth overall, the best finish by a non-French skipper since 1997 when Switzerland’s Dominique Wavre finished runner up. Dolan wins the VIVI Trophy.

Dolan finished 10th on the first stage, 11th on the second and seventh into Saint Nazaire at the end of the third stage. Stage four was abandoned due to lack of wind.

Also in 2020, Dun Laoghaire’s Kenneth Rumball became the eleventh Irish sailor to sail the Figaro.

At A Glance – Figaro Race

It starts in June or July from a French port.
The race is split into four stages varying from year to year, from the length of the French coast and making up a total of around 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles (1,700 to 2,300 mi; 2,800 to 3,700 km) on average.
Over the years the race has lasted between 10 and 13 days at sea.
The competitor is alone in the boat, participation is mixed.
Since 1990, all boats are of one design.