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.”

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.

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