Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Tom Dolan, Solo Sailor
Tom Dolan arrives back at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Sunday afternoon after his unsuccessful Round Ireland speed record bid
(Day Four 1600hrs) - Tom Dolan sailed back to Dun Laoghaire this evening, having completed the Round Ireland speed record course but without breaking any records, as Afloat reported earlier here He arrived back at the Dun Laoghaire finish line of…
Tom Dolan is making slow progress on day four of his Round Ireland record
(Day four, 0800) Light winds - mostly from ahead - and adverse Spring tides in the most tide-riven part of the unforgiving North Channel, have seen Tom Dolan's clockwise Round Ireland solo/duo challenge evaporate through the night. By midnight, he…
Tom Dolan when the going was good in his Round Ireland record challenge off the Skelligs on the County Kerry coast
Day 3 (1030hrs) – Ireland's northwest corner, the unspectacular but memorably-named Bloody Foreland in Donegal, lived up to its name all too well for Round Ireland record challenger Tom Dolan in his Figaro 3 Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan at midnight. For although…
Tom Dolan and his
Day Two 0900 - Tom Dolan and his "non-sailing cameraman" aboard the Figaro 3 Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan, in their current multi-interpretation Round Ireland Challenge (is it double or solo?), had a frustrating time out beyond Achill Island early this morning. The…
Tom Dolan's Figaro 3 Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan tacking to lee off the southwest coast in the early morning sunshine
Day Two: Meath maestro Tom Dolan's Figaro 3 Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan came past the Blasket Islands northward bound at noon today (Thursday) on his clockwise Round Ireland Solo Record Challenge, making excellent progressin a brisk easterly wind that should carry him…
Tom Dolan departs Dublin Bay this morning aiming to break the Round Ireland solo speed sailing record
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…
With the city lights behind him, Tom Dolan gives one last wave and departs Dublin Bay on May 23rd at 04 hours, 27 minutes and 54 seconds, IST on a record-breaking, south about Round Ireland speed sailing record bid 
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…
Tom Dolan has advised of a 'Code Green' for his Round Ireland Speed Sailing Solo Record attempt
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…
Tom Dolan will attempt a 'solo' record round Ireland but will actually sail with a media man onboard with him
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…
Tom Dolan (pictured) will attempt to beat the solo Round Ireland speed record held by Belgian Michel Kleinjans since 2005 (4 days, 1 hour, 53 minutes and 29 seconds)
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…
The difference between having a great start or getting stuffed can be very narrow indeed, but in this instance Tom Dolan has got himself on the right side of the bacon slicer in the hyper-keen Figaro 3 class
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…
Tom Dolan (pictured centre with red box), sailing with a crew comprising England’s Alan Roberts and French ace Gildas Mahe won the Figaro Bénéteau 3 Class at France’s giant Spi Ouest Regatta
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…
Irish sailor Tom Dolan and his French co-skipper Achille Nebout  - were disappointed to lose two places in the final miles because of a tactical choice in the Laura Vergne Trophy
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…
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
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…
Irish Sailor Tom Dolan is setting out to break the single-handed Round Ireland speed sailing record
Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan plans to return to his native Ireland from France in May when he will seek to break the singlehanded record for sailing 698 nautical miles around Ireland. The skipper of Smurfit Kappa –Kingspan is aiming…
Ireland’s leading solo offshore racer Tom Dolan produced his best Solo Miatre Coq result despite a navigational error
Ireland’s leading solo offshore racer Tom Dolan laid to rest the ghosts of three past Solo Maître CoQ events when he finished seventh overall from a 30-boat fleet Saturday. After his 11th in Wednesday’s short inshore race the skipper of Smurfit…

Tom Dolan, Solo Offshore Sailor

Even when County Meath solo sailor Tom Dolan had been down the numbers in the early stages of the four-stage 2,000 mile 2020 Figaro Race, Dolan and his boat were soon eating their way up through the fleet in any situation which demanded difficult tactical decisions.

His fifth overall at the finish – the highest-placed non-French sailor and winner of the Vivi Cup – had him right among the international elite in one of 2020's few major events.

The 33-year-old who has lived in Concarneau, Brittany since 2009 but grew up on a farm in rural County Meath came into the gruelling four-stage race aiming to get into the top half of the fleet and to underline his potential to Irish sailing administrators considering the selection process for the 2024 Olympic Mixed Double Offshore category which comes in for the Paris games.