Irish sailor Tom Dolan has won the 55th edition of the solo offshore La Solitaire du Figaro, becoming the first non-French winner of the annual multi-stage event since 1988.
This year’s event spanned 1,840 nautical miles, beginning in France’s Rouen and finishing in La Turballe, taking in Royan and Gijón in northern Spain along the way.
The 37-year-old finished Thursday morning’s third and final stage, a 710 nautical mile sail from Royan to La Turballe, in seventh in a time of five days, 18 hours and 10 minutes.
“I haven’t really got my head around what’s just happened yet. The Solitaire du Figaro is a race I’d hoped to win one day and today really is a dream come true,” the Meath man said in La Turballe.
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Dolan built up an overall winning margin of 25 minutes 38 seconds over French rival Lois Berrehar after finishing ninth in the first stage from Le Harve to Gijón before winning the second stage between Gijón and Royan.
Berrehar won stage one and three, but Dolan’s 57-minute aggregate advantage after stage two gave him enough of a buffer to comfortably see off the Frenchman.
However, facing into the final sailing, Dolan was taking nothing for granted. “When the leaders got away from me into the strong wind, I said to myself: it’s all over, it’s all over.
“I always knew it was going to be complicated to come back and win. But, it has been a dream to win this for years.”
This was Dolan’s seventh attempt at La Solitaire, with his previous best coming in 2020 when he placed fifth overall. In last year’s event, Dolan became the first Irish stage winner since Damian Foxall almost 35 years ago.
“This time, karma was on my side,” he said. “This victory is the reward for years of work and sacrifice, both for me and also for those around me.
“I admit that there have been a lot of times when I’ve doubted myself. To be honest, a few hours ago, I was just hoping that I’d be able to save myself a spot on the podium ... When I crossed the finish line, I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d taken the win but I soon got the picture when I heard people congratulating me.
“At that moment, I kind of doubled up in my boat. I wanted to cry, albeit with tears of joy.”
Dolan is the first Irish skipper, and just the third non-French competitor, to claim victory in the history of the event.
Second went to Berrehar, finishing the course 25 minutes and 38 seconds behind Dolan, and fellow Frenchman Gaston Morvan took third.
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