Tom Dolan lying ninth in the Transat en Double Concarneau - Saint Barthélemy race
by Andi Robertson 17 May 2021 17:23 BST
Breizh Cola with Gildas Mahé at the helm in the Transat en Double Concarneau - Saint Barthélemy race © Tom Dolan
Racing on Breizh Cola with French ace Gildas Mahé, Ireland's Tom Dolan reported today that he is happy with their positioning on the Transat en Double Concarneau - Saint Barthélemy fleet.
Racing downwind in 18-20kts of NE'ly tradewinds 175 nautical miles WNW of Cascablanca this Monday afternoon Dolan and Mahé are computed to be lying ninth in the 18 boat fleet but in terms of latitude they were the furthest south of the leaders and were the quickest boat over the previous 24 hours making 226 nautical miles.
They still have over 420 miles to go the Canary Island where there is a passing virtual mark before the fleet turn west to cross the Atlantic.
The Smurfit Kappa backed Dolan reported this afternoon, "Tonight might yet be a key stage of the race as some weather files are looking at 27 to 30kts of wind, downwind, full on, should be tiringly good craic! But it's an important part of the race I'd say.
"We struggled a bit for speed with all of the reaching at the start over the first few days, it wasn't much fun, it was hard work, always heeling and trying to scrape back every little 0.1 of a mile.
"But since it has become downwind we're really in the groove! I am happy with our trajectories and in the right place so all is good on board."
tomdolanracing.com
The latest video on Tom's Youtube channel illustrates an affliction his co-skipper is struggling with!