Tom Dolan: “Everything still remains to be done!”

Tom Dolan in Gijon on 29 August 2024 © Alexis Courcoux

At around 1pm this Thursday, Tom Dolan and his fellow competitors in the 55th edition of the Solitaire du Figaro Paprec arrived in Gijón as a pack.

The top twenty boats all crossed the line in just five minutes. A minuscule gap after 615 miles of racing and four days at sea. As such, the scores remain more or less stuck at zero after this first leg. The Smurfit Kappa - Kingspan skipper, who finished 9th, had predicted such a scenario even before leaving the Bay of Seine last weekend, and obviously it suits him quite well, as everything still remains to be done!

"I told you so! As is often the case in Figaro, we work like crazy for four days trying to make a difference and, in the end, we all arrive at the same time! I'm almost tempted to say: is that what it was all for?" commented Tom Dolan on his arrival in Spain early this afternoon. After breaking up in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, the pack ultimately arrived extremely tightly bunched off the Asturias coast. So much so, in fact, that the gaps in the provisional overall standings are minuscule, although some, like Alexis Loison, seemed to have taken off 24 hours ago. "The main pack were playing with fire a little by getting so close to the ridge. In my opinion, Alex played the weather rather well, but didn't reap the reward, as in the end everyone came together in the calm five miles from the finish and started again at the same time when a line of wind blew in from offshore. It's a shame, but that's the way it is, and as far as I'm concerned, I'd much rather be 3 minutes and 32 seconds behind the leader than several hours behind. It's practically nothing", said the Irishman, who knows from experience that finishes in Spain can sometimes ruin a race, as the event has shown manytimes in the past.

A positive overall outcome

"At this stage, everything remains to be done. We're all on an equal footing or close to it, so the outcome is obviously positive" added the skipper of Smurfit Kappa - Kingspan, who got off to a very good start and showed that he's still very much at ease with speed, especially in slightly bracing conditions. "For once, I got off to a good start. On the other hand, I didn't have a great feeling aboard. In the end, it's not a big deal, as I didn't miss anything, and there were some really pleasant moments, such as one morning downwind in the rain but on perfectly flat seas, or during the long tack under gennaker to get to Wolf Rock, even though I had to reverse three times to remove some seaweed and a plastic bag caught in the boat's appendages. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this first leg. It just confirms what we already knew: it's going to be very tight! Everyone wants to win!", added Tom, who will be enjoying a little respite before the start of the second leg (605 miles to Royan via Cape Finisterre) scheduled for this Sunday 1st September.