Tom Dolan - I don't know what hurts the most today
by Tom Dolan - Kingspan Sailing 3 Jun 21:45 BST
17 May 2026
Tom Dolan (Kingspan) runs aground - La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec Leg 3 © Thomas Campion
The sea is generous with moments of triumph, but it can turn in an instant. On Tuesday night, while leading both the third and final leg of the Solitaire du Figaro Paprec and the overall standings, Irish skipper Tom Dolan ran aground on the Ile de Sein reef. What had looked like a near-certain second title dissolved within minutes.
Irish Skipper Tom Dolan was airlifted to safety by the French Navy in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Now ashore, he is still processing this event. "There are two things that really hurt today. First, this race, I truly believe I was sailing the best Solitaire of my life. And then there's the boat, still there on Île de Sein. I still don't know what hurts more."
Until this moment, Dolan had been delivering a near-flawless performance. Since leaving Pornichet at the start of Leg 3, he had navigated every difficulty of the course, made excellent decisions on strategic options, near perfect manoeuvres and relentless pace and boat speed.
"The start was incredibly intense. We had to cross a huge zone of light wind, then a very active front with more than thirty knots upwind during the night. So for the first time since the beginning of the leg, I finally had a moment to breathe. I had changed, eaten my first proper meal in a while, taken two short naps. Then the third lasted only a few minutes.
"I fell asleep without realising it. When I woke up, I was aground," Dolan recalls.
For hours, Dolan and the SNSM, (the French Lifeboat Service similar to the RNLI) crew from Île de Sein fought to save the boat. Tom tried to anchor and await for the rising tide.
"We tried everything. We waited for the water to lift her, but the anchors did not hold. Then the swell increased with the tide and waves began breaking all around the boat. Little by little, the situation became impossible."
At 5:40 a.m. on Wednesday 3 June, after hours of effort, the CROSS (Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center) made the call to airlift Dolan from the boat.
"I'm not in a hurry to go through that again."
Although not the end he hoped for, early assessments of the Figaro 3 Kingspan are cautiously positive, with no leaks or major structural damage detected. However, falling tidal coefficients over the coming days will make any refloating attempt significantly more difficult.
"The conditions need to be favourable. We'll also need a bit of luck," Dolan notes, as he watches helplessly from shore while the boat endures the elements.
A cruel end to an exceptional Solitaire performance by Tom, now ashore as efforts continue to recover the boat that had him on course for victory.
The edition of the Solitaire du Figaro is now over for Tom; his adventure however continues.