Dingle - La Solitaire du Figaro

I read about 'La Solitaire du Figaro' on the internet and was immediately interested by it. It's a single handed yacht race that's been running for 40 years and this year it was stopping off at Dingle in Co. Kerry.

The 53 boats were due to arrive in Dingle on Thursday the 13th of August 2009. Dingle is a very long way from Dublin (345 km) and so to drive it in one day would be tough. I decided to stop over at my brother's place in Limerick for the night and to go on to Dingle the following day.

I stopped off at Inch Strand in Kerry on the way to Dingle. What a really nice place, the weather wasn't great that day but it still looks brilliant what with the mountains and all.
This view overlooking the strand is from the road to Dingle.
Seems to be big with the surfers too.
I got to Dingle at about noon after 2 and a half hours driving only to find out that the boats wouldn't be in until midnight. WIND - they didn't have enough of it apparently. So I stayed around Dingle, had some lunch and then went on to Ballyferriter and Dunquin later in the day to see the sights. This is a shot at the harbour in Dingle from where you can see the mountains and the town.

Dingle which is normally pretty popular with visitors to the country anyhow was full of tourists for the boat race and there was a real buzz about the place, a real sense of anticipation and excitement.