Mark O'Connor qualifies for Les Sables-d'Olonne - Acores - Les Sables-d'Olonne race
by Brid Kennedy 1 May 03:03 PDT
Mark O'Connor is a 25 year old Dublin native living in France to fulfil his goal of completing the Mini Transat race. With a hunger for adventure and a passion for sailing, he has now competed in two seasons on the highly competitive Mini 6.50 circuit in France and has qualified for the SAS (Les Sables-d'Olonne - Acores - Les Sables-d'Olonne) race this summer.
Mark finished his full time job in January 2025 where he worked as an electronic engineer to pursue his dream. Mark will now focus exclusively on his preparations for the Mini Transat (Trans Atlantic) race.
The Mini Transat was created in 1977 with the aim of reconnecting with the adventurous spirit of the first transatlantic races, and organised every second year since.
The race, the 25th edition of the event, will start on September 21st, 2025. Contested solo and without assistance aboard 6.50 meter sailboats, this event is a real school of ocean racing, where the skipper must be versatile and autonomous to move his boat forward despite the demands of the exercise.
The crossing will take place in two stages, starting from the town of Les Sables d'Olonne, with a stopover in Santa Cruz de La Palma in the Canaries, then arriving in Saint-François in Guadeloupe.
The objective of the race is for sailors to sail without communication to demonstrate their sailing skills and not behoved to weather satellite feeds. No outside assistance is allowed. However, support is nearby in the case of emergencies.
Mark's time is currently spent physically training, sail training on the water, seeking sponsors, attending preparation courses and preparing his boat for what will be a very tough sail. If Mark is successful in his endeavour, he will become the youngest Irish person to race solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Mark has moved to Lorient, Brittany in order to train with higher ranked sailors in the Mini Class 6.50. His performance improved from 23rd to 9th in the fleet during 2024.
In preparation for this event, Mark will compete in the Mini Fastnet Race which takes place in June in Douarnenez France and the Trans Gasoyne Race which will be held in July 2025.
Recently he wrapped his boat in new colours of Orbis Ireland and proudly flies the Irish flag on top. Mark has chosen Orbis Ireland as his charity partner as he felt this was a great opportunity to give them international visibility. Orbis make a real impact tackling vision loss around the world, mainly focusing on the developing world. They do their work in a sustainable way meaning their solutions are long-term, for example, they trained 30,000 medical staff and carers in 2022.
I'm sure you will join us here at Radio Services in wishing Mark every success in his sailing adventure and we would appreciate any publicity that you can give him for this worthy event.