#VOR – Volvo Ocean Race fan and Irish Fireball champion, Kenneth Rumball, has won a trip to Miami, USA, to sail with Abu Dhabi backed outfit Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing. The 24-year-old, from Dun Laoghaire County Dublin, says the chance to meet his heroes and sail on the team's Volvo Open 70 race yacht, Azzam (determination), in the gruelling round-the-world sailing event is a dre...

#CANOEING: Two Ireland boats have qualified for tomorrow’s finals at the European Olympic Qualifier for canoe sprint in Poznan in Poland. Andrzej Jezierski won his heat of the C1 200, while Jenny Egan came through a semi-final to make the final of the K1 500 metres. She also has a chance of making the K1 200 metres final, as she has qualified for the semi-final. Jezierski is...

#CALVES WEEK – The new compact format for Cork Dry Gin Calves Week 2012 will consist of a 4 day racing series, including a race around the Fastnet Rock. As previously reported on Afloat.ie the event will take place from Aug 7th - 10th to allow for visiting yachts to take part in the local regattas of Baltimore, Crookhaven and Schull. Speaking about Cork Dry Gin's sponsorship...

#IRISH MARITIME HERITAGE – A special lunch and lecture event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the M.V. Cill Airne, one of the few surviving Irish built vessels, still within these shore takes places tomorrow, noting at time of this posting,  places remain available, writes Jehan Ashmore. Those intending to book the lunch on board should arrive at 12:30 for a 1pm sta...

#TOURISM - Germany's top travel writers were invited to Cork recently to sample some of the best water-based activities the county has to offer. As InsideIreland.ie reports, the group followed an itinerary designed by Fáilte Ireland that included seaweed picking by kayak near Skibbereen, a coastal walk along the Seven Heads Peninsula and whale watching off Baltimore. "German...

#CANOEING: Jenny Egan qualified for tomorrow’s A Final of the K1 500 metres at the European Olympic Qualifier in sprint canoeing at Poznan in Poland today. A finish in the top two would send her to London. Egan finished fifth in her heat this morning and thus needed to be in the top three in the semi-final: she took the third place by just under four tenths of a second from ...

#RESCUE - The Irish Times reports that two people were rescued from a cruiser that ran aground in an "enraged" Lough Derg on Sunday afternoon. Eyewitnesses on the shore at Terryglass in Co Tipperary raised the alarm after spotting the duo in distress when their boat lost power amid force 8 gales. The Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat was dispatched but stood down on news that both per...

#COASTAL ROWING – During the May bank holiday weekend (4th-6th May), 12 men and women of St Michael's Rowing Club, Dun Laoghaire, participated in the biennial rowing race across the Irish Sea known as 'the Celtic Challenge'. It turned out to be what is widely regarded as the toughest crossing in the race's 19 year history, with just 12 of the 23 teams entered crossing the fin...

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The East Coast of Ireland was treated to a rare sight yesterday morning with the spotting of a basking shark at Dun Laoghaire. According to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), the gentle giant was sighted by Ronan McLaughlin of the Naval Service vessel LE Ciara at the entrance to Dun Laoghaire Harbour - which may allow for the perfect opportunity to ea...

#SCOTTISH SERIES –With less than three weeks until the start of the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series which will take place over the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend 1 to 4 June on Loch Fyne, event organisers Clyde Cruising Club (CCC) is receiving a steady stream of entries across the classes while the local organisers in Tarbert, Loch Fyne are already well ahead with the infrast...

#COBH CRUISE CALL – The sleek profile of Seabourn Sojourn, the cruiseship whose godmother is Twiggy, the English fashion icon and actress, called at Cobh Cruise Terminal this morning, writes Jehan Ashmore. The ultra-luxurious vessel is the second of a pair of 32,000 tonnes sisters built for Seabourn Cruises by Italian shipyard T. Marrioti in Genoa. She was launched into the ...

#INLAND – Waterways Ireland, together with food writer Georgina Campbell and Afloat's boating expert W.M. Nixon, recently launched the 2012 edition of A Taste of the Waterways. The Guide recommends places to eat and stay along the inland waterways managed by Waterways Ireland, and also includes maps and information on Things to See & Do along the way. Establishments feat...

#JOBS – Dun Laoghaire's Royal St. George Yacht Club is seeking an Events Manager. The job involves the management and co-ordination of the smooth operation of the catering-events office, with main responsibility for the coordination of the Club's major sailing events, weddings, private functions, and meetings. The demanding and rewarding role requires an energetic and driven ...

#OLYMPIC SAILING – London Olympic debutante Annalise Murphy (22) who the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) say can be an Olympic medal winner in Weymouth this summer has had a 'difficult start' to her Laser Radial World Championships in Germany today as extremely shifty winds that increased from eight to twenty knots during the afternoon made racing difficult. Writing on her fa...

#DBSC – Veteran Laser sailors Theo Lyttle and Chris Arrowsmith finished 1,2 in the PY class of tonight's Dublin Bay Sailing Club dinghy fleet with ideal 10 knot northerly winds if not a little chilly for Mid-May. In the Fireball class Winder (E.Butler/O.Laverty) were winners with Neil Colin's Elevation second and Licence to Thrill (Louis Smyth) third. The full results for t...

#470 – Ireland will be sending a five boat team (and that may yet rise to six) to the London Olympics following the qualification of Ger Owens for his third Olympic regatta in the 470 dinghy with new Howth crew Scott Flanigan. As Afloat.ie previously reported this week the pair are currently sailing at the 470 World Championships in Barcelona where the final seven nation pla...

#RNLI – An unusual rescue for  Baltimore RNLI lifeboat, the crew launched on Tuesday night to a sheep that was stranded on a ledge close to sea level for two days. Several attempts had already been made to recover the sheep when the lifeboat crew were asked if they could offer any assistance.  The RNLI inshore lifeboat Bessie was launched with Helm Youen Jacob and ...

#VOR GALWAY – Volvo Ocean Race chiefs were in Galway this week to discuss the race finale at the West coast port in six weeks time.  Director of Operations Heather Sherer and Tom Touber of Volvo Ocean Race Global met with the Lets do it Galway team including Chairman Enda O'Coineen to put the finishing touches to the Irish party. The race will finish in Galway Bay ...

Renowned US based educator, boatbuilding expert Lance Lee  will deliver a lecture as part of this weekend's Gandelow races event on the river Shannon in Limerick on Saturday. The event is a celebration of historic Limerick City and Shannon estuary river ways. It also celebrates the building of five Gandelows, river boats which were once an integral part of the economic li...

#SHANNON SILVERSEAS - The mid-west port of Foynes is playing host to the ultra-luxurious Silver Whisper (2001/28,000grt) which docked along the Shannon Estuary this morning, writes Jehan Ashmore. The vessel operated by Silverseas Cruises had sailed from Southampton and at least another call by another vessel is also scheduled this season. On average the Shannon Foynes Port Com...