Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Having spent the weekend racing in the Irish RS Elite Championships at Royal Ulster on Belfast Lough, most of the 14-strong fleet are making their way the 18 miles to the UK Nationals hosted by Strangford Lough Yacht Club at…

Kilmore Quay RNLI volunteer crew were called late on Saturday night to assist a yacht with four people on board that had lost power at sea, having also launched in the afternoon to reports of four swimmers in difficulty at…

A unique north Mayo beach is the location for one of a number of events being run for World Sand Dune Day. A guided walk will take place on Tuesday, June 27th, at Rinn Rua (Rinroe) beach, hosted by An…

The Howth 17s are sailing amongst Carbery’s Hundred Isles. The oldest classic sailing boats in the world are in West Cork waters to mark their 125th year and intend to sail around the iconic Fastnet Rock.  The photo above is…

In “champagne” sailing conditions, Max Sweetman of Waterford Harbour SC and Roisin Mitchell Ward of Galway Bay SC (GBSC) took gold at the 420 class Connacht sailing championships off An Spidéal, Co Galway, over the weekend. Sweetman and Mitchell Ward…

The inaugural J Cup Ireland is taking place 26th and 27th of August 2023 at the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, on Dublin Bay. Hosted by Key Yachting, the J Cup Regatta is exclusively organised for racing yachts…

Both Wicklow RNLI Inshore and all-weather lifeboats launched this afternoon (Sunday, 25 June) after the Irish Coast Guard received a distress call on Marine VHF Channel 16, reporting an 8-metre racing yacht had capsized during a squall in Wicklow bay,…

Sister-Brother duo Clementine and Nathan van Steenberge (NYC) finished up fifth and first mixed duo, having led the 29er fleet for the first three days in Kiel Week in Germany. As Afloat reported earlier, the Dun Laoghaire siblings showed strong…

The twelve-team field for the 56th-annual Governor’s Cup International Youth Match Racing Championship is now final, with a record eight countries represented. As Afloat previously reported, Dun Laoghaire helmsman Tom Higgins became the first Irish sailor to receive an invitation…

Four Irish boats compete at the Weymouth Squib National Championships this week. Sunday saw a practice race followed by the first championship race. Winds started light and built up to 16 knots from the SW with beats in excess of one…

In the history of sailing, one event changed everything. The Golden Globe Race sits high in the mind of all sailors, and one man, Sir Robin Knox Johnston, winner of the first edition in 1968, has inspired tens of millions…

During this past week, competitors in the Simply Blue Sovereign’s Cup at Kinsale have been sailing at a venue much of which is a time capsule of the picturesque town attached to a naval base of the 1700s. Today (Sunday),…

If there wasn’t already enough urgency to get to Genoa quickly, Ambrogio Beccaria is more desperate than ever. Not only is the Italian crewman on Team Holcim-PRB keen to reach his home country as soon as possible, vital provisions on…

An ecological analysis of the western Irish Sea for potential marine protected areas warns of “significant spatial squeeze” if both offshore wind farms and commercial fishing are excluded from sensitive habitats. As The Sunday Independent reports, a report for the…

Two Aran island fishing vessels which were approved for Ireland’s decommissioning scheme, recently completed their last trip before being broken up. The 17-metre Connacht Ranger and the 20-metre Conquest were photographed on their journey from Ireland to Denmark. Skipper-owner John…

Glandore Harbour Yacht Club Commodore Tim Forde reports on success in a very sociable event by the thriving local International Dragons against a cross-channel challenge: “The Celtic Challenge 2023 against Royal Anglesey Yacht Club from the Menai Straits opened with…

There was a packed clubhouse and some emotional moments at Kinsale Yacht Club for the presentation of Simply Blue 2023 Sovereign’s Cup prizes on Saturday evening. James and David Dwyer of Royal Cork Yacht Club with their Half-Tonner Swuzzlebubble crew,…

Kinsailor, the Kinsale Yacht Club Under-25 J24 crew were the inaugural winners of the 'Jack Roy Perpetual Trophy', awarded to the best female helm at Saturday night's 2023 Simply Blue Sovereign's Cup prizegiving. The trophy was commissioned by the club and…

Royal St. George's Jimmy Fischer's Billy Whizz was the winner of Saturday's scratch Race 17 in the Beneteau 211 class of the AIB DBSC Summer Series on Dublin Bay. Joe Smyth's Yikes from the Royal Irish took second, with Pat Shannon's Beeswing in…

A fleet of ocean thoroughbred yachts which have previously taken part in past editions of the Whitbread Round The World Race, the Volvo Ocean Race and The Ocean Race have assembled in Italy ahead of the 50th Anniversary Legends Regatta…