Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
First 50 Checkmate XX Among First Entries for 2024 SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race
29th January 2024 Round Ireland
Only minutes after registration opened at 9 am this morning for the 2024 SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race were the first entries received. Despite the hype over some potent international campaigns, the first boats to register were returning Irish Round Ireland contestants. Nigel Biggs…
Divers Recruited to Recover Ghost Nets in ‘Ireland’s Biggest Ever Beach Clean Underwater’
29th January 2024 Coastal Notes
This year will see divers join in beach clean efforts in Ireland for the first time, using their skills to find and remove discarded fishing gear also known as ‘ghost nets’ from around the coast. According to the Irish Examiner,…
Call for Cyclists to ‘Lap the Lake’ For Third Year Running in Aid of Lough Derg RNLI This May
29th January 2024 RNLI Lifeboats
Cyclists will ‘Lap the Lake’ for the third year running to raise funds for Lough Derg RNLI on Saturday 11 May. With Lough Derg RNLI marking 20 years of lifeboat service on the lake in the same year that the…
International Fleet Eyes June's SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race 2024 as Entries Open This Morning
29th January 2024 Round Ireland
With just under five months to the June race start, entries opened for the 2024 SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race at 9 am, tying in with this morning's official launch of Ireland's premier offshore race. Organiser Wicklow Sailing Club (WSC) has…
Charles Caudrelier Into the 'Second Half' of Ultim Challenge Round the World Race
29th January 2024 Ultim Challenge
Lying in second place on the Ultim Challenge round the world race for foiling giant multihulls, Thomas Coville passed Cape Leeuwin last night. But the redoubtable French skipper didn't really have time to celebrate as he is riding a very…
Finn Lynch into Top Ten of ILCA7 World Championships But is Disqualified From Race Seven
29th January 2024 Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing
A potent Finn Lynch of Ireland has sailed into the top ten of the ILCA 7 Laser World Championships after the first day of the final series, but a black flag disqualification for the National Yacht Club ace could yet prove…
Having narrowly missed out on Star Class Bacardi Cup title in 2023, Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne are preparing to contest the 2024 Cup this March. The Cork-Belfast pairing, one of the early registrations for 2024's 97th invitational, held the…
Houseboat Dwellers Fear Displacement From Grand Canal Dock Over Proposed Hike in Fees
28th January 2024 Inland Waterways
Waterways Ireland has been accused of attempting to gentrify Grand Canal Dock with plans to hike annual fees for houseboat dwellers by nearly 700 per cent. Residents among the 30 vessels at the Dublin city centre mooring told The Journal…
The Water Wags, a local sailing class on Dublin Bay, had a successful season in 2023 despite the extreme weather conditions that they faced. The club's activities kicked off with a coaching and training weekend at the National Yacht Club…
Match Racing's Congressional Cup Swells to Host 12 of the World’s Top Skippers in 59th Regatta
28th January 2024 Match Racing
California’s Long Beach Yacht Club has announced the addition of two invitations for this year’s 59th edition of the Congressional Cup Regatta, April 24 to 28, 2024. As the season-opening Championship event of the 2024 World Match Racing Tour, the…
Irish Team Racing Association Unveils Packed 2024 Calendar in Effort to Grow the Sport Across Ireland
28th January 2024 Team Racing
In response to a surge in the popularity of team racing in Ireland over recent years, the Irish Team Racing Association (ITRA) has announced a packed 2024 calendar aimed at further growing the sport across the country. The announcement followed…
Dun Laoghaire's Viking Marine-sponsored DMYC Dinghy Frostbite Series has been cancelled for a second week due to strong winds on Dublin Bay. "The Dublin Bay Buoy was showing 31 knots gusting 39 when we called it, and the forecast was…
Whitehead's County Antrim Yacht Club is Only Northern Ireland Club in Running for RYA Club of the Year Award
28th January 2024 RYA Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's County Antrim Yacht Club has been selected as a finalist for the second year running in the UK-wide RYA Club of the Year Awards. The Club lies on the northern shore of Belfast Lough in the town of…
Lynch and McMahon Both Qualify for ILCA7 Worlds Gold Fleet in Adelaide
28th January 2024 Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing
Consistent sailing by Ireland's Finn Lynch at the ILCA 7 World Championships in Adelaide, Australia, this week shows the depth of the Rio Olympian's ambition to make the Marseille Olympic start line this summer. According to provisional results (see below),…
New Indian Ocean Solo Record for Ultim Challenge Leader Charles Caudrelier
28th January 2024 Ultim Challenge
Ultim Challenge solo round-the-world race leader Charles Caudrelier sailed into the Pacific Ocean last night after setting a new solo record time for the passage of the Indian Ocean between Cape Agulhas in South Africa and the longitude of Tasmania.…
It's 50 years since the Clyde Cruising Club delivered the first Scottish Series, and it has been run out of Tarbert, Loch Fyne, for the last 40 of those. This year’s event will be held from 24th till 27th May.…
There is one week until the entry deadline for February's first race of the AIB-sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken Series from Dun Laoghaire Harbour, which will take place at the National Yacht Club. Dublin Bay Sailing Club has published the Notice of Race for…
2024 Newport Bermuda Race Extends To 636 Miles To Offer Free Public Viewing from Fort Adams State Park
27th January 2024 Offshore
The ocean-isolated island group of Bermuda, know to the cognoscenti as The Onion Patch, has the same special attraction for the American cruiser-racer sailors of New England as the distant island of Hy Brasil had in ancient times for voyaging…
Lynch and McMahon Shine at ILCA7 Class World Championships in Adelaide
27th January 2024 Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing
Both Irish sailors competing in the 153-boat ILCA7 class world championships in Adelaide, Australia, had a stand-out day on Saturday, as they counted top ten results in tricky conditions. The event is preparing to end its qualification phase, and both…
Waterways Ireland advises masters and owners of vessels that it will be carrying out maintenance works on the waiting jetty on the upstream side of the 35th Lock in Shannon Harbour. Works will begin on Monday 29 January and will…