Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#Rowing: Metro Regatta has been cancelled. The weather forecast was for winds to rise to 20 to 25 kilometres in the afternoon at Blessington – with gusts. The organisers felt that these conditions might have made it unsafe to row.…

#FerryNews - Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) with loan funding from the Scottish Government has agreed to acquire three Northlink passenger ferries serving the Northern Isles, writes Jehan Ashmore. The deal announced in rcent weeks, sees CMAL purchase outright the…

#RNLI - Lough Ree RNLI was requested to launch its inshore lifeboat at 6.56pm yesterday evening (Wednesday 23 May) following reports of a swimmer in difficulty at the Golden Mile south of the motorway bridge in Athlone. Inshore lifeboat The…

#RNLI - A fisherman has died after his boat capsized off Cruagh Island near Clifden in Co Galway yesterday evening (Wednesday 23 May). Volunteers from Clifden RNLI were involved in the search and rescue operation for the man after the…

#RNLI - Ramsey RNLI on the Isle of Man launched its all-weather lifeboat Ann & James Ritchie yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 23 May) to render assistance to a day angling vessel with three people on board. The 21ft vessel had broken down…

Is your lifejacket in good working order? Lifejackets have to be regularly serviced and maintained to work when needed!  Leading Irish chandlery CH Marine is playing its role in keeping sailors safe this season with its annual Lifejacket Awareness campaign starting this…

The hard-working boat building team behind the restoration of the historic ketch Ilen in West Cork have successfully launched the 1926–built vessel in time for this weekend's Wooden Boat Festival at Baltimore. As Afloat.ie reported earlier this week, the final touches were being…

#VOR - The Volvo Ocean Race fleet was beginning to converge again on Wednesday (23 May) as the Leg 9 sprint across the Atlantic continued at pace. A split of almost 300 miles had opened up early in the 3,300-mile…

A wide field of international entries from the United States, Finland, Norway, France as well as Irish and British crews are amongst the 54 entries to date for the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2018 that was launched this evening. Additional…

Cormac Lowth of Dublin is a one-man Maritime Institute writes W M Nixon. He has an incredible memory, encyclopaedic knowledge, and an exceptional collection of nautical memorabilia. There’s always something of special interest when one of his missives pings into…

#Holyhead- Holyhead, north Wales is where a developer behind a £100m marina development is in talks to take full control of the scheme by acquiring the stake of ferry giant Stena Line. As the Daily Post reports, Conygar Stena received…

#HYC - Ahead of the eagerly awaited Wave Regatta, Howth Yacht Club is getting ready to host the Sportsboat Cup 2018 this coming weekend — but it’s a contingent from Cork who are looking to retain the top prize for…

#MarineWildlife - The Seanad today (Wednesday 23 May) is expected to hear a motion calling for the declaration of coastal areas around Ireland has ‘marine protected areas’ or MPAs. According to The Irish Times, the motion is being tabled by…

Andrew Algeo’s Juggerknot from the Royal Irish Yacht Club leads a clutch of J109’s into division one of June's Wave Regatta at Howth Yacht Club as the newly crowned East Coast J109 champion but faces plenty of competition under IRC,…

Cruiser 3 Tuesday ECHO: 1. Jiminy Cricket, 2. Grasshopper 11, 3. Maranda Combined Cruisers ECHO: 1. Platinum Bonde Ruffian: 1. Alias, 2. Ruff Diamond B211 One Design: 1. Beeswing, 2. Isolde, 3. Ventuno B211 ECHO: 1. Beeswing, 2. Isolde, 3.…

#Rowing: The team which will represent Ireland at the World Cup in Belgrade (June 1st to 3rd) has been chosen. The selection was made after trials at the National Rowing Centre in Cork last weekend.  Belgrade is the first in…

#Tallships - A pair of ships, one a Danish trainee tallship, the other a former Norwegian 'Hurtigruten' coastal passenger/cargoship but trading now as a cruiseship, are anchored closely to each other off Bantry, Co. Cork today, writes Jehan Ashmore. The…

#VOR - Skipper Bouwe Bekking and his Team Brunel lead a southerly group of four boats who are taking advantage of stronger winds to open up an advantage as a split develops in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet bound for…

#RNLI - Baltimore RNLI carried out a medevac yesterday morning (Monday 21 May) from Cape Clear Island off the coast of West Cork. The volunteer lifeboat crew were asked to launch their all-weather lifeboat following a request from the Irish…

#Seabin - Young coastal litter crusader Flossie Donnelly is celebrating the installation of Dun Laoghaire Harbour’s first Seabin after a successful fundraising campaign. The 11-year-old was on hand at noon today (Tuesday 22 May) to see the first of two…