Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Tom Dolan Secures Third Place Overall in Le Havre Allmer Cup, Now Lying Fourth in French Solo championship
9th June 2024 Tom Dolan
After an intense first half of the season, comprising multiple back-to-back races on the calendar since March, accumulated fatigue was evident on the race course in the final race of the Le Havre Allmer Cup. But Ireland’s Tom Dolan kept…
Newcastle and Portaferry Lifeboats Come to the Rescue of Dismasted Yacht
9th June 2024 RNLI Lifeboats
The all-weather RNLI lifeboat Leonard Kent from Newcastle was launched early on Saturday to aid a 29-foot yacht with four people on board, approximately 20 miles southeast of Newcastle. The yacht had suffered a dismasting, prompting an urgent response from…
The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority’s (SFPA) says it has initiated its annual inshore fisheries patrol programme to help protect Ireland’s valuable shellfish and crustacean fisheries including crab, lobster, crayfish, and whelk. The SFPA says its campaign will focus on unlicensed and…
Defence Forces Withdraw From D-Day Commemoration at Blacksod After Officials Intervene
9th June 2024 Navy
A D-Day commemoration marking the role of Mayo-based meteorologist Maureen Sweeney took place without Defence Force participation as had been originally planned. The Irish Times reports that Government officials vetoed participation of the Naval Service and Air Corps in the…
Pollution of Seas and Waterways Key Issue in British General Election Campaign
9th June 2024 Marine Wildlife
Pollution of seas and inland waterways has become a key issue in the British general election campaign. A poll published this weekend shows 83 per cent of British adults support penalising water companies caught illegally discharging sewage and blocking bonuses…
Royal St. George Yacht Club Trio Neil Hegarty, David Williams and Conor Byrne are Zurich Dragon East Coast Champions
9th June 2024 Dragon
Royal St. George Yacht Club trio Neil Hegarty, David Williams and Conor Byrne in Phantom (IRL225) are the Zurich Dragon East Coast Championships after six testing races sailed off Kinsale, Co. Cork. Consistency paid for the Dublin Bay boat with five results in the top…
Wexford Woman Calls on Public to ‘Be by the Sea’ and Help Raise Funds for RNLI
9th June 2024 RNLI Lifeboats
A Wexford woman living on the Hook Peninsula has been inspired to create a new fundraising initiative for the RNLI, which also promotes the benefits of being by the sea. Local artist Helen Mason, who is married to a local…
Blustery northwesterly winds swept Class Zero yachts onto all three podium places in Saturday's ISORA classic race from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire via Rockabill on Saturday night. After ninety miles sailed across the Irish Sea, Frank Whelan's Greystones Harbour yacht Opal…
Royal St. George's Jaguar Sailing Team Moves to The Top of the Dragon East Coast Championship Leaderboard at Kinsale
9th June 2024 Dragon
Redress awarded for Friday's first race and a win in Saturday's fourth race has moved Royal St. George's Jaguar Sailing Team to the top of the Zurich Dragon East Coast Championships leaderboard at Kinsale Yacht Club in County Cork. Martin…
Charlie Dalin Wins New York Vendee Les Sables d’Olonne Solo Race Across the North Atlantic
9th June 2024 Vendee Globe
After leading the 28 boat IMOCA fleet since last Monday morning, and today holding a margin of over 300 miles over second place, French skipper Charlie Dalin tonight completed an emphatic victory on the 3200 nautical miles New York Vendee…
Entries are still open for the National Yacht Club Regatta on Saturday 15 June. The NYC promises and exciting day’s racing followed by amazing entertainment onshore with its biennial regatta next weekend. So as the club says, “get your boat…
Royal Irish Regatta Gets New Title Sponsor, Set for Saturday 29 June
8th June 2024 Royal Irish Yacht Club
The Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin Royal Irish Regatta 2024 takes place on Saturday 29 June. The Royal Irish Yacht Club says it looks forward to a great event of sailing, dining and entertainment for members, their crew, friends and family…
Lough Derg RNLI were requested to launch by Valentia Coast Guard on Saturday afternoon (8 June) to locate and assist a swimmer reported to be in difficulty by a member of the public on shore. The bystander could see the…
12-15 knot northwesterly winds and sunshine produced a strong turnout for Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club's biennial Regatta on Dublin Bay on Saturday. The one-day competition got the local regatta scene underway as the first of the four waterfront clubs’ regattas at…
Long-Awaited Action Plan for Lough Neagh to Go Before NI Executive This Week
8th June 2024 Environment
Belfast Live reports that an eagerly awaited action plan for Lough Neagh is to go before the Northern Ireland Executive in Stormont in the coming days. It follows last week’s questioning of DAERA Minister Andrew Muir by his own department’s…
Dublin Bay’s environment is being polluted by election posters which are up to 30 years old. As The Irish Times reports, environmentalist Brian Bolger and his son Colm have located many around Bull Island Nature Reserve and Dollymount Strand on…
The search for a missing sailor off the Connemara coast has been stood down after a body was located this morning (Sat). Identity details for the body have not yet been confirmed. However, the sailor reported missing on Thursday evening…
Along the Atlantic seaboard and up in the hills, they call them high stool days. Such days are with us when the weather is so thrawn that a particularly harsh period is best spent in agreeable indoor surroundings, with good…
The High Seas by Dr Olive Heffernan on Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas Programme This Weekend
7th June 2024 Marine Science
On the weekend of UN World Ocean Day, Irish marine scientist and journalist Dr Olive Heffernan will discuss the findings of her widely praised new book on the subject. The ocean covers 70 per cent of the planet’s surface and…
Celebrating UN World Oceans Day 2024: The Marine Institute Emphasises the Importance of Ocean Conservation
7th June 2024 Marine Science
The Marine Institute is proud highlighting the importance of the ocean surrounding our shores by celebrating UN World Oceans Day on Saturday, 8th June 2024. The United Nations World Oceans Day takes places on 8th June each year, and raises…