Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

It promises to be another bumper year for the RS Racing Classes in Ireland with all classes confirming their event calendars for 2024. The Fevas will start off the season in Greystones Sailing Club on the East coast of Ireland,…

Ultim Challenge leader Charles Caudrelier is approaching the longitude of Cape Leeuwin on the leading edge of a new front, sailing along the ZEA, which is not an easy feat. He should pass Australia's Great Cape at the end of…

Dubliner Gerry Salmon, a yacht broker at MGM Boats in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, has been elected as the new Chairman of the Irish Marine Federation. The announcement was made at the national marine trade body board meeting held at Boot…

A crisis hitting the Irish inshore fishing sector will be outlined at an Oireachtas parliamentary committee this evening (Wednesday, Jan. 24). Representatives from the National Inshore Fishermen's Association (NIFA) will address members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food…

The cruise ship season at the Port of Cork is to have a surge in the number of vessels accommodated this year with a rise by 23% to 116 vessels. Starting in April, the season will run up to November…

The main Isle of Arran ferry which operates the Ardrossan-Brodick route, reveals Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) will be futher delayed until at least March, reports the Ardrossan&SaltcoatsHerald. MV Caledonian Isles which is undergoing annual overhaul at Dales Marine Service, Greenock, as…

Cockle Island Boat Club may be in the minority in Northern Ireland as it doesn’t have its own clubhouse, but for the 50 years of its existence, it has used the local Council facility, the original lifeboat house on the…

An increase in a budget set by the Irish Government for a new Multi-Role Vessel (MRV) to serve the Naval Service, which will easily be the largest ship in the State’s history, in now to cost €300m. The Department of Defence,…

The legendary “Craggy Island” will once again be recreated on the Aran island of Inis Mór when it hosts the annual TedFest in March. The festival, inspired by the television series Father Ted with the late Dermot Morgan, has become…

A consultation on Ireland’s long term plan for offshore renewable energy (ORE) has been welcomed by Minister for Environment and Climate Eamon Ryan. The consultation is on the “Future Framework” policy statement, described as a long-term model and vision for…

Tramore RNLI went to the aid of one person on a pleasure boat with engine failure last Thursday evening (18 January) in the Co Waterford crew’s first call-out of 2024. An emergency call received by the Marine Rescue Co-ordinating Centre…

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has launched a new national recruitment drive to hire 52 temporary staff. IFI’s seasonal fisheries officers and seasonal fisheries assistants are to be deployed across 15 counties from April to September. Starting salaries of €29,053 per…

Waterways Ireland advises masters and owners of vessels on the Grand Canal that the Barrow Line from Lock 24 (McCartney’s) to Lock 25 (Moores) will reopen to navigation on Thursday 28 March following essential quay wall refurbishment at Bell Harbour…

AmericaOne Foundation has released a statement in response to US Sailing’s lawsuit alleging harmful practices, describing the accusations as “unfathomable”. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, three high-profile departures from US Sailing last year — Paul Cayard, Bill Ruh and Jose…

Hot on the heels of the ILCA 6 World Championship held earlier this month (where Howth's Eve McMahon qualified for Paris 2024) comes the battle for the ILCA 7 world title and the first Irish Olympic sailing trial of this…

A belated Happy New Year, everyone. We hope you are all safe and sound from Isha and survived recent storms, Isha and Jocelyn! I am bringing you some wonderful news from our North Sails product development teams. At the Dusseldorf…

Blame has been put directly to the Northern Ireland Protocol for narrowing down the options of captains, as vessels get hit by storms in the Irish Sea. With Storm Isha just over, the News Letter also reported the the severe…

Ropax Stena Nordica which has been absent from Fishguard Harbour linking Rosslare since early January, had led to a relief ferry that too left the south Wales port due to issues, leaving no ship to cover the route. Operator, Stena Line…

It was so stormy on the Irish Sea during Storm Isha that the shipping forecast had put the weather conditions just one notch away from being categorised as hurricane force, it has emerged. While on land, Storm Isha interrupted electricity…

Last Saturday, the Dun Laoghaire RNLI rescued a Cocker Spaniel named Charlie from a rocky ledge inside the west wall at Dun Laoghaire harbour. Charlie, a three-year-old chocolate brown Cocker Spaniel, had wandered down the dangerously slippy harbour wall steps…