Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Ferry company, Stena Line has signed a significant deal with a major UK port operator, the Peel Ports Group to operate from Heysham Port, England for the next 77-years until 2100. A twice daily freight service is run on the…

The Coast Guard, Water Safety Ireland and the RNLI have issued a joint appeal for the festive season, urging people to be mindful of the potential risks with their chosen activity and attend to their personal safety in planning and…

Cork maritime journalist and Afloat.ie columnist Tom MacSweeney contributes this week to 200 Voices, the special podcast series marking 200 years of the RNLI. Also featuring in the series this week is MacSweeney’s erstwhile colleague when he was marine correspondent…

Waterways Ireland advises masters and owners of vessels that all 16 locks on the Shannon-Erne Waterway will be out of service from Friday 22 December to Monday 1 January inclusive. No lock passage by boat will be possible during this…

Following a busy and successful racing season of Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) events nationwide, the legendary Half-Tonner Farr-designed yacht, Swuzzlebubble, raced by David and James Dwyer under the burgee of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, was deemed the 'clear…

East Down Yacht Club will start the New Year with its annual Icicle Series on Sunday, 7th January. It will run for six Sundays, ending on 11th February. The Club is situated on a nine-acre site on the western shore…

With exactly one hundred days to go until the start of the 53rd Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca the Organising Committee has just published the Notice of Race. As regular Afloat readers will recall, Dublin 49er campaigners Robert Dickson and Sean…

At noon on Christmas Eve (Sunday, 24 December) Dun Laoghaire Harbour RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew will gather at the end of the East Pier to lay wreaths at sea and remember 15 of their lifeboat colleagues who lost their lives…

World Sailing, the global governing body for the sport of sailing, has confirmed the appointment of an independent World Sailing Election Panel to oversee the 2024 Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections. The panel, comprising four independent legal and regulatory professionals, is…

Ireland has signed up to a European wind charter to develop offshore and onshore wind. Part of the charter involves signing a voluntary “wind pledge” committing to deliver targets for 2024 to 2026, and pledging indicative targets for 2030 and…

Tributes have been paid to Badóirí an Cladaigh for illuminating their fleet of Galway Hookers this Christmas time in Galway. The traditional boat fleet takes pride in lighting their rigs in the city's basin for special occasions.   As regular Afloat readers know,…

The tender process for Inland Fisheries Ireland’s (IFI) State fisheries for 2024 is now open. State-owned fishing rights are made available for licence to interested angling clubs every year and IFI generally has licence agreements with over 50 fishing clubs,…

The National Inshore Fishermen’s Association (NIFA) has warned that its members will be forced to tie up to piers “long term” due to a combination of factors. “It would have been difficult to envisage the dire situation facing inshore fishermen…

Sam Haynes dismisses the notion that there is a target on his back as the owner/skipper of the defending overall Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race champion boat Celestial. Asked on Wednesday as he sat among a panel of contenders for…

Philip Quinn has been chosen as the new Skipper of Qingdao in the Clipper Round the World Race. He will join from Airlie Beach in Queensland, Australia, at the start of a long stint of about 26000 miles to the…

Irish Mainport Holdings Limited (“IMH”) today announced that it has agreed a multi-million euro equity investment from MML Growth Capital Partners Ireland Limited (“MML”) into Mainport Shipping Limited. Mainport Shipping is an integrated marine services business that charters survey support…

The last Sunday of the RS400 Frostie Series at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club was raced on the 27th of December, and the excitement was building as it looked like it was going to be a big day, and…

A shellfish nursery recently installed in Belfast Harbour in an effort to revive the Northern Ireland capital’s native oysters is already showing promising results. Last month, hundreds of oysters were lowered into the water at City Quays for the project,…

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has published a first-ever book on aquatic plants, featuring 401 different Irish river, lake and pond plant species. The 576-page Aquatic Plants in Ireland-A Photographic Guide identifies flora in freshwater habitats across the country — using…

Those intrepid spirits who venture westward on the road from the Most Serene Republic of Howth through Sutton Cross, and on into the wilds of nearby Ireland, always used to look forward to the first glimmering glimpse of Sutton Creek…