Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Where J109s are holding sway in Class One and Half-Tonners in Class Two, Class Three of the ICRA National Championships on Dublin Bay has a refreshing mix of design types at the top of the Royal St. George Yacht Club hosted championships.…
Kinsale Bids Farewell La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro on Sunday: Seconds Out, Round Two
8th June 2019 Figaro
Forty five solo racers will take the start line on Sunday afternoon at 1700hrs local time, heading out from Kinsale, Ireland on the 615-nautical mile second stage of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro to Roscoff via the Irish Sea with…
Among the four boats racing in Division 4 of the ICRA National Championships, Peter Richardson's Dubious of the host club, the Royal St. George Yacht Club, has taken the lead from Philip O'Dwyer's Supernova of the Royal Irish Yacht Club.…
After five races sailed and a discard applied at the ICRA National Championships at the Royal St. George Yacht Club, John Maybury is two races away from an impressive fourth win of the Class One title after another impressive day on…
Recovering from the baptism of fire that was leg one of the 50th La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro race into Kinsale on Thursday, both Irish entrants, Tom Dolan and Joan Mulloy, attended the Skipper's briefing in Kinsale this afternoon as…
Biggs's Checkmate XVIII Leads as Half-Tonners in Total Control of ICRA's Division Two
8th June 2019 ICRA
There is a new half-ton leader in division two of the ICRA national championships at the Royal St. George Yacht Club as overnight leader Johnny Swan's Harmony from Howth Yacht Club drops to fourth overall but optimised Irish Half Tonners continue to…
Race 1 SB20: 1. Sea Biscuit Flying 15: 1. As Good as it Gets, 2. Ffrenetic, 3. Ignis Caput II IDRA 14: 1. Dart, 2. Diane, 3. Sapphire Race 2 Flying 15: 1. As Good as it Gets, 2. Ffrenetic,…
Currachs are important to preserving the maritime history and culture of an island nation a seminar about these iconic boats was told in Cork Harbour today reports Tom MacSweeney. The seminar on the antiquity and sustainability of currachs was part…
A high-profile royal visit is set to bring out the orange in Cape Clear Ferries’ orange-and-white branding next weekend. The company’s new fast ferry from Schull and Baltimore to Cape Clear Island will take a different route next Friday 14…
Baltimore RNLI carried out a medevac last night (Friday 7 June) from Cape Clear Island off the coast of Baltimore in West Cork. The volunteer crew launched their all-weather lifeboat at 6.20pm, following a request from the Irish Coast Guard…
Authorities in Ireland have rejected Scotland’s threat of “enforcement action” against Irish trawlers in the waters around Rockall, as the two states fall into a spat over fishing rights in the North Atlantic territory. The Irish Times reports on a…
Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2019 – Unpredictable Weather, Unpredictable Outcome
8th June 2019 W M Nixon
Will the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race next Wednesday find itself sailing with mostly fair winds asks W M Nixon. Will the presence of lows to the west of them, and other lows to the southeast, provide a line…
John Maybury's Joker II staked her claim to the class one title in the opening day of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) National Championships sponsored by Frank Keane BMW on Dublin Bay today with two wins. A full schedule marked the…
There was to be no glory for the Irish skippers as they sailed into home waters in the back end of the Figaro fleet into Kinsale this morning. County Meath's Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa) finished in 39th, ten hours after…
New Clifden Lifeboat Volunteer Put To The Test In Callout To Fishing Vessel With Engine Failure
7th June 2019 RNLI Lifeboats
New Clifden lifeboat volunteer Ashling Sweeney has her first callout earlier this week to a fisherman whose boat drifted out to sea after engine failure. At 3.40pm on Tuesday 4 June, Clifden RNLI was requested to launch its all-weather and…
A small sailing boat that was “erratically” zigzagging in the shipping lane delayed a cruise liner from entering Dublin Port, as the Irish Independent reports from a Dublin court. The trial of two Crumlin men facing charges under the Maritime…
A Kinsale Yacht Club crew is reported safe after being rescued 80 miles off the coast of northwest Spain last night. The Cork yacht 'Loa Zour', a Bavaria 40 type, under skipper Ger Grant departed Kinsale bound for La Coruna…
#Rowing: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for May are the Ireland men’s junior coxed four which took silver at the European Junior Regatta in Essen, Germany. The crew of Matthew Gallagher (St Joseph’s), James O’Donovan (Castleconnell), Jack Dorney (Shandon),…
Two Anglers Plead Guilty To Illegal Fishing Methods On Cong River During Annual Closed Season
7th June 2019 Angling
Two anglers recently appeared in court on charges relating to illegal fishing methods on the Cong River and fishing during the closed season. On Thursday 23 May, Mindaugas Jenkus of Claremorris, Co Mayo and Dalius Bureninas of Birr, Co Offaly…
Sea Change At Seafest: Ireland’s Largest Free Maritime Festival To Raise Awareness Of Plastic Pollution
7th June 2019 Maritime Festivals
An interactive hut made up of 60kg of household plastics — the average amount used by an adult in Ireland each year — will be unveiled at SeaFest this weekend, highlighting the problem of plastics in our oceans. Ireland’s largest…
