Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

In the second part of North Sails Ireland's sponsorship of the two flagship Irish J109 events in 2018 (see here), North Sails Ireland's Maurice "Prof" O'Connell and Nigel Young team will be on the water this weekend at the National…

#Ports&Shipping - A new date has been set by Warrenpoint Port (Monday 15th October) for a public drop-in event to allow members of the public and other stakeholders to learn more about proposed changes to how dredged material from the…

#Optimist - The International Optimist Dinghy Association Ireland (IODAI) is now recruiting both national and international coaches for its annual spring training week in Baltimore in February 2019. Coaches must be available from Sunday 17 to Friday 22 February for…

Hello and welcome to my weekly Podcast … Sailing the 27-foot yacht he has owned for 20 years, Jim Doyle helmed Green Sleeves to win the ‘Alta to Starboard Trophy’ in Monkstown Bay. It’s an unusual trophy, made by the…

#Rowing: Ireland’s gold medallists at the World Championships, Paul and Gary O’Donovan and Sanita Puspure, are the Afloat Rowers of the Month for September.  The whole Ireland team performed with merit at the regatta in Plovdiv in Bulgaria and there…

DBSC dinghy fleet came out in force for the end of season race on Saturday in the Harbour. Over 30 dinghies competed on the water in the 4 race no discard format. The fleet starts were designed to have plenty of…

Mark Usher of Greystones Sailing Club is Ireland’s new 2018 Northern J/24 Champion helming Jumpin Jive in a six-race championship on Lough Erne in boisterous very windy conditions on 29 & 30 September. This top crew counted three firsts and…

#Crayfish - Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) says it welcomes new legislation to strengthen existing measures to protect the native white-clawed crayfish. The European Union (Invasive Alien Species) (Freshwater Crayfish) Regulations 2018 will provide Irish authorities with powers to prevent the…

#Navy - According to The Irish Times, two Naval Service vessels were prevented from leaving their Haulbowline base last week due to crew shortages. The LÉ Orla and LÉ Niamh were both kept at their docks while reserve members were…

#CruiseLiners - Afloat can reveal Dun Laoghaire Harbour's cruiseship caller list in season 2019 is scheduled to be as twice as busy compared to this year's total of just three calls, writes Jehan Ashmore. In what will also make next…

The Kelly family's 'Storm' has won the J109 one design Irish Nationals for the last two years and this weekend the north Dublin crew hope to retain overall honours on home waters as Howth Yacht Club hosts the 2018 championships…

The Irish National Sailing Club hosts the RS Super Series for the 2018/19 Winter season. Racing takes place on 6 Saturday mornings beginning on Saturday 6th October and running 17th November, 15th December, 19th January, 23rd February and 23rd March.…

Being dismasted during a shattering 360 degree roll in the tumultuous Southern Indian Ocean in the roughest part of the Golden Jubilee Golden Globe Race would have created an extreme survival situation for most sailors. But after it happened to…

The classic 12ft Firefly dinghy may have been the single-handed boat in the1948 Olympics when the Gold Medallist was Danish legend Paul Elvstrom. But as an enduring class in Ireland, they’re ideal for team racing and junior championships requiring a…

The Olympic 49er skiff is one of sailing’s greatest challenges, but Robert Dickson (21) of Howth and Sean Waddilove (20) of Skerries have determinedly battled their way up the class’s international performance ladder. Their total dedication was rewarded in September…

Mark Lyttle, Olympic Sailor at Atlanta in 1996 when he won a race in the Laser’s first outing in its very effective career as an Olympic boat in addition to its myriad other duties worldwide, has continued his love affair…

#Surfing - The first part of Made in Ireland, Mikey Corker’s new documentary on Irish surfing’s past and present, is now streaming on the Red Bull website. The film had its premiere in Bundoran last month, and now the whole…

#INSS - If you missed out on a spot in the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School’s current RYA Day Skipper Theory course, not to worry — as the school has announced details of its next course which begins later…

Lough Ree RNLI came to the aid of two fishermen who had lost engine power while enjoying the last day of the fishing season. At 2.05pm yesterday Lough Ree RNLI Volunteers were alerted to two fishermen whose 17 foot fishing…

#InlandWaters - A series of three ‘community information events’ on the next phase of the Ulster Canal Greenway begins this week, with a meeting at Tyholland Community Centre in Co Monaghan from 4pm to 8pm tomorrow (Tuesday 2 October). This will…