Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

The British Sailing Team has launched an exciting new talent search to identify and develop world-class female athletes with the potential to win gold pending final confirmation of Formula Kite’s inclusion at the Paris 2024 Olympics.  The team has joined…

#Ports&Shipping- Work on the construction of a new £3m crane at Warrenpoint Port began last month following the investment as part of a bid to facilitate further growth ahead of Brexit and beyond at Northern Ireland’s second largest port. The…

The brisk nor’east winds maintained their pressure yesterday during daylight to keep the 36-strong Solitaire URGO Figaro fleet at good speeds as they raced down the coast of northwest Spain after their swift 520 mile Stage 2 from Saint-Brieuc with…

Get a head start on winter servicing for your sails with UK Sailmakers Ireland in Cork Harbour. The current dry spell is no better time to check over your sails before removing them for the winter months — and have…

The Irish Times reports that the Naval Service has detained a Spanish fishing vessel that had more than 5,000 shark fins. Last week, the Virxen da Blanca, one of a fleet longline fishing for shark of the South West, was…

The Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire will host the 2018 All Ireland Junior Sailing Championship over the weekend of 29-30 September. Irish Sailing has announced that this year’s youth event will be raced in the Firefly dinghy,…

This weekend the fourth annual Elmo Trophy took place in the Royal St George Yacht Club. This is a team racing event for teenagers aged up to nineteen–years old. This year sixteen teams from all around the country travelled to…

The volunteer lifeboat crew of Howth RNLI will be on TV screens Tuesday 4th September as they feature in episode 4 of Series 3 of the BBC TV series Saving Lives at Sea, which showcases the lifesaving work of the…

Tom Dolan, the Meath sailor racing Smurfit Kappa in his first Solitaire URGO Le Figaro, has been slowly working his way up the rankings of the 36-strong fleet as they run across the Bay of Biscay in nor’easters in the…

While the Afloat.ie 'Sailor of the Month' awards have been in being since 1996, the idiosyncrasies of the calendar can occasionally make selecting the monthly awardees a complex business. When September began on Saturday, September 1st, on that day we…

SAILOR OF THE MONTH (Junior): HUGH O’CONNOR (National YC). Young Hugh O’Connor (15) of Dun Laoghaire is currently No 1 in the International Topper Class in Ireland, and he fulfilled his role at the August 2018 Topper Worlds in China…

#CruiseLiners - Disney Magic made a maiden call to the Port of Cork this morning.  The Port of Cork welcomed the Disney Magic on the maiden call to Cobh, as part of Disney Cruise Line’s new seven-night British Isles cruise.…

Talented all-round sailor Darragh McCormack of Foynes (he’s a noted J/24 sailor) still has the classic 1932 vintage 17ft Mermaids as his first love, and in a thrilling National Championship at Foynes from August 1st to 5th with a fleet…

Silver Medal in 117-boat fleet for GP 14 Worlds in England at beginning of August, then new Irish GP 14 National Champion at Sligo (crewed by wife Jane) later in same month. Ross was formerly a professional sailor as a…

#MarineScience - Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have identified ‘super healing’ capabilities in limpets, as Trinity News reports. The small molluscs, which can be found in coastal areas all around the world, were studied for a paper in the Journal…

Joan Mulloy, the first Irishwoman to take up the Figaro Solo challenge in France, has gained a couple of places racing Taste the Atlantic in the second day of Stage 2 to northwest Spain, after being delayed by a broken…

#NYC - The National Yacht Club’s end of summer season fun race takes place this Thursday evening 6 September. The race is open to all yachts and dinghies owned or helmed by a member of the NYC. Entries are free…

The term ‘vintage’ is rarely used in respect of racing dinghies, however, in 1920 the Olympic Federation were felt that a suitable dinghy should be used in addition to the 40m.2, 30m.2, 15m., 12m., 10m., 8m., 7m., and 6m. keelboat…

#INSS - Saturday sailing with the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School’s Junior Club is back this coming Saturday 8 September. Students from the summer courses and new sailors alike are invited to continue sailing throughout the school term. The…

#Ports&Shipping - Afloat has previously reported on Liebherr cranes from it Killarney plant installed at the UK North Sea Port of Hull from where further northward in Scotland at the Port of Grangemouth news of a new multimillion pound container crane…