Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Howth’s Dave Cullen is “Sailor of the Month” for June after a stellar series of performances with his classic Half Tonner Checkmate XV. He emerged as clear overall champion in Howth’s successful Wave Regatta at the beginning of the month,…

#FerryNews - Passenger ferry numbers reports Manx Radio for Irish routes to and from the Isle of Man don't justify the cost of laying the services on. That's the conclusion of the outgoing chair of the Isle of Man Steam…

Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club hosted the RS Elite UK National Championships over four days last weekend at Cultra on Belfast Lough. The event has added interest for Irish sailors as next year it comes to Dublin Bay for…

#HospitalShip - After a year of preparation, the first volunteers from Stena Line are on board Mercy Ships’ hospital ship Africa Mercy. In addition to fundraising and raising awareness for the humanitarian NGO, Stena Line aims to contribute to the…

The vigorous north to northeast winds which have given the fleet in the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2018 such a tough time as they battled their way up the Atlantic seaboard have now eased and veered further as the leaders…

The Royal Irish Yacht Club's Farr 42 WOW has retired from the Volvo Round Ireland Race due to steering problems. It is understood the starboard-hand wheel collapsed when the former Irish yacht of the year was leading in IRC One.…

#VOR - The Volvo Ocean Race has announced its partnership agreement with the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA), which provides the exclusivity to use the IMOCA 60 for crewed round the world yacht races. Last week, during the finish…

If you wanted an object lesson in why it is sometimes very difficult to explain sailing – and particularly offshore racing – to some goodwill-filled stranger to the sport, then the current state of play in the Volvo Round Ireland…

British Marine has announced that Ms Lesley Robinson has been appointed as CEO and will take up the position on 16 July 2018. Lesley is a high calibre, proven, Chief Executive with both UK and international experience in numerous public,…

It’s big country out west writes W M Nixon. And big country can have big effects on summer winds. So although the main part of the Volvo Round Ireland 2018 fleet is plugging doggedly along to windward out in the…

#Fishing - Marine Minister Michael Creed TD has launched a public consultation on the Inshore Fisheries Strategy, following a proposal made by the National Inshore Fisheries Forum. The consultation process will be open for a seven-week period and is due…

The IRC overall lead is being tightly contested this morning in the Volvo Round Ireland race 2018 with the bulk of the fleet now to the west of County Clare, slugging to windward in a north to northeast breeze writes…

#RNLI - Both Wicklow RNLI lifeboats were launched yesterday (Sunday 1 July) to assist two people on an inflatable dinghy near Brittas Bay beach. The father and son had set off from the popular tourist beach to fish in a…

There's less than a week to go until the inaugural Bangor Town Regatta hosted by Royal Ulster Yacht Club and Ballyholme Yacht Club in Belfast Lough. The last Bangor Week was hosted back in 2005 when a full week was…

Twenty four deaf and hearing impaired students along with four aided communicators from around Ireland have set out on the adventure of a lifetime on a 6-day Sail Training voyage aboard the Tall Ship Pelican of London. The voyage organised…

#RNLI - Dun Laoghaire RNLI responded to a yacht with one man onboard on Saturday afternoon (30 June) when the skipper’s engine failed just outside Bray Head. The volunteer lifeboat crew were called into action at 16.24pm following a report…

Kinsale Yacht Club hosted the Squib Southern Championships this weekend. Six races were sailed over the two days with different wind and sea conditions each day. Saturday had a 12 – 15-knot breeze coming from due east so there was…

Despite the relatively benign sailing conditions, 24 hours into the Volvo Round Ireland race and three boats have now retired from the 700-mile race. As Afloat.ie reported earlier, the Cookson 50-footer Riff Raff experienced 'engine problems' (earlier described as gear failure) and…

Close north of the Blaskets at 1900hrs Sunday, the Volvo Round Ireland fleet leaders on the water - the Class 40 Corum and the Ker 43 Baraka GP - are sailing a textbook race in terms of handling the vagaries…

Volunteers with Fethard RNLI gathered at the lifeboat station over the weekend (Saturday 30 June) for a naming ceremony and a service of dedication for their new lifeboat Naomh Dubhán. In glorious sunshine, operations crew, fundraisers, station management, friends and…