Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#Rowing: The year 2018 is set to be big one for Rowing Ireland. The National Rowing Centre will host a festival of rowing over three weeks in July. The Irish Championships, with an anticipated entry of over 1,100 crews, is…

#Rower of the Month: The Afloat Rower of the Month for February is Paul O’Donovan. The Skibbereen quartet of Mark O’Donovan, Shane O’Driscoll, Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan warmed slowly to their task in competing in the New Zealand Rowing…

#VOR - Team AkzoNobel has won Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race, racing 6,344 miles from Hong Kong to Auckland in 20 days, 9 hours and 17 minutes and 26 seconds. The result came after an epic final 24…

Last Sunday, Wexford Sub Aqua Club, presented the Kilmore Quay branch of the RNLI, with a cheque for €1,000. The presentation was done just before the crew went out for their scheduled morning training exercise. This money was raised by…

Last weekend (24/25 February), Dublin University Sailing Club Women’s Team travelled to Glasgow to compete in the annual RYA BUSA Ladies Team Racing National Championships. It was the first time in years that Trinity has sent a team to this…

Bord Pleanala has deferred for a tenth time a decision on the Ringaskiddy Incinerator in Cork Harbour. A decision, originally due by July 2016, following nine subsequent deferrals was listed for 28 February 2018. Bord Pleanala now say that a…

#Ports&Shipping - The Scottish south-western Ports of Ayr and Troon has been further reinforced by the completion of upgrades at Troon harbour, another project aimed at positioning the port for future growth. According to Associated British Ports (ABP) following extensive…

The loss of young sailors to the sport is an issue that has been identified by many clubs around the country and at national level. Other sports can be more attractive to younger age groups, particularly it seems as teenagers…

#RNLI - Arranmore RNLI has just announced some new recruits to the lifeboat station, including an honorary president and three volunteer lifeboat crew. Majella O’Donnell has been appointed station president. Majella met with the lifeboat crew last Tuesday 20 February at…

There's an unexpectedly icy welcome for the Dragon fleet in Cannes, this week where the 'Beast from the East' is making its presence felt earlier in the South of France than it is in Ireland.  Unseasonably low temperatures and high winds…

Last week's RORC Caribbean class winner Conor Fogerty, skipper of the Jeanneau Sunfast 3600 BAM!, has given a thumbs up to his new sail wardrobe from North Sails Ireland. The race was very windy with Fogerty, the Irish Sailor of the…

#VOR - The finish of Leg 6 of the Volvo Ocean Race is shaping up to be a nail-biter after Team AkzoNobel emerged from Stealth Mode on the public tracker on Monday holding the narrowest of leads with just under…

International yacht designer Ron Holland of New Zealand became renowned in 1973 when he won the Quarter Ton Worlds in England with the 24ft Eygthene, which he’d designed himself and then skippered to success writes W M Nixon. The first…

After the zephyrs of last week, the breeze was back yesterday for the DMYC Frostbites and another fleet of 26 boats made the effort to get out and enjoy a brisk afternoon on the water. The wind was projected to…

#DublinPort - The brand new Delphine made a maiden call to Dublin Port, the giant ship is a sister of leadship Celine, claimed to be the world’s largest short-sea ro-ro freightship, writes Jehan Ashmore. The Celine of 74,000 gross tonnage…

#IrishHarbours - Ros a Mhil in Connemara, is to get a new deep water quay, now that Galway county council has approved for the project. According to Galway Bay Fm, the Department of the Marine has secured planning permission for…

Having lost two weeks racing in the Kinsale Yacht Club Frostbite Series to weather, PRO John Stallard was determined to get some racing in this week. With temperatures in the low single digits and considerable wind chill the fleets, 10…

Eleven accolades for outstanding achievement by its members were presented at the National Yacht Club’s annual Sailing Awards Dinner on Saturday. In a packed club house on the East Pier, Commodore Ronan Beirne saluted the top achievements across a range of sailing…

The Commissioners of Irish Lights have deployed a temporary buoy in Scotsman’s Bay in south of Dublin Bay.  The buoy has been deployed to test a wave generator system. The buoy is an IALA Special Mark, yellow in colour, bearing a…

#Rowing: UCD’s men’s intermediate eight just came out on top as the fastest crew at the St Michael’s Head of the River in Limerick. They clocked 19 minutes and 39 seconds, just ahead of the 19 minutes 43.4 seconds of…