Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

None of Dublin Bay Sailing Club's (DBSC) 22 racing classes managed to race on Saturday, May 21, due to a glassy calm on Dublin Bay. Race Officers flew N/A at 1300 hours. Racing continues next week. Overall results are below.

It turns out the big lift ship that transported a pair of inshore patrol vessels (IPV) boats to Cork Harbour last week was carrying more than just boats for the Irish Navy. An Australian entry into this August's Rolex Fastnet Race…

Leisure 17s form a sizeable fleet at East Down Yacht Club, which is tucked away on a nine-acre site on the western shore of Strangford Lough, with an anchorage in Holm Bay between Island Taggart and the coast. It is…

Pat Kelly’s family crewed J109 Storm from Howth and Rush began this year’s Celtic Cup RC 35 series with a win at Kip Regatta, the first big event of the season. Dad Pat Kelly skippered the very competitive Storm with…

Tributes have been paid to outgoing Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta administrator Ciara Dowling, who has retired after 16 years.  Regatta Chairman Don O'Dowd made a special presentation at last Wednesday's launch of Ireland's biggest regatta that takes place this July.  "Since…

13th August 2023 will see the 2nd edition of this new offshore race from the Royal Western Yacht Club at Plymouth out to West Cork's Fastnet Rock. The ‘Plymouth Fastnet 500 Race’ will start in Plymouth Sound, exit via the…

There’s a remarkable inherited experience of staging regattas in Dun Laoghaire, reinforced by the shared skill in running races of appropriate type and length, which comes through from the unrivalled memory bank of what is and isn’t reasonably possible, passed…

Two crew members and its group of ten passengers were rescued today (Friday 19 May) after the boat they were travelling in developed engine failure east of Ballycotton lighthouse. Ballycotton RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat, The Austin Lidbury was requested to launch…

The Galway Bay RNLI volunteer crew carried out a training exercise with the University of Galway Clinical Simulation and Interprofessional Education Facility this week. The exercise took place on a calm evening and involved the lifeboat crew being called to…

Global temperatures are more likely to breach the long-term warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next five years, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has warned. An El Niño weather pattern which is expected to develop in the coming…

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) today, 19th May 2023, launched their guide, Skates and Rays of Ireland 2023. 16 species of skates and rays are regularly caught in Irish waters, some of which can be fished commercially under quota restrictions…

On this day half a century ago, solo sailor Commander Bill King was still becalmed on board Galway Blazer II in the final stages of his global circumnavigation. This was his third – and first successful - attempt to sail…

An Taisce has announced the recipients of the International Blue Flag and the National Green Coast Awards for 2023. All ten marinas awarded in 2022 have retained Blue Flag status for the coming season. (Download PDF below for recipients). A…

Flowers on the water and burgees and flags flying from a fleet of mixed vessels are reflected in a sensitively filmed recording of the mariners’ memorial service hosted by Galway Bay Sailing Club (GBSC) earlier this month. The video (below)…

Kilmore Quay RNLI last night came to the aid of an injured fisherman on board a fishing vessel 33 nautical miles south of Kilmore Quay. The volunteer crew were requested to launch their all-weather Tamar class lifeboat Killarney by the…

The second of the May/June series of Cove Sailing Club's midweek races was sailed on Wednesday, 17th May, in Cork Harbour. A fine fleet of 19 boats took to the water, with Fevas, Rankins, and Lasers/ILCAs competing. In his Laser,…

The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) has criticised the “general safety environment around paddlesports in Ireland” which it has identified as a “systemic factor” in a serious incident involving kayakers in Donegal’s Mulroy Bay last year. A group of six…

Two NGOs have called on the government to examine restoring sturgeon to Irish waters. Also known as “dinosaur fish”, sturgeon can be traced back to the Jurassic period and were once “frequent” in these waters, the Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT)…

Sailors, sponsors and volunteers launched Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta 2023 in fine style at the National Maritime Museum of Ireland on Wednesday night. This ninth edition of the regatta event promises to be one of the biggest sailing events in Northern Europe…

“Fog cleared….BECALMED” wrote the late Commander Bill King in his log this day 50 years ago, during his epic global circumnavigation in his yacht Galway Blazer II. His logs have been made public for the first time in advance of…