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Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
The final 2024 ISORA calendar (v 9 above) is structured to avoid as many clashes as possible while facilitating boats doing other events
Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA) has signed off on a 'final' race schedule for 2024  As regular Afloat readers know, the association was quick off the blocks at its agm when it published a draft schedule for its 2024 fixtures last…
Brendan Foley's First Class 8, 'Allig8r' from the Royal St. George Yacht Club, competing in the 2023 ICRA National Championships at Howth Yacht Club. The 2024 event will be staged by the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire from 30th August- 1st September
The Notice of Race and online entry has been published for the Unio-sponsored ICRA National Championships 2024 at the Royal Irish Yacht Club this August. Organisers plan to split fleets into Class 0, Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and…
A CEP model for the Horn passage if the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild had passed on February 4
The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild team has said this morning that their Ultim Challenge leading skipper Charles Caudrelier has made the decision to put his race on hold for an indefinite period because of the weather conditions which were expected for…
 ICRA Commodore Dave Cullen
The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) has provided more details of its 2024 conference, which will be hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club on Saturday 10 February. This year’s keynote speaker will be Jason Smithwick, director of the RORC…
Keelboat and cruiser racing is back on Dublin Bay after the Christmas break with the return of DBSC's Spring Chicken Series this Sunday that features a wide mix of boats including club-based J80s
This Sunday's AIB-sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken Series from Dun Laoghaire Harbour will take place at the National Yacht Club. From February 4 to March 10 (first gun 10:10), six races will be run using a progressive handicap on a case-by-case basis…
Arranmore RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat at sea in the background with a pod of dolphins in the foreground
The volunteer crew of Arranmore RNLI responded to a call by Malin Head Coast Guard at 6am on Wednesday morning (31 January) to four fishermen on a boat in difficulty at Inis Meain, off the coast of Bunbeg in Co…
Jack Chambers
Minister Jack Chambers, on behalf of Ireland, concluded and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ukraine on Thursday (1 February) for the mutual recognition of seafarers’ qualifications. This MOU is an update of the existing arrangement wherein Ireland recognised…
Pwllheli Lifeboat Station and its all-weather lifeboat
Pwllheli RNLI has closed over “ongoing distrust and disharmony” between crew members at the North Wales lifeboat station. According to BBC News, a number of key personnel have also resigned from the station, prompting the RNLI to “reset operations”. “Until…
29ers will be part of the lineup for the 2024 Youth Sailing National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club in April
Royal Cork Yacht Club Crosshaven, Co. Cork is all set to host the Youth Sailing Nationals from 4th to the 7th of April. The event promises great sailing at Easter in Cork Harbour, and entry to the event is now…
Ireland's top ten ILCA 7 World Championship finisher Finn Lynch will race in the 53rd Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca in April
Over 300 teams from more than fifty countries have already registered to participate in the 53rd edition of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Iberostar, the first regatta of the year that will see all ten sailing classes compete, which…
Contributing to the traffic figures for the Isle of Man Steam Packet, is flagship Manxman which entered service in August, last year on the Douglas-Heysham route.
Ferry passenger numbers carried by Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for last year, were the highest for 16 years. Figures from the operator which has routes between Douglas and Heysham, Belfast, Dublin and Liverpool, reveal more than 623,000 passengers…
Minister for the Marine Charlie McConalogue TD officially opens the Dinish Wharf Expansion at Castletownbere Fishery Harbour Centre
Castletownbere Fishery Harbour Centre in County Cork, one of the six State-owned Fishery Harbour Centres, has officially opened the Dinish Wharf Expansion. The €48m project was funded through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Fishery Harbour and Coastal…
Transatlantic “cruise”, anyone? The very functional Out of the Blue was rowed to Transatlantic success by a Delft University crew which was 50% from Ireland
As January progresses, the news starts to zip back from the finishes in the Caribbean of the Transatlantic rowing races from the Canaries, and last year it was a Wicklow team that successfully hit the headlines. This year it’s a…
Finn Lynch of Ireland (222017) finished ninth overall in the ILCA7 World Championships  in Adelaide, Australia
When Finn Lynch of the National Yacht Club finally secured Ireland's Olympic 2024 ILCA 7 place last August when qualifying opportunities seemed to be rapidly evaporating, he said it was “like getting a monkey off my back”. Since then, he…
Irish Lights is recruiting a Navigation Support Officer to join the E-Navigation and Maritime Services (EMS) department. This position is based in our Head Office in Dun Laoghaire.  The role involves providing support on the navigation to the department, including:…
Sienna Wright won the Silver Medal in the ILCA 6 Youth Women’s Worlds in Argentina, coupled with her total victory in the U17 Championship in the same series
Although Sienna Wright of Howth is just 15, she approaches sailing in particular and life generally with remarkable sophistication and style. Thus her mid-January winning of the Silver Medal in the ILCA 6 Youth Women’s Worlds in Argentina, coupled with…
The J/122 Noisy Oyster is campaign boat for the Galway Bay Sailing Club Middle Sea Race Challenge in October
A crew from Galway Bay Sailing Club (GBSC) is gearing up to compete in the challenging Rolex Middle Sea Race from Malta, the renowned 600-mile annual sailing event set against the backdrop of some of the most spectacular coastlines and…
File image of two dolphins porpoising
The Department of Transport has been advised by University College Cork (UCC) that it intends to deploy hydrophones east of the Arklow Bank at four locations, and southwards to 15km off the bank and east of Gorey and Blackwater. This…
File image of the RV Celtic Explorer, one of the Marine Institute’s two active research vessels
The first and second legs of this year’s Irish Anglerfish and Megrim Survey (IAMS 2024) will be carried out from Thursday 8 February to Sunday 3 March. Surveys will be conducted to the West, South-West and South Coasts of Ireland…
Get your boat in tip-top condition
CH Marine has all the boat-care products you need to get and keep your boat in great shape in time for the 2024 season. Find the finest in boat and fibreglass care, anti-slip and antifoul, boat paints, grease and lubricants,…

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