Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#ArklowAnchorage - Along Leinster's eastern seaboard, Afloat tracked newbuild Arklow Clan that made a maiden call albeit offshore of the shipowners homeport of the Co. Wicklow harbour town, writes Jehan Ashmore. According to Arklow Shipping Ltd (ASL) with headquarters on the…

#RNLI - Courtmacsherry RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat was called out at 7pm on Saturday night (11 November) to go to the aid of an 80ft fishing boat that got into difficulties 15 miles south of the Seven Heads in West Cork.…

#Rowing: A quadruple featuring three Ireland lightweight internationals finished 15th at the Head of the River Fours in London. Gary O’Donovan, Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan joined Niall Kenny in the Tideway Scullers’ crew.  They had serious equipment problems which…

In a second week of strong winds and exhilarating sailing, leading J109 yachts competing in the Rathfarnham Ford sponsored DBSC Turkey Shoot recorded speeds of 15–knots today. After a short upwind leg and a gybe at the outfall mark off…

There was another super race in the O'Leary Insurances sponsored Winter Sailing League at Royal Cork Yacht Club today writes Bob Bateman. Sunny (most of the time) with wind 20 to 25 knots from north north west was a scenario where…

#VOR - Dongfeng Race Team retains the lead in Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race – but only just, as the leaders slow in Doldrums conditions. Just 10 miles separate first from fourth, and the difference between first and…

#ClipperRace - Following the gruelling upwind slog which has dominated much of Race 3: The Dell Latitude Rugged Race, a wind shift overnight has meant that downwind sailing conditions have kicked in for some of the most southerly teams in…

The racing format for Annalise Murphy's bid for an Olympic Gold medal has been settled at last week's World Sailing Conference in Mexico. It will almost certainly see Ireland's Olympic Slver Medalist from the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire break from…

World Sailing will hold a short–handed Offshore Sailing World Championship following approval from the Council at its annual conference in Mexico last week. The new Offshore Worlds will be held in One Design boats to help promote and raise the profile…

#Rowing: The big numbers – up 100 on last year – and good weather made for a successful Skibbereen Head of the River at the Marina. Cork Boat Club’s intermediate eight set a fast time of nine minutes 19 seconds…

#Brazil-France - Arklow Spirit a bulk-carrier has almost retraced the historic French tallship Belém's cocoa bean trade route from Brazil to Paris, where downriver in Rouen, the Irish ship docked having sailed from south America via Ireland last month, writes…

The Afloat.ie “Sailor of the Month” awards were established twenty-one years ago in 1996. But as the adjudicators have always been allowed an element of flexibility, sometimes there have been more than one award in a particular month, so any…

#Fishing - Fishermen wishing to apply for oyster dredge licences for the 2018 season must submit a completed official form to the relevant River Basin District Office before noon on Friday 24 November. This process became necessary due to the…

#MarineNotice - The Marine Institute advises that the annual Irish Groundfish Survey (IGFS2017) is being carried out off the South and West coasts of Ireland till Saturday 9 December in fulfilment of Ireland's Common Fisheries Policy obligations. The IGFS is…

#Rowing: Salesian Secondary College in Limerick won the Open/Club boys section of the All Ireland Indoor Rowing Blitz in Trinity College Dublin today. The Limerick school had a best time of 6 minutes 22.4 seconds for the 2,000 metres on…

#MarineScience - Science of the sea will be celebrated by the Marine Institute via a number of events taking place during Science Week from Sunday 12 to Sunday 19 November. The institute will host an interactive stand at the Mayo…

#Fishing - All interested vessel owners, skippers, crew and fishing industry professionals are invited to attend a series of nationwide meetings on the National At-Sea Catch Sampling Programme. Emerald Marine, on behalf of the Marine Institute, will be hosting a…

Any cruising enthusiast or would-be cruising enthusiast who has ever dreamt of sailing away in their own boat to the balmy climate and sheltered islands of the Pacific and other warm and sunny destinations is welcome at the Royal Irish…

#InlandWaters - Work has begun on the restoration of the Lagan Canal from Belfast to Lough Neagh, according to the Belfast Telegraph. The £4 million scheme to reopen the 27-mile inland waterway, which dates from the 18th century, provides for…

#VOR - Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team were putting on a display of straight-line speed sailing today (Friday 10 November) as the Volvo Ocean Race fleet bore down on the Doldrums. The Chinese-flagged team had eked out a narrow five-mile…