WM Nixon
William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.
Despite approaching its Centenary in 2029, the Irish Cruising Club has never had a Centenarian among its membership until today, Friday 31st May 2024, when the great and unique Jack Wolfe of Howth reaches the magic hundred. His life is…
Colm Bermingham and his Elan 333 Bite the Bullet have been such steady performers in the front of the fleet for so long at Howth, that it is difficult to imagine a significant series without the crew of BTB (don't…
Howth Wave Concludes With Suggestion To Re-Name It As Four Seasons Regatta
26th May 2024 Wave Regatta
It started on Friday May 24th in Winter. Nobody would argue with that. But then on Saturday 25th - Lambay Day - Howth’s Wave Regatta barely paused in Spring before leaping straight into sunlit High Summer, with a magic racing…
Lambay Race Magic Takes The Day For Lough Ree SB20 at Wave Regatta (Vid Here!)
26th May 2024 Wave Regatta
The long-forecast serious rain didn't reach the Wave Regatta venue at Howth until 2200hrs yesterday (Saturday 25th May), and even then, most of the power had gone out after a day during which there'd been about twice as much sunshine…
It’s not widely known that when the Danes of Howth were being pressurised to become Christians, being Vikings they had a side deal to the effect that, forever afterwards, when the Annual Fete in late Spring at the new church…
From a selective look at the damp and occasionally drizzly weather stats issued from Howth today (Friday, May 24th), you might be tempted to talk of “hot racing on a soft day” to describe the first outing in the Porche-sponsored…
SSE Renewables Round Ireland From Wicklow Attracts International Offshore Glitterati
25th May 2024 W M Nixon
With recent additions to the entry list including such glitterati as Pete Smyth of the Royal Irish YC with his newly-acquired Ker 46 Searcher (she was formerly Tonnere de Breskens to give the late great Dutch skipper Piet Vroon his…
Howth's three-day Wave Regatta 2024, the biennial seafest with Porsche as lead sponsors, rolls into action this morning (Friday, May 24th) with a total of 104 entries, ranging from the veterans of the 1898-founded Howth 17 class to many of…
In electricity-generating circles, wave power may be seen as a potential though often challenging way of generating energy. But in Howth, energy and Wave power seem to have got together to have everything in mutually beneficial co-ordination for the biennial…
Crosshaven Lifeboat's Successful Fund-raise Walks To Conclude This Sunday Morning
22nd May 2024 RNLI Lifeboats
The weekly Sunday morning yellow-welly fund-raise walks that have been a feature of each May weekend in Crosshaven, going sociably along the easy Cork Harbour shore path to Drake's Pool and back to the lifeboat station for welcome sustenance, will…
Dublin Bay Classic & Traditional Boats Focus This Weekend Is At Poolbeg In Dublin Port
21st May 2024 Dublin Bay Old Gaffers
So many boat events are scheduled in Ireland for this weekend that the powers-that-be should maybe take notice, and make it into the Bank Holiday that everyone seems to think it is. The official one at the beginning of May…
Those who are unaware of some of the more offbeat aspects of Irish maritime history can be forgiven for wondering how it is that Rogerstown, Rush and Skerries – all in the heart of heavily horticultural North Fingal - between…
County Clare is a place unto itself and a magic if challenging coastline for boats, bounded as it is by the Atlantic to the west, Galway Bay to the north, Galway County to the northeast, Lough Derg and the Shannon…
Denis Doyle’s Legendary Moonduster Is Nearly A Ghost Ship In Viking Hands
14th May 2024 Historic Boats
In the Spring of 1981, Dens Doyle’s Frers 51 Moonduster was launched at Crosshaven into a glittering 20-year partnership in which she and her very special owner-skipper became a much-admired feature of the European offshore racing scene. It was a…
The weekend's almost freakish display of the Northern Lights were better seen in some places than others. Howth on its peninsula avoided the later thundery rain which affected other parts of the country, some with flooding. The HYC Photography Fellowship…
When it was announced that the three-day Howth Wave Regatta 2024 would be in the last full May weekend of Friday 24th to Sunday 26th, there was a certain thoughtful sucking of the molars among the waterfront pundits. For this…
Donald MacQueen Street Jnr of Glandore and the Caribbean and formerly New York has gone from among us after an extraordinary life of nearly 94 years, in which he experienced a sometimes picaresque existence. Throughout it, he significantly encouraged, instructed,…
The secret of Querrin is that it is secret. Or at least it used to be. This quiet community-minded place along the blessed south-facing coast of County Clare, on the north shore of the Shannon Estuary between Poulnasherry Bay and Carrigaholt…
Dun Laoghaire’s National Yacht Club Is Benignly Haunted By Spirit of John B Kearney
4th May 2024 W M Nixon
The National Yacht Club, handsomely sited in the southeast corner of Dun Laoghaire Harbour, was certainly looking its part as the current MG Motor “Sailing Cub of the Year” last Saturday morning. The sun shone, and in the crisp onshore…
Afloat.ie regrets to record the death of Don Street of Glandore in his 94th year. For many years a Caribbean enthusiast, writing a series of successful pioneering pilot books for the area, he was also a renowned authority on ocean…
