Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

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…

Twenty-one Topper dinghy sailors from as far away as Dun Laoghaire and Sligo Yacht Club turned out for last weekend’s Topper Traveller hosted by County Antrim Yacht Club on the north shore of Belfast Lough. The sailors raced in two…

The long trail from Ballyholme to the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire for the RS Feva East Coast Championships was worthwhile for the three crews from the North who dominated the result sheet, with the Ridout family taking…

North Channel Wind which has Headquarters in Belfast, is a co-development agreement between SBM Offshore, based in the Netherlands, and Irish-based developer NMK Renewables, for a pair of floating wind farms in the North Channel. Although North Channel Wind has…

There are only a few days to go until the discounted entry fee for the RC35 two-day event at Royal Ulster Yacht Club on Belfast Lough ends. Before 30th April, it is £100; after that and before 17th June, it’s…

The Spring Series at Royal Ulster Yacht Club on Belfast Lough ran over three Sundays in April and attracted 12 cruiser racers. IRC winner after six races was the local boat, five points ahead of Stuart Cranston’s Ker 32 Hijacker…

Despite a dreary, dull wet, windy morning, Bangor Marina’s first-ever Nautical Car Boot Sale was a huge success, and it raised £150 for Bangor RNLI. A section of the Marina car park was filled with cars, tables, and even a…

Whether it be football or sailing, the people of Larne in County Antrim have plenty to celebrate, for the football club won the Irish League Cup on 15th April and East Antrim Boat Club’s ILCA 6 sailor, Tom Coulter began…

With two more day’s racing to go in the Junior Icebreaker Ballyholme Yacht Club in Belfast Lough, Emily McAfee looks invincible in the Topper 5.3 fleet, which inclement weather has considerably reduced from the original 22. In the Feva division,…

It’s over 300 miles from Belfast to Baltimore in County Cork, and for many Northern Ireland Laser enthusiasts, it was a worthwhile trip last weekend for the ILCA Munster Championships. Twelve sailors from East Antrim, Portrush and Coleraine in Co.Antrim,…

Strangford Lough in East County Down is the largest sea lough in the British Isles, and last week the lough's bottlenose dolphins were joined by a Scottish visitor called Squiggle, previously known as Tyler from Moray Firth. The dolphin with…

Two more Northern Ireland yachts have joined the 50-strong fleet for Scotland's West Highland Yachting Week, which celebrates 75 years in 2023 and runs from 29th July till 4th August. East Antrim Boat Club's Hydrology and Artemis from Larne Lough…

Time was, many years ago when the inlet known as the Long Hole beside Seacliff Road in Bangor on Belfast Lough was used as a harbour for small boats – those small enough, mostly fishing craft, to lie in the…

It’s one thing moving a start line because of say, a wind shift. But at the Cape Town start for Leg 3 of the The Ocean Race on 26 February, principal race officer Bill O’Hara was forced to work around…

A pilot scheme on Strangford Lough, which is trying to stimulate seagrass growth on the seabed by testing alternative mooring systems, has been reported by BBC News NI. Last April, Afloat highlighted a project initiated by the Strangford and Lecale…

The sport of sailing in County Antrim is in fine form, with two sailors winning awards at the Sportsperson of the Year event run by the Mid and East Antrim Council. Calum Pollard from County Antrim Yacht Club in Whitehead…

Four Short Stories is Tom Jobling’s latest book. In it, he has moved a little way from his usual nautical fiction but still delivers a character-driven book of cringe-worthy humour balanced by tales perhaps too close to be comfortable. From…

The Icebreaker Series has been running in the winter at Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough since about the time the Laser dinghy was introduced to the Club by Ron Hutchieson and Trevor Millar in 1974. It was originally mainly…

The Antrim Boat Club Winter Series in north east Lough Neagh has been the premier event for the Club since 1969 and this year, with the blessing of the late Pat Kelly’s family, the club will award the Pat Kelly…