Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

September is a month of harvests afloat as it is ashore, and as we reach October with its inescapable sense of the change in the seasons, our bountiful new monthly list of no less than six different and distinctive September…

The Kenmare River where Kerry verges into Cork is one of Ireland’s cruising gems – it’s pure gold and then some. But we weren’t exactly cruising when the Nixon Tribe descended on the area precisely a year ago for a…

The Helmsman’s Championship? Crazy name. Surely it should at least have been The Helmsmen’s Championship? Yet in its quirkiness, it achieved brand recognition to die for. Everyone knew what it meant, so much so it could even be shortened to…

Preliminary research into the impact of harmful organisms in bathing water suggests that regular sea swimmers leading a healthy life may have some protection. University of Galway expert Prof Dearbháile Morris cautions that the indications are preliminary, and require more…

There is no greater community to understand the changes in the oceans and what needs to be done to protect them than sailors. From those like myself, a leisure sailor, to fishermen, to marine scientists, to the professional seafarers, greater…

Where other Irish harbours face the sea, Kinsale embraces it. And this generous geographical reality helps to provide a genuine sense of community interaction when any initiative at the hospitable south Cork port is put together to help get young…

You don’t want to run out of Marmite, butter or Guinness on board a yacht in a remote part of Greenland. One piece of advice from a very elated Richard Darley, who sailed the 3,300 nautical mile trip by Danú…

In 2002, the ingenious Laser SB3 was unleashed on an unsuspecting world by Performance Sailcraft as one of several innovative craft that enabled the leading Laser builders to offer loyal Laser sailors – already in their several thousands with the…

The International J/24 European Championship getting under way this weekend in Howth leads inevitably to thoughts of a special drama afloat two months ago. The crunch finish period of the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race 2022 at Wicklow on Friday,…

So where are they? The hurricanes, we mean. Or more accurately, the “decaying tropical storms” which occasionally make their ominous and often unpredictable way towards Ireland as the Summer progresses and morphs into Autumn. For as it happens, back in…

The Last of the Light is a collection of memories, short stories and beautiful images from the Loop Head peninsula by Kilkee writer Marc Ó Riain. The author aimed to capture “the images, sounds and smells, the very taste of…

“Irish people of the sea have called for generations on the Blessed Virgin Mary as a guiding spirit while they are at sea.” That aspect of Irish maritime tradition refers to the use of the name Stella Maris on boats.…

The inland waterways will be celebrated at Killaloe next month, the quintessential waterways town on the River Shannon in Co.Clare. Called ‘LUA’, it will be “a celebration of wild water at the ancient settlement of Killaloe, which is a gift…

In recent days, we’ve seen celebrations honouring the super-star young sailors who have brought major international sailing medals of gold, silver and bronze home to Ireland and their rightfully-delighted families and cheering local clubs. These are sailors whose special talent…

In some ways, Howth Yacht Club has it easy. It isn’t hampered by being the senior sailing centre in Ireland. That particular burden has been carried since 1720 by Cork. Nor is it sailing’s premier centre. Since the active first…

Dublin Port’s chief executive Eamonn O’Reilly is moving on after 12 years at the helm. He does so at a time when the port reports a return to almost pre-pandemic and pre-Brexit trading levels, with overall volumes growing by 10.1…