Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

A warm and humid Wednesday (16 October) in Barcelona yielded southerly thermal breezes of 7-11 knots for two absorbing races in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match that saw INEOS Britannia, the Challenger of Record, take back-to-back victories to…

Portaferry RNLI in Northern Ireland will remain operational as essential works are carried out at Portaferry slipway until late November. The work, which commenced on Monday (14 October), will see the slipway — usually used by both the station's inshore…

The Marine Institute has published its Climate Action Roadmap 2024, setting out the organisation’s key operational achievements in relation to sustainability and energy. A core challenge for the institute in reducing its overall consumption is the energy required to operate…

The world’s oldest operating full-rigged ship, Sørlandet, which anchored off Dun Laoghaire as Afloat reported, subsequently entered the harbour, where it visited for almost a week, writes Jehan Ashmore The Norwegian trainee tall ship Sørlandet, previously called to Dun Laoghaire…

Kinsale RNLI's inshore lifeboat, Sally Anne (Baggy) II, was requested to launch at 9.26 am on Tuesday morning (15 October), to go to the immediate aid of two sailors on a 25ft sailing vessel which had run into difficulty off…

Donegal Fine Gael councillor Manus Boyle has added his voice to this week's call for a total ban on Norwegian fishing vessels in Irish waters. Cllr Boyle says he is "standing united with Irish fishing representatives in the fight to…

Scientists have confirmed that 13 per cent of common dolphins stranded on the Irish coast from 2017 to 2019 died of starvation. The last most relevant comparison was between 1990 and 2006, when three per cent of common dolphin carcasses…

The Crosshaven RNLI Station recently hosted a group of coaches from the Royal Cork Yacht Club for a special briefing and tour in Cork Harbour. The RNLI team, including Patsy Fegan, Daryl Hughes, Hugh Mockler, James Fegan, Ian Venner, and…

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has secured a conviction against a creamery co-op for the pollution of a Co Tipperary river. Tipperary Cooperative was found to have committed water pollution offences at the River Ara in Tipperary town — and must…

The meteorological gambling chips haven't quite been falling Howth's way in this Autumn of 2024. For in fast-moving weather, where one sailing area can experience markedly different conditions from those occurring at other not-so-distant places, the less favourable deal has…

The volunteer crew of Howth RNLI launched their all-weather lifeboat late on Saturday night (12 October) following a call from the crew of a fishing trawler which observed a flashing beacon floating in the water three miles east of Howth…

Bangor RNLI in Northern Ireland came to the aid of four people in two separate call-outs over the weekend after a yacht and boat got into difficulty. The first call came at 5.54pm on Saturday (12 October) when the volunteer…

An innovative marine tracking project is launching after €2.1m of EU funding was secured by the Loughs Agency and the European Tracking Network (ETN). The three-year project — titled Digital Twin of the Ocean: Animal Tracking (DTOTrack) — was awarded…

To celebrate Bioeconomy Ireland Week, the Marine Institute is collaborating with 26 county librarians across the country to highlight the opportunities and solutions provided by the blue bioeconomy and its development in Ireland. Expert talks, workshops for primary school students…

An environmental certification programme, Green Marine Europe (GME) dedicated to the maritime industry, unveiled its fifth annual performance report today. The report followed a half-day of discussions, organized in Brussels, Belgium around the industry’s environmental transition and its financing. 66…

Port agency Ronayne Shipping, part of the Irish Mainport Group, have completed the second cargo ship load of round timber (log) from the Port of Cork Company’s new log berth. The new facility for the forestry industry is located downriver…

'Waiting for Godot' is the title of a Sam Beckett play and the term is often used to describe a situation where you're waiting for something that may never happen writes Malahide Yacht Club Dinghy Sailing Secretary, Paul Quinn. This…

You can tell the health of any keelboat class by the numbers attending open events. Despite the autumn weather being expected to be cold, forty-four owners packed up their Squib keelboats and towed them to Dromineer on Lough Derg for…

With this month's Autumn Leagues in Cork and Howth still to count, the overall winner for IRC and ECHO ICRA Boat of the Year 2024 remains undecided. The defending IRC champion, the James Dwyer-driven Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble, lies third in…

The Irish fishing industry is intensifying what has become an angry battle against Nordic countries, in particular Norway, for what is alleged to be their abuse of mackerel catches. This could wipe out the stocks, causing a loss of over…