Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Gusty westerlies and a flood tide provided a lively test for Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) fleets on Saturday afternoon (September 19th), as the 2026 Saturday series moved into its penultimate fixture. Conditions varied across the race areas, with race…
Racing was abandoned at Rosses Point on Saturday (19 September) on the opening day of the GP14 Autumn Open and Youth Championships at Sligo Yacht Club. The two-day event had been scheduled to begin with two Autumn Open races from…
Larne RNLI came to the aid of one person onboard a boat that suffered mechanical failure off the County Antrim coast on Friday afternoon, the 18th of September. The volunteer crew launched the all-weather lifeboat Machiko Nancy at 2.54 pm…
Strong Mistral conditions have tightened the battle for honours across the Rolex Swan Cup in Porto Cervo, with most classes still undecided going into Saturday’s final day. The third and penultimate day of the 23rd edition brought 16-knot winds for…
George Creighton and Jack Ryan emerged as the Senior and Junior champions at the 2026 IODAI Optimist Connacht Championships, hosted by Galway Bay Sailing Club over the weekend of 12th and 13th September. The Senior and Junior Main fleets completed…
On the North Sea is where a long-awaited return of a ferry service linking Scotland and mainland Europe is now dead in the water after a port group pulled out of plans to revive the direct route to the continent.…
Emirates Team New Zealand has named its two AC40 crews for next week's Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Naples, retaining the combinations that raced at the opening event in Cagliari but introducing a planned positional switch in…
Double Olympic champion Martine Grael will take the wheel of the US SailGP Team at this weekend’s Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix on Lake Geneva as the Americans attempt to defend third place in the championship standings. Grael’s late call-up…
The Sun Fast 3600 Bellino, which raced around Ireland double-handed in June before taking Dublin and Cork sailors on the 1,805-mile Round Britain and Ireland Race, has completed its 2026 campaign by winning the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) Season’s…
Sam Hall of Pata Negra has won the inaugural ISORA Under 25 Sailor Prize after a first season that attracted 35 young sailors across eight boats in the Irish Sea offshore racing fleet. Thirteen sailors qualified for the season-long prize,…
The start of the next generation of CalMac seafarers has been embarked on their maritime careers after landing a berth on the Scottish domestic ferry operator's Modern Apprenticeship scheme. A total of sixteen young people from Scotland's west coast communities…
Swords Sailing and Boating Club's Pawel Trojanowski and Sean Dorenbusch have been crowned Irish Multihull Association (IMA) National Champions for 2026 after a six-race series on the Broadmeadows Estuary. The Swords pair finished the two-day championship on 10 points, just…
The Bosun Bob’s and Rockshore RS400 Winter Series will celebrate its 20th anniversary at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club (RNIYC) this winter, with the RS200 fleet returning to the Cultra event for the milestone edition. The eight-Sunday series begins…
Southampton International Boat Show has opened at Mayflower Park with more than 500 watercraft and over 250 boats assembled in its purpose-built marina for the ten-day event. As Afloat reported in its preview of the 57th Southampton show, the displays…
There are reasonably sound scientific reasons for thinking that any living breathing mammal in the Northern Hemisphere will be slightly off his, her or its trolley as the month of March comes upon us. In fact, after the long gloom…
The shipyard of Harland & Wolff, Belfast, has secured its largest cruise ship revitalisation project since becoming part of Navantia UK. The project will see US-based operator Margaritaville at Sea's new flagship, Beachcomber, call to Belfast, following the successfull refurbishment of…
Pat Lawless Takes 17 Miles Out Of Guillou Golden Globe Lead During Friday's Sailing
18th September 2026 Golden Globe Race
The sailing during Friday (September 18th) between the two leading boats in the Golden Globe Race 2026 has seen an interesting shift in tactics as front-runnner Damien Guillou in his Rustler 36 transferred to a track close along the African…
The countdown to the second Preliminary Regatta of the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup has entered its final week, with teams completing their preparations on the Bay of Naples ahead of official practice racing next Thursday, September 24. Nine AC40…
New Cranes Installed at Harland & Wolff Join Reactivated 'Samson & Goliath'
18th September 2026 Shipyards
Harland & Wolff, the largest shipyard owned by Navantia UK, has completed the installation of 11 cranes from Co. Down supplier Walter Watson Ltd, in readiness for final assembly of three Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships at Belfast for the UK’s…
Fenit RNLI’s new Shannon class lifeboat Roy Barker VII responded to its first call-out on Thursday morning, the 17th of September, following a report of a person possibly in difficulty west of Fenit Pier. The Irish Coast Guard requested the…
