Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
The 2026 Kingstown to Queenstown Race gets under way on Friday with a 12-boat fleet set to tackle the 160-nautical-mile offshore passage from Dun Laoghaire to Cork Harbour. The race is a key fixture in the ISORA Championship and follows…
Light and variable westerly winds of 3–8 knots, combined with a strengthening ebb tide, produced a tactical evening of racing for the cruiser fleets in Thursday's AIB Dublin Bay Sailing Club Summer Series. The ORC divisions continued their expanded Thursday…
Jaguar leads both IRC and ECHO in Class One after two races at the West of Ireland Offshore Racing Association (WIORA) Championships in Fenit, Co Kerry. The opening day of the regatta was abandoned as gale-force winds swept Tralee Bay,…
The 2026 29er World Championship gets underway in Kiel on Friday as the world's top youth skiff sailors gather at the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Sailing Centre for nine days of competition. Although the opening ceremony takes place on Friday evening, registration,…
A Hong Kong team will return to Ireland this weekend for the eighth Ruffian Interport Challenge, renewing a rivalry that was last contested during the class's Golden Jubilee celebrations in Hong Kong in 2023. Twenty-two sailors and five supporters will…
High winds brought racing to a standstill on Thursday at the Nordea Women's Trophy Sweden, leaving the Open division quarterfinals unfinished while the Nordea Women's Trophy semifinal lineup was confirmed. After three days of near-perfect conditions, a strong weather front…
The 2026 ILCA Summer Sprint Series gets underway in Kinsale this Sunday, with the opening event hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club. Registration opens at 10 am ahead of the first gun at 11:55 am. Organisers have scheduled five…
More than 400 sailors have already confirmed their places for the 2026 Youth Sailing World Championships, with six months remaining before racing begins in Portugal. A total of 424 sailors and 146 coaches from 65 nations have registered for the…
The refurbished Soviet-era Admiral Nakhimov could become the world's most heavily armed surface warship, serving as the flagship of Russia's Northern Fleet. The ship was first visible in satellite imagery in Kola Bay on June 25. Kola Bay, also called…
Belfast Harbour has become the first marina in the UK to install an Aquapod, an innovative waterline system designed to capture floating litter, natural debris and microplastics. The technology has been deployed at Belfast Harbour Marina, where it will help…
Brittany Ferries, the largest operator on the English Channel, has announced major plans to close routes and sell ships as it battles with financial challenges. The Breton-based company will sell the 1992-built Barfleur, which serves travelers on the Poole-Cherbourg route…
A well-maintained 1983 Hallberg-Rassy 352 cruiser has been listed for sale through Crosshaven Boatyard with an asking price of €59,500. Currently lying in Kilrush, Co Clare, Passade has been in the same ownership since 2007 and has benefited from significant…
Forty years after Sir Robin Knox-Johnston set a new Round Ireland speed record, the achievement will be celebrated at a special anniversary event at the National Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire on Thursday evening. The event marks the 40th anniversary…
A record 27 Water Wags turned out for Wednesday evening's AIB DBSC race and the opening Water Wag race of the Royal St George Yacht Club Regatta on Dublin Bay. Light south-southwesterly winds of 4–6 knots greeted competitors on a…
Enniskillen RNLI's inshore lifeboat launched twice in the final weeks of June to assist seven people and a dog during separate incidents on Lower Lough Erne. The volunteer crew aboard the John and Jean Lewis lifeboat responded to requests from…
Swedish sailors hold the advantage in both the Open and Women's fleets at the halfway stage of the 2026 GKSS Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand. Oscar Engström and Martina Carlsson secured automatic places in the semi-finals after topping their respective…
Applications are now open for the 2026 RYA Eric Twiname Youth & Junior Team Racing Championships, one of the UK's leading youth team racing events. The annual championship will take place at Oxford Sailing Club on 10–11 October, bringing together…
Four races in fresh south-westerly winds decided the 2026 ILCA Leinster Championships at Skerries Sailing Club after gale-force conditions forced the abandonment of Saturday's racing. A fleet of 73 sailors, spanning six decades in age, competed at the second ILCA regional event…
For the first time, ferry ‘foot’ customer passengers can travel tonight (1 July) with Hibernia Line since its inaugural crossings commenced last month, writes Jehan Ashmore With the key peak season underway, Hibernia Line now welcomes foot passengers to book…
Environmental regulation, boating safety and the future of sustainable propulsion were among the key topics discussed at the latest meeting of the European Boating Association (EBA). Delegates from 18 countries met in Sweden in April 2026 to review financial, governance…
