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Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
The IMOCA fleet at the start of Leg 7 of The Ocean Race 2022-23 on 15 June 2023
The Ocean Race has taken the top prize in the sustainability category of the 2023 International Sports Awards, hosted by the International Sports Convention. The award recognises the efforts of the race’s Racing with Purpose initiative, which was created with…
Artist’s impression of the British Sailing Team’s proposed Performance and Innovation Centre
The British Sailing Team has unveiled plans for a state-of-the-art training base at its home in Dorset. The new Performance and Innovation Centre will bring together sailors, coaches and support staff in one location designed to promote collaboration and innovation.…
Ballyholme Yacht Club on the east side of Bangor in North Down has been chosen to host the European ILCA 6 Youth Championships in 2024
The European ILCA 6 Youth Championships 2024 will be sailed at Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough next season. “This is a very significant championship for Europe’s youth sailors and hosting the event is a feather in the cap for…
After a routine annual winter overhaul dry-docking at Harland & Wolff, Belfast, W.B. Yeats completed a Dublin-Cherbourg round trip today, with an arrival at the Irish port during strong south-easterly gale force winds, noting this afternoon’s return sailing to France has been cancelled, the company citing adverse weather conditions, however the next sailing is scheduled for Friday. During the dry-docking, ropax pair, Epsilon along with Norbay, operated the Ireland-France route. Epsilon has been replaced directly by its successor, the chartered Norbay of P&O Ferries, which takes over its sailing schedule on the French route and having already done so on the Dublin-Holyhead route.
W.B. Yeats which was delayed in dry-dock has finally re-entered Irish Ferries Dublin-Cherbourg route as the cruise-ferry completed the Ireland-France round trip today, however this afternoon's sailing to the continent is cancelled due to bad weather, writes Jehan Ashmore. It was…
Dr Atlan Lok, Dr Evrim Kurtay, Dr Aytaç Özgül, pictured with María Pérez Tadeo and Yaiza Pozo Galván, who are members of a research project, which is part of the EU “Strategic Infrastructure for Improved Animal Tracking in European Seas” (STRAITS) initiative, that will study the movement of sea animals at four strategic locations
Underwater noise levels and movement of marine mammals are being tracked in European waters by a scientific team led by Dr Joanne O’Brien and a team from the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Galway. The devices were deployed in Turkey and…
Fishermen will be consulted about the development of offshore wind energy areas
Co-operation, mutual understanding and respect amongst all involved in offshore wind energy development is the best way forward for this island nation. It is a welcome and important step in this process and the protection of traditional fishing grounds that…
Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue says he has secured approval to allow BIM to make payments for projects approved under a “transformational change” scheme into early 2024
Ireland’s expenditure of EU Brexit compensatory funding for the seafood sector is to be extended into next year. The so-called Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) was paid by the EU to Ireland and other affected member states to mitigate the impact…
Kinsailor rocketed through the 2022 J/24 Euros To bronze Overall and Youth Gold and had more achievements in 2023
The success of the Under 25 team sailing the club J24 ’Kinsailor’ is one of the many successes highlighted in the annual Class reports at Kinsale Yacht Club which, like many clubs, had to deal with the occasional ravages the…
Aerial view of Dun Laoghaire Harbour, which is being proposed to host the National Watersports Campus
The proposed National Watersports Campus for Dun Laoghaire has received a major boost in the form of a €410,000-plus top-up grant under the Large-Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). Sport Minister Catherine Martin and Minister of State Thomas Byrne made the announcement on…
ICRA Commodore David Cullen
After a weather-challenged year for events in 2023, ICRA Commodore David Cullen is looking forward to a busy calendar in 2024. Key events for ICRA members include the Wave Regatta at Howth Yacht Club over the weekend of 24-26 May,…
Courtown RNLI’s lifeboat station lit up for the festive season
Courtown RNLI volunteers invite everyone in the community to their ‘Jingle Mingle’ event this Saturday 9 December. The fundraising committee is hosting the Christmas afternoon from 2pm-5pm on the North Pier in Courtown, Co Wexford. It’s an opportunity to gather…
Sail-powered general cargo-boat, Grain de Sail 1 is to operate for French shipowner, Grain de Sail on their new English Channel route of St.Malo-Southampton, importing wines, coffee, chocolate and luxury retail brands. This will be their second service, which connects Europe with the America’s. The company plan further routes including to Ireland.
A sail-powered French cargo shipping company, Grain de Sail is poised to launch an English Channel service early next year. The Brittany-based group, founded in Morlaix in 2010, has activities spanning in wine, chocolate and coffee processing, maritime transport, import…
Chris Lindsay - An International Sailing Judge for the Paris 2024 Olympic Competition
World Sailing, the world governing body of the sport, has announced Belfast Lough's Chris Lindsay as an International Judge and Umpire for the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition. Lindsay, who also officiated at Tokyo 2020, is the only Irish appointment in…
The famed SOLAS Big Boat Challenge within Sydney Harbour - see YouTube vid below
Christian Beck’s super-maxi Law Connect won the famed SOLAS Big Boat Challenge within Sydney Harbour in ideal conditions at the weekend, with the traditional buildup towards the Rolex Sydney Hobart race on December 26th also taking in the Cabbage Tree…
Aasen Shipping orders three new hybrid powered methanol-ready self-dischargers/cargo ships from Dutch shipbuilder, Royal Bodewes. The Norwegian shipping company operate self-discharging ships for transporting bulk cargo and break bulk cargo among them to Irish Ports. Loading/discharging, is carried out by the ship’s crew using an excavator mounted above the hold. Among their existing tonnage, AFLOAT add is Aastind which at time of writing, today, is at anchor in Dublin Bay having sailed from Rotterdam (Botlek), The Netherlands. Another fleetmate, Aasli last month made a brief call to Belfast having received work at Harland & Wolff.
Aasen Shipping of Norway which has a fleet of self-discharging cargo ships which call to Irish Ports, has ordered from a Dutch shipyard for three new hybrid powered methanol-ready self-dischargers. Delivery of the vessels from shipbuilder, Royal Bodewes to Assen…
Royal St George Yacht Club's Jaguar Sailing Team of Martin Byrne, Adam Winkelmann and Rory Byrne took third overall at last weekend's Yacht Club de Cannes, Coupe D’ Hiver des Dragons. 17 Dragons from eight countries competed with victory going…
Damian Browne, Man vs Ocean will air on Wednesday, 6th December, 9.35 pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
“Can you see what I see?” “ Land, land motherfxxxxxs…” “Ireland !!! I see you! Finally, the old sod is in site...” The words of transatlantic oarsman Damian Browne on day 108 of his extraordinary effort to row from New…
Racing at the 2023 International Youth Match Racing Championship in Australia
Royal St. George's Tom Higgins is fighting for a semi-final place at the 2023 International Youth Match Racing Championship in Australia. The Harken-sponsored Championship is hosting some of the World’s best youth match racing talent, with competitors travelling from across…
Movember - J122
With two races left to sail at the AIB DBSC Turkey Shoot at the Royal Irish Yacht Club, there are joint overall leaders at the country's biggest winter sailing league. The 1720 Optique and the Sunfast 3600 Hot Cookie sit…
Even the Baltic didn’t escape last summer’s foul weather – this is Karl Kwok’s TP52 Beau Geste of Hong Kong on her way to winning the ORC World Championship at Kiel on Germany’s Baltic Coast in the first week of August 2023
Afloat.ie’s “Brain Test For The Day” story on Sunday about the introduction of weather routing as a new factor in scoring June 2024’s biennial CCA Newport-Bermuda Race was posted in wonderment (and maybe bewilderment) as much as being the airing…

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