Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
The Melges 15 fleet returns to Howth Yacht Club this weekend for the class Northern Championship, with 17 teams set to contest the latest regional event of the 2026 season. Medium to light winds are forecast off the Fingal coast,…
The Irish Fish Producers Organisation AGM To Press Government On Fishing Industry Crisis
20th June 2026 Fishing
The Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO) is expected to press for urgent action on the challenges facing Ireland's fishing industry when it holds its Annual General Meeting in Galway today (Friday). Around 30 members are due to attend the meeting…
The TP52 World Championship will be decided on the final day after another dramatic day of racing in Porto Cervo left the overall standings finely balanced. Just one point separates Alpha+ and Sled at the top of the leaderboard, while…
If you wanted to design a meteorological setup to provide Ireland with five or six days of sunny weather with gentle winds with some calms, then this morning’s Saturday MetSit IRL (In Real Life) could be used with very little…
A fleet featuring Olympic medallists and some of the world's leading ILCA sailors completed three races on the opening day of the ILCA Coaches Regatta in Dún Laoghaire on Friday. The three-day event runs through to Sunday and serves as…
An Irish sailor will take on one of the biggest challenges of her offshore racing career when the Round Ireland Yacht Race starts from Wicklow this weekend. Twenty-three-year-old Róisín Hanrahan has been named navigator aboard the JPK 11.80 Sunrise, one of…
Irish Skiff Crews Target Kiel Sailing Grand Slam Success
19th June 2026 Robert Dickson & Sean Waddilove
The fourth regatta of the 2026 Sailing Grand Slam series gets underway this weekend at Kieler Woche in Germany, with Irish sailors competing against some of the world's leading skiff crews. Ireland will be represented in the 49er class by…
The 44Cup resumes next week in Marstrand, Sweden, with GeMera Racing arriving as the leader of one of sailing's closest owner-driver championships. The third event of the 2026 season takes place on the rocky west coast island of Marstrand, a…
Arksen Pro has unveiled the first Arksen 8 Pro Edition, a specialist patrol and response vessel built for the Chichester Harbour Conservancy. The new craft expands the Conservancy's existing Arksen fleet and will support a wide range of operations, including…
The number of seafarers abandoned by shipowners globally continues to increase according to two United Nations agencies - the International Maritime Organisation and the International Labour Organisation International Labour Organization (ILO), the latter being the specialised agency dedicated to improving…
Ireland’s seafood sector saw a sharp contraction in landing volumes in 2025 but continued to deliver growth in value, according to Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM). This demonstrated “strong global demand even as supply tightened”, its latest Business of Seafood report says. Landing volumes…
The 54th Newport Bermuda Race gets underway on Friday from Fort Adams in Rhode Island, launching nearly 150 boats on the 635-nautical-mile offshore passage to Bermuda. This year's race marks the 120th anniversary of one of the world's most famous…
Alpha+ and Sled moved into a share of the lead after the third day of racing at the Rolex TP52 World Championship in Porto Cervo, Italy. Level Terms: Alpha+ (46) and Sled (05) race bow-to-bow off Porto Cervo. The two…
A spectacular illuminated Tall Ships display known as Sails of Solace is set to become one of the standout attractions at next week's Foyle Maritime Festival in Derry. Running from 25 to 27 June between 10 pm and 3 am,…
Wetland Restoration Will Provide Greatest Benefit To Ireland's Threatened Birds
19th June 2026 Marine Wildlife
Restoration of wetland habitats will provide the greatest benefit to Ireland’s threatened birds, BirdWatch Ireland says in a newly published plan. The plan identifies 71,450 hectares of protected wetland habitat around Ireland with restoration potential to help 52 key bird…
Crosshaven RNLI helm Ian Venner has been recognised for a decade of service on the RNLI Irish Council. Venner's fixed term of office concluded at the RNLI Annual General Meeting in London on Wednesday. He was presented with an award…
The Bermuda Gold Cup will adopt a new integrated 12-team format for its 2026 edition as organisers seek to maintain opportunities for elite women match racers amid sponsorship challenges. The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) and the World Match Racing…
A Swiss-developed marine safety device designed to improve search-and-rescue operations at sea is being launched in Ireland at the start of the Round Ireland Yacht Race in Wicklow this weekend. Airmarker, a balloon-based location system, will make its Irish debut…
The biennial 704–mile Round Ireland Race race around our island home gets underway at Wicklow Harbour at 2 pm on Saturday, June 20th. Follow the race on the live Yellowbrick tracker below Read all the latest Round Ireland 2026 race…
Only days after refusing to issue odds because of weather uncertainty, Afloat's Mystic Meg has finally nailed her colours to the mast ahead of Saturday's Round Ireland Yacht Race. The latest forecast, combined with routing and tidal analysis, has persuaded…
