Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

A substantial fleet of more than 300 yachts is set to compete in the 49th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race. The entry list is evidence once again of the illustrious status and widespread appeal of the event, which starts…

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) is not holding racing for cruiser-racer classes 1 – 5 on Saturday, 4th September in order to accommodate the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA) National Championships that are being staged on Dublin Bay.  The annual…

For more than fifty years now, the 1898-founded Howth 17s have all been located at their port of origin, and the class has been thriving, so much so that serious damage to seven of the boats in winter storage in…

Director of the Irish Coast Guard Chris Reynolds, on assignment as Head of Mission Eucap Somalia, is not returning to the Coastguard in Ireland. In a post on social media, Reynolds says: "With a heavy heart I will not be…

Howth Yacht Club sailors Dylan Gannon and Luke Malcolm are lying seventh overall after four races sailed on Ross Warburton’s Club Swan 50 Perhonen at this week's Swan Copa Del Rey Mapfre at Palma, Spain.  As you would expect at a Swan…

Shannon Foynes Port Company which is state-owned, has reported a 7.6 per cent decline in turnover last year to €12.9 million as pre-tax profits fell from €4.9 million to €3.1 million due to the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. Chief…

Ever Given, the huge container ship that blocked the Suez Canal is being unloaded after it arrived in the UK, reports BBC News. The Ever Given docked at Felixstowe, Suffolk, at 16:30 BST on Tuesday, its first UK visit since…

With just over three months to the start of the 2021 Rolex Middle Sea Race, the race to be on the start line on Saturday 23 October is heating up. As Afloat reported in May, fleet numbers are building nicely,…

The 100th Anniversary of the Star Class World Championships will be held next year September 10-17, 2022 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA. The host for the event will be the prestigious Eastern Yacht Club. As regular afloat readers know, the former…

In the UK, the Peel Ports Group through its London Medway area of operations has welcomed DFDS new England-France freight-only ferry route connecting Sheerness and Calais that is to begin service this month. The new freight route offers one daily…

An Islands Bill to help drive sustainability is essential for the future well-being of the offshore island communities, according to Comhdháil Oileán na hEireann, the Islands Federation. Following extensive consultation about the future of the islands and discussions with the…

Glasgow based Flex Marine Power has issued a Notice to Mariners regarding its activity within the Strangford Narrows in County Down in Northern Ireland. The turbine mooring system is being decommissioned and there is a workboat, and buoys marking the…

Despite a strong fleet of visiting yachts to the West Cork coast for the opening race of Schull Harbour Sailing Club's Calves Week 2021 Regatta, Munster entries lead in all IRC divisions except one after a round the islands race for all classes…

Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) have won gold in the 470 Women's class in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, with Agnieszka Skrzypulec and Jolanta Ogar (POL) taking silver and Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz (FRA) bronze. At the start the…

Waterways Ireland advises masters and owners of vessels that instream work will commence on the new slipway south of the Athlone Lock from tomorrow, Wednesday 4 August. Works will also take place on the East Bank some 200m south of…

Two people have been fined and sentenced to prison for illegal netting of salmon on the River Barrow last summer in prosecutions taken by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI). Michael Malone, of Taghmon, Co Wexford, received a sentence of five months’…

Portaferry RNLI’s inshore lifeboat launched yesterday evening (Monday 2 August) to the aid of a woman who had fallen onboard a yacht. The volunteer lifeboat crew’s pagers sounded just after 7.30pm and they launched amid good conditions to assess the…

The ability to track free-swimming salmon juveniles has been extended hundreds of kilometres into the open ocean using advanced robotic technology. As part of the EU INTERREG VA-funded SeaMonitor project, Dr Ross O'Neill of the Marine Institute and Kieran Adlum,…

An Irish flagged cargoship, Arklow Fern with a cargo of wheat partly destined for the world-famous Scotch whisky industry, recently made a coastal passage between two ports operated by Associated British Ports. On board the 2010 Spanish built Arklow Fern…

Local Rob McConnell's new 1720 sportsboat was the top performer, both as a one-design and on rating in last weekend's Waterford Harbour Sailing Club's annual Club Cruiser Championships and Open Keelboat Regatta. A total of seventeen boats, including seven 1720s, took…