Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Portrush RNLI all-weather lifeboat was requested to launch by the coastguard on Sunday evening (1 November) at 7.06pm to reports of a 14-metre fishing vessel that had suffered engine failure just off Ballycastle Harbour. The volunteer crew launched at 7.26pm…
Howth Yacht Club's 2026/27 Dinghy Frostbites began in unusually pleasant November conditions on Sunday, 1st November, with sunshine, blue skies and a northerly breeze welcoming a diverse fleet for the opening two races of the Winter Series. The long-running event,…
Ireland's Olympic sailing hopefuls are preparing for a significant year on the road to Los Angeles 2028 after World Sailing published the Notice of Race for the 2027 World Sailing Championships in Gdynia, Poland. The championships will be staged across two continents,…
The historic tea clipper Cutty Sark will ring out with traditional sailors' songs when its annual Sea Shanty Festival returns to Greenwich, London, on Saturday, 21st November 2026. The event celebrates the vessel's 157th birthday, bringing together maritime folk musicians, shanty groups…
Ireland's Cara of the South, a 10.67-metre Tradewind 35, is the smallest yacht entered in the 2026 ARC+ transatlantic rally, which celebrated its opening ceremony in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Sunday, 1st November. The Irish entry is among an international…
French offshore sailing legend Francis Joyon has capsized aboard his ORMA trimaran Océans during the 2026 Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe solo transatlantic race. Initial reports indicate that the skipper is uninjured, although a rescue operation has been launched…
Three members of Cork's O'Leary sailing family — Anthony and his sons Peter and Robert — are entered for the 2026 Star World Championship in Miami, where 97 teams from 17 nations are preparing for six races on Biscayne Bay from 9…
The chairman of the board of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), Dr Patrick Hartigan, has said that a new research vessel is essential to meet the organisation's objectives of gathering data through citizen science. In the Group's 2025…
After a landmark season that brought two ILCA World Championships to Dublin Bay, Ireland's single-handed dinghy fleet is already looking ahead. ILCA Ireland has published an eight-event championship calendar for 2027, with racing scheduled nationwide from March to September. The…
Newly published UK Coastguard research has highlighted potential staffing difficulties for coastal rescue teams under proposed changes to the employment arrangements of Coastguard Rescue Officers, with implications for Northern Ireland's network of rescue stations. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)…
The Royal Cork Yacht Club's Under-25 team made a winning start to the Brown & Brown-sponsored Winter League on Sunday (1 November), taking first place under three handicap systems aboard the J/24 Jambalaya in bright sunshine on Cork Harbour. Racing…
The favourites were setting the pace in the early stages of the 2026 Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe on Sunday, 1st November, after 115 solo sailors set off from Saint-Malo in bright autumn sunshine and light north-easterly winds. The 3,542-nautical-mile transatlantic…
David Clarke of Howth is “Sailor of the Month (Series Winner)” for October
1st November 2026 Sailor of the Month
The Puppeteer 22 OD Class provided both the numerically largest fleet in the Howth Autumn League 2026, and the closest racing with one of the most complex uses of tiebreakers to achieve a final result. After all the numbers had…
Finbarr & Colm O’Regan of Kinsale are “Sailors of the Month (Season’s Performance)” for October
1st November 2026 Sailor of the Month
The Kinsale-based J/109 Artful DodJer achieves a level of consistently good performance - both with her O’Regan owners or with others in charge – that is an advertisement for the quality of racing provided by a J/109, and the standard…
Ben Chaix of Tralee is "Sailor of the Month (Junior International) for October
1st November 2026 Sailor of the Month
The Topper Europeans in Weymouth saw an impressive involvement by young Irish sailors, spearheaded by Ben Chaix of Tralee who took Gold by recording a convincing scoreline of seven wins in eight races to round out an impressive season which…
Micheal O Suilleabhain of Kinsale is “Sailor of the Month (National Champion)” for October
1st November 2026 Sailor of the Month
When Micheal O Suilleabhain of Kinsale first figured as a “Sailor of the Month” on Afloat.ie, it was quite some time ago in a junior category, and he was truly a beardless youth. But when he lifted aloft the sacred…
Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell of Dun Laoghaire is “Sailor of the Month (Team Racing)” for October
1st November 2026 Sailor of the Month
In the most successful squads in sailing team racing, the hand of the Captain might lie very lightly indeed while achieving success, but nevertheless this sometimes virtually invisible power of leadership is essential to overall success. And in the final…
Tralee Bay Sailing Club's Ben Chaix delivered a commanding performance at the 2026 International Topper Class European Championships in Weymouth, winning seven of eight races to secure the Topper 4.2 European title as Irish sailors claimed three of the six…
Revised Killiney Beach Watersports Facility Opens for Consultation
1st November 2026 Aquatic Tourism
Plans for new watersports facilities at Killiney Beach have returned to public consultation under a revised proposal by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. The council opened a Part 8 consultation on Friday, 30 October 2026, for a Fáilte Ireland-supported facility and…
Route du Rhum Fleet Faces Fast Start and Unusual Atlantic Route
1st November 2026 La Route du Rhum Race
The 115-boat Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe fleet is preparing for a fast start from Saint-Malo on Sunday afternoon, with an unusual Atlantic weather pattern expected to send competitors north of the Azores rather than towards the traditional trade winds. The…
