Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#inlandwaterways – When English writer LTC Rolt made a round trip from the Shannon to Dublin in 1946, traversing the Grand and Royal Canals, he was considered an eccentric. In the 1940s commercial traffic on the canals and rivers of…

#navy – Ten new recruits to the Naval Service Reserve completed their training in a ceremony in the Naval Base on Haulbowline yesterday. The 10 recruits, 9 from Cork and 1 from Dublin endured 3 weeks of intense training where…

#islandnation – This month, Caitlin Ni Aodha, widow of the Skipper of the Tit Bonhomme who drowned in that trawler tragedy in West Cork, talks to us on the pier at Howth in County Dublin as she launched the new…

#hyc – Howth Yacht Club's (HYC) leaderboard showed some small changes to the leaderboards yesterday within the nine classes, but no change to the idyllic conditions after week five of the MSL Park Motors Mercedes-Benz sponsored event that has enjoyed for every…

#shannonblueway – Leitrim, Roscommon and Cavan have many kilometres of walking trails, looped, linear, long and short distance, all linked by one thing – the waterways. There are over 100km of water trails radiating from Carrick-on-Shannon which link these existing…

#royalcork – Today was another wonderful October day for the CH Marine Autumn Series writes Claire Bateman. There was bright sunshine after a night of dense fog that cleared exactly as had been forecast. The wind in the outer harbour…

#blueway – Minister Heather Humphreys TD, and actor & producer Carrie Crowley joined with over 300 walkers and paddlers to open the Shannon Blueway today in Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim.As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Shannon Blueway runs from Drumshanbo through…

#rayc – Despite a very gentle forecast of barely a few knots, 18 Lasers launched at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club and sailed up through the lifted toll bridge for Saturday's Royal Alfred fixture on the river Liffey. Once into…

#dmyc – Online entry for the popular and long running DMYC dinghy frostbite series is now open. Racing in the for 2014 - 2015 series will take place each Sunday on Dublin Bay or inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour from 2nd November…

#flyingfifteen – Irish Flying fifteen vice–president Alan Green has led tributes from Ireland to Flying Fifteen doyen Roy Windebank of Hayling Island in Hampshire who died last month aged 81. The British master builder who had been involved as both…

#loughderg – Lough Derg boating firm Shannon Sailing Ltd has acquired Williamstown Harbour in Williamstown, Whitegate, Co. Clare. The harbour was seen by Shannon Sailing Ltd as 'a perfect location' to expand its marina footprint on Lough Derg. The intention…

#cil –The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) of the UK and Ireland have announced a £13M seven-year contract to PDG Helicopters for the provision of helicopter services to cover all three Authorities according to the PDG website here. The provision of…

#clipper – Record numbers of people have followed the exploits of the latest Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, with a cumulative audience of more than 3.3 billion people in over 200 countries seeing news coverage in the press, radio,…

#rorc – The RORC Rating Office, the technical and administrative hub for all things Spinlock IRC rating-related in the UK, is re-badging its Limited Validity TCC (LV TCC) as the Single Event Rating (SER) with immediate effect. The LV TCC…

#seafisheries – The impact of commercial fishing in more than 11,500 square kilometres (7,000 square miles) of English coastal waters is being reviewed to make sure that habitats and species are not damaged by fishing.This area for further assessment covers…

#liffeylasers – If you thought all the Irish Laser action was in the south of France this week, you'd be wrong. Paul MacMahon (Strangford/Howth), a previous number one on the domestic full rig rankings, is among 18 Lasers now entered for…

#lasermasters – There's a strong contingent of Irish competing in the Laser Masters Worlds taking place from the 4th - 11th October in Hyeres, France this week. The event has broken records for the number competing which topped out at…

#greystonesharbour – Delgany Brownies, Greystones Brownies and some of the Greystones Guides took part in a sailing taster day at Greystones Sailing Club on Sunday 5th October. The 40 girls spent half the day sailing Laser Picos with instructors outside…

#loopheadlight – Visitors to Loop Head Lighthouse increased by 7.5% during the West Clare landmark's 6-month opening period up to yesterday (Sunday, October 5th). Figures released today by Clare County Council, which manages the facility in conjunction with the Commissioners…

#marine – The Irish Maritime Administration (IMA) was established in 2013 to integrate the planning and delivery of all the maritime services of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport under a single national office. The Department's website describes this…