Afloat.ie Team
Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.
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June's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race winner Legally Brunette has entered the Rolex Middle Sea Race. In fact, skipper Cathal Drohan decided to enter the instant he tied up in Grand Harbour in 2008 after their first participation. Ten out…
The last race of the 2009 series at the weekend, from Pwhelli to Howth decided the Overall ISORA Champion for 2009. The National Yacht Club and Beneteau First design boats took the first three places with “Tsunami”, Vincent Farrell’s First…
Crosshaven's Seafra Guilfoyle emerged as the convincing champion at the Mitsubishi Optimist Nationals over the weekend, leading a trio of Cork sailors onto the Opi podium. Guilfoyle, at just 13 years of age, counted only third place finishes or better, …
The last couple of match racing events in the SailFleet J80s have been sailed in some challenging conditions. It’s been noticeable how the teams have had to improve their boat handling dramatically to meet the challenge. Here are some notes…
The Irish Cancer Society are hoping to raise urgently-needed funds this September from the attempts of three relay teams from Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM) to swim the English Channel. Hard training is going on and, whilst ILIM is not…
A busy Saturday for Dublin Bay Sailing Club – lots of racing in near-perfect conditions brought out the best in Extremity, Tiamat, Something Else and Gung Ho, to name but a few. Full results over the fold. DUBLIN PORT Dublin…
We’ve championships to spare this week – Fireballs in France (if you happen to be there), 1720s in Baltimore, Laser Nationals in Lough Derg, Etchells at Howth, Squibs in Dun Laoghaire, and GP14s in Sligo. What a wealth! Adding to…
There's a diverse range of subjects up for discussion on Seascapes this Friday (August 21st) – one being the ageless problem of fatigue amongst seafarers and ways to combat the exhaustion that results from long arduous hours at sea. And…
Hosted by Betty Boop (John Alvey, Clodagh Whelan, Mark Alvey and James Ryan), who had to be towed 50 miles by the Dunmore East Lifeboat after their rudder broke off on the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race, Poolbeg Yacht &…
Thursday sailing at Dublin Bay took place in 12–15kt easterlies, with Avalon, Contango and Supernova taking two firsts in their respective classes. Please note: the final dinghy sailing supper of the season will take place in the DMYC immediately after racing…
Now that we have your attention, we should point out that it's Galway's lovely, creaking red-sailed ladies of the sea we're talking about. Not the other kind. The annual Cruinniu na mBad begins this evening in Kinvara, with racing on…
Dun Laoghaire sailor Francis Rowan and his helm Tom Gillard took third place at the Fireball European championships in La Rochelle today, finishing with a lacklustre 28th and 25th, but doing enough to hold off the British sailing pairing of…
Two seconds and a first gave Cork sailor Seafra Guilfoyle the lead at halfway stage of the Mitsubish Optimist National Championships today. The Crosshaven teen, who still has two years left in the Optimist, discarded his jittery 26th from the…
On Saturday August 8, 25 people from Ireland, UK, and Germany arrived in Cork in advance of the biggest challenge of their lives. They will sail onboard the Cork Clipper boat in the Clipper 09–10 Round the World Yacht Race…
Éamon Ó Cuív TD, Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, has sanctioned a grant of €35,000 for Sherkin Island Development Society to provide a freight service for Oileán Cléire, Long Island, Sherkin Island and Hare Island. This funding will…
It's well known that Dun Laoghaire Sailing School is one of the country's busiest teaching establishment but news that August tuition reached 300 children per week must be one of the marine industries best recession busting stories of the summer.…
Howth sailor Tara Flood leads the Mitsubishi Motors Optimist National Championships after a blustery day one, with three races sailed in an 18-knot southerly. The 243-boat fleet was split, with the main fleet racing in Dublin Bay and the regatta…
A west of Ireland company, Aiseanna Mara Teoranta (trading as Sail West), has been appointed to carry out a maintenance programme on the Jeanie Johnston this autumn. The Jeanie Johnston is owned by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) and…
Dun Laoghaire sailor Francis Rowan, sailing with UK helm Tom Gillard, goes into the final day of the Fireball Europeans in second place today. A win in race five cemented their position in the top three, and just two races…
The latest analysis of 2009 shipping traffic data published by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) indicates that the rate of decline of shipping on the island of Ireland eased during the 1st half of 2009. However the overall volume…
