Sailing on Saturday with WM Nixon
In the secret world of sailing, we readily use terms like “One Ton Cup” and its offshoots in a way that assumes total awareness by the listener of its multiple meanings, thereby further excluding those who find the language of…
The preliminary instructions suggest that the race from Kinsale would be round either the faraway Inishtearaght on the edge of the Blaskets, or the less distant but equally majestic Skellig Michael. It’s an opening salvo that gives a sense of…
Tom Dolan’s marvellous sunrise victory on Thursday in Stage 1 of the 2026 Figaro Solitaire was the most effective starting signal we could hope for in order to encourage us all into thinking the 2026 season really is under way…
The spectacular life and high-achieving times of Ted Turner (1938-2026) have become deeply interwoven with the folklore of international sailing and the tales of the global media and communications industry. So much so, in fact, that after his death at…
Round Ireland Race Introduces Fresh Angle On Sail Training, And Brings The Great Alexis Loison On Board
9th May 2026 Round Ireland
What goes round, come round. Way back in 1972 we were doing a very leisurely family cruise with a Galion 22 in West Cork (small family then), and went in company with Dermod Kennedy and his ketch Richard of Baltimore…
Round Ireland Race from Wicklow 2026: Is it There for the Two-Handers to Take?
2nd May 2026 Round Ireland
As we count down through the fifty days to the Round Ireland 2026 start at Wicklow on Saturday June 20th, while counting upwards with a good chance of breaking the magic target of fifty entries as they finally come to…
The Irish sailing community may think of John Gore-Grimes of Howth, who has died at the age of 84 after a long and very fulfilled life, as primarily being one of our own. We think of him as a “sailing…
There are times you feel so much history-minded verbiage and other memorabilia is being newly churned out in Ireland, adding to the vast quantity already available, that we have urgent need of an Editor-in-Chief every bit as much as we…
When ace American yacht designer Olin Stephens raced the new-built 52ft yawl Dorade to Europe in 1931 to win the Transatlantic Race and then go on to win that year’s Fastnet Race, he was 23 years old. His co-skippering younger…
America’s Cup 2027 Is Another Instance Of Sailing Mixed With High Politics And Cut-throat Global Business
28th March 2026 America's Cup
Once you’ve learned to accept that being way OTT is at the core of the 175-year-old America’s Cup circus as we sail on into Q2 of the 21st Century - with all sorts of predicted Armageddon and end-of-days dates stretching…
The J/109 Outrajeous (Johnny & Suzy Murphy, Howth YC) is now posted in the latest entry list for June 20th’s Round Ireland Race from Wicklow. This makes her the form boat for the Irish entrants, as she was overall winner…
Two historic though very different international sailing events have concluded during the past week, and in each, Irish sailors have logged sixth place. To the casual observer, this may seem commendable enough, yet scarcely worthy of the celebration they have…
We don’t dwell too much on what happens when a really great boat becomes absent from the sailing scene. Maybe we don’t want to know, avoiding sick jokes about landfill and preferring to dwell instead on fond memories of times…
Kyran O’Grady of the RORC-supported Round Ireland Race from Wicklow Sailing Club is very much open for business today, Saturday, February 28th, as it’s the closing date for discounted entries for the 2026 staging of the 700-mile offshore classic on…
There’s a real buzz around Dun Laoghaire this weekend, with ocean voyaging pioneer Robin Knox-Johnston the star turn in a UNICEF fund-raising gala supper event yesterday evening at the Royal Marine Hotel, where the solo round the world pioneer (and…
Mid-February is usually the time to come out of the winter torpor and start a week of focusing on the upcoming RORC Caribbean 600, with 2026’s edition getting away on Monday, 23rd February. But now we have the early arrival…
