Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Hello and welcome to my weekly Podcast …. Tom MacSweeney here …. The Royal Cork Yacht Club at Crosshaven is launching a new initiative to bridge the gap between dinghy and keelboat racing following the success of its Under 25 Academy…

Hobart in Tasmania is a characterful port with a certain style to it, picturesquely located in handsome scenery on the estuary of the River Derwent writes W M Nixon. It’s home to a goodly fleet of sailcraft and motorboats of…

Hello and welcome to my weekly Podcast …. Tom MacSweeney here …. The Christmas and New Year festive period is a time for memories – or so it is traditionally said – and there are a few which were brought…

What would Christmas be like without sailing? Such a state of deprivation just doesn’t bear thinking about writes W M Nixon. But thanks to the wonders of modern communication - which at other times can be too much of a…

Hello and welcome to my weekly Podcast …. Tom MacSweeney here …. The reality of Ireland as an island nation is becoming more publicly apparent with each passing day as the possibility of a ‘no deal’ Brexit looms closer. Our…

The sailing community’s notable diversity is dependent on how you’re trying to analyse it writes W M Nixon. For many, it’s the community aspect, the shared love of boats and sailing and interacting with sea or lake, which is the…

Hello and welcome to my weekly Podcast …. Tom MacSweeney here …. The last race of the Winter League ended the sailing season in Cork Harbour ….. Around the country, December racing, for those still with the ability and determination…

Maybe it’s the fact that the days start to get longer again in only a fortnight, but there’s mood of rising optimism in Irish sailing these days writes W M Nixon. There’s an almost measurable buzz in the air which…

Hello and welcome to my weekly Podcast …. Tom MacSweeney here …. “I intend to promote sailing in general and also to promote coastal offshore racing.” That was the declaration of Johanna Murphy from the Great Island Sailing Club in…

On most coastlines in the world, you’ll invariably hear of some challenging nearby headland being referred to as “the local Cape Horn” writes W M Nixon No other promontory worldwide has the same global image. It tells us much about…

Hello and welcome to my weekly Podcast …. Tom MacSweeney here …. There is a great lot to be said about the pride of a family in a boat and there is nothing wrong with being old when age is…

Down Limerick way, somebody is probably already putting together an appropriate song about how the historic sail trading ketch Ilen was saved from the scrapyard through a heroic decade-long restoration programme by Limerick’s Ilen Project, only to spend her first…

Hello and welcome to my weekly Podcast …. Tom MacSweeney here ….Getting more younger sailors into cruiser classes is vital to ensure the future of racing these yachts. From meeting with and talking to club officers around the country, it…

A woman. A man. Three days and two nights together at sea. Racing in a cramped 30ft boat. Under 24-hour surveillance. It sounds like the latest pitch for a Reality TV show. Arguably, it is. But it’s also the new…

Hello and welcome to my weekly Podcast …. Tom MacSweeney here …. As Winter approaches and onshore activity at clubs begins to focus on annual meetings, conversation topics, I find, seem to focus on perennial issues about the state of…

Donal Lynch’s remarkable life was a series of successful and interconnecting phases writes W M Nixon. His engaging presence is now gone from among us at the age of 81, and he is very much missed. Yet so much of…