Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

The weather gods certainty decided to be kind to Schull today for the second day of Calves Week, by providing a sun-filled summers day with a steady 15 knots of a warm westerly wind, and a long inter-island interesting course…

There were jubilant scenes at Royal Cork Yacht Club on Sunday evening when Paul Smith, President of the Mermaid Sailing Association presented the Foynes Yacht Club triplets Darragh, Noel and Mark McCormack with the National Championship trophy writes Bob Bateman. The…

Mermaid National Champion Darragh McCormack of Foynes Yacht Club has successfully defended his national title at Royal Cork Yacht Club moving from third place and into the overall lead in today's final races of the ten race championships.  McCormack eeked…

After eight races sailed Patrick Dillon in Sail Number 131 leads the Dublin Bay Mermaid National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club this weekend. Dillon leads Derek Joyce (Sail number 187) by three points going into the final day of…

There were perfect sailing conditions for the first-ever Mermaid National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club this afternoon. After an upsetting start to the championships this morning, three races were completed in flat water and great Cork Harbour breezes. Overall, defending champion…

The West Cork Sailing Festival kicks off this Saturday when SCORA will start an offshore race off Kinsale to Baltimore starting at 8 am. This replaces the traditional overnight race from Crosshaven, which had suffered from declining numbers in the…

It looked like we were seeing double when we spotted two Star keelboats in Cork Harbour yesterday writes Bob Bateman Both boats bore the same sail number 8527 of the O'Leary's 'Dafne', the high-end Irish Star that has featured so…

The Cork Harbour Sea Sunday Ecumenical Service held on Sunday commemorated those who have died at sea and offered prayers for the safety of those who work at sea and enjoy leisure pursuits on the water and this year a 'blessing…

With over 65 confirmed entries at present, representing fourteen clubs, ranging from Galway to Dublin, the 2019 Calves Week organised by Schull Harbour Sailing Club, is again shaping up to provide competitive and exciting racing for the annual West Cork…

The latest cruise ship from Saga Cruises, the highly anticipated 'Spirit of Discovery' has docked in Cobh on her make her maiden call to a wet Cork Harbour today. As Afloat's Jehan Ashmore wrote yesterday, this brand new, luxury boutique British liner carries 999 passengers on…

A new Cork Harbour ferry has been launched to Spike Island to coincide with the opening of a major new exhibition there, and it's hoped these initiatives will lead to a rise in tourist visitor numbers writes Bob Bateman. The ferry, named…

It's no exaggeration that the visit of Flying Manta simply dwarfs all other pleasure craft in Cork Harbour writes Bob Bateman. The 42-metre superyacht is much more ship than yacht and cuts an impressive sight moored outside Crosshaven in the Summer sunshine.…

Summertime and the living is easy in Cork Harbour. Despite the postponement of Sunday's Cove at Home Regatta due to the lack of access to landing pontoon at The Quays in Cobh, a combined fleet of nine sailing cruisers coming from…

Cork Harbour had an impressive RIB visitor when a Zodiac Hurricane ZH-1300 MACH II OB Interceptor called to the south coast earlier this month writes Bob Bateman The new model is the newest and largest platform of the Zodiac Hurricane range and…

In the first race of the Ronan Enright Solicitors July League at Royal Cork Yacht Club last night, Ronan and John Downing's Half Tonner Miss Whiplash was the winner of the 19-boat IRC Spinnaker division writes Bob Bateman. It was a light wind…

If Kinsale Port wasn't treated to enough on Saturday with the climax of the 95-boat Sovereign's Cup Regatta at Kinsale Yacht Club, the West Cork Town also had a visit from the Celtic Steam Engine Association writes Bob Bateman. It…

There was a packed clubhouse at Kinsale Yacht Club for the presentation of O’Leary Life Sovereign’s Cup prizes. Photos by Bob Bateman. As Afloat reported previously, with a superb string of six race wins in the four-day event, Frank Whelan's Eleuthera from…

The Sovereign's Cup Portcullis Trophy was awarded to John Gordon’s X-yacht 'X-Rated' from Mayo Sailing Club for the best overall performance under the ECHO handicap system. The X-332 entry won two races in the ECHO division of the Cup's biggest…

In the Sovereign's Cup non-spinnaker fleets, Waterford Harbour Sailing Club’s Shane Statham on Slack Alice won the overall White Sails trophy for his straight wins under IRC plus his counterpart victory on ECHO handicap, a feat only managed by Eleuthera…

In an intense battle of the Half Tonners, Michael Wright's Mata briefly overtook Class Two overall leader Nigel Biggs's Checkmate XVIII in the closing races of the O'Leary Life Sovereign's Cup in Kinsale today. As Afloat predicated here, Half Tonners dominated the 19-boat IRC Two…