#DublinBay - Peggy Bawn Press publisher - and Afloat.ie Sailor of the Month for March 2012 - Hal Sisk will give a lecture tonight Thursday 3 April titled 'Dublin Bay, the Cradle of Yacht Racing' at the Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club in Ringsend.

The amateur sport of sailing, as we know it, first emerged, not in Holland, not in Cowes, and not even in Cork, but right here in Dublin Bay!

Earlier "yachting" episodes used entirely professional crews, and the yacht owners and friends were little more than passengers. But from the 1850s in Dublin Bay the sport developed with active leisure sailors actually learning to sail and race their yachts themselves, as we all do today. And for two decades, 1855 to 1875, Dubliners led the world in shaping the sport, including setting the original rules, and also introducing such innovations as offshore and singlehanded racing.

With many illustrations from the the paintings and photographs of the period, yachting historian Hal Sisk will show how much of a challenge it was to be the pioneers, and in what kind of yachts they sailed. Hal's restorations of the classic yachts Vagrant and Peggy Bawn are exemplary in authenticity, and he has entertained audiences in five continents with his enthusiastic presentations.

The lecture starts at 8pm tonight and entry is €5 in aid of the RNLI.

#Books - Not content with being Afloat's Sailor of the Month for March this year, boat enthusiast Hal Sisk has put much of his efforts in 2012 into his new publishing venture Peggy Bawn Press, which now has a brand new online presence.

Sisk is commendable for his work both in researching Ireland's seafaring history - making it accessible to less academic mariners - and in restoring ancient boats that provide an insight into the past.

His work on the 1880s clipper Peggy Bawn in particular is a fascinating window into a time of rapid change in design, something he's also made the focus of Peggy Bawn Press with a biography of Scottish boat designer George Lennox Watson by Martin Black - which received a rave review from our own WM Nixon this part March.

And just days ago Tom McSweeney had some kind words to say about Sisk's own new and beautifully illustrated publication Dublin Bay: The Cradle of Yacht Racing, a title he says is sure to provoke debate about Dublin Bay's legacy in the sport.

Both books are available for purchase via the Peggy Bawn Press website, while the latest news on publications can be found on the official Peggy Bawn Press blog.