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Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Cathy MacAleavey and Con Murphy, sailing Water Wag Number 45, Mariposa, cross the finish line flying a protest flag in the AIB DBSC Water Wag Wednesday series at Dun Laoghaire Harbour
Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Race Officer Harry Gallagher set a two-round course for the 18 dinghies competing in the first race on Wednesday evening in the AIB DBSC Water Wag series at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. In a blustery NW…
Competitors in the first West Cork interclub yacht race of the season enjoy post-race hospitality at Baltimore Sailing Club
The first West Cork interclub race of the season was staged over the holiday weekend in idyllic conditions. Starting in Schull Harbour, the ten-boat fleet rounded Western Calf Island and travelled through the Gascanane Sound before finishing off the Wallis…
Lough Ree RNLI crew on the inshore lifeboat Tara Scougall
Lough Ree RNLI volunteers were on the water to four boats in difficulty on the lake within the span of seven days. Just before 4pm on Sunday (2 June) Lough Ree RNLI was requested by the Irish Coast Guard to…
File image of Rosslare Harbour RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat
In a joint operation, Rosslare Harbour and Kilmore Quay RNLI in Co Wexford came to the aid of a lone sailor early on Tuesday morning (4 June) after an 8.5m yacht got into difficulty. The volunteer crews were requested to…
Tom Dolan sprays Champagne over his boat in Le Havre to celebrate his second-place success in the Allmer Cup in France
Ireland's solo star Tom Dolan is delighted with second place in the Le Havre Allmer Cup, but what most pleases him is his consistency in the race. Twelfth at the intermediate mark at Eddystone light, Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan…
Not all mariners can look down on Roche's Point lighthouse like this....the liner Queen Anne entering Cork Harbour at 0530hrs this (Wednesday) morning
Cunard Line's mega-ship Queen Anne came into Cork Harbour at dawn this morning and dwarfed everything, starting with Roche's Point. But then she's 1,058ft in length, and - perhaps more impressively - 116ft beam,clocking in at 113,000 tonnes. She is…
Bev Lowes, Commodore of Foynes Yacht Club, and John Conway, Class Captain, present the May Series Cup to Noel, Mary, and Darragh McCormack, winners in  IRC in the Foynes Yacht Club May Series
The overall winners in the Foynes Yacht Club May Series, which presented some challenging weather conditions on the Shannon Estuary, were Darragh McCormack and his Crew on Stouche in the IRC division and Raymond McGibney and his crew on Tommiray…
Our journey to Kinsale was well worthwhile.....SCORA Commodore Daragh Connolly (left) with Aurelia's winning owner-skipper Chris Power Smith (RStGYC) and race sponsor James Matthews of The Matthews Centre, together with ECHO winner Paul Tingle (RCYC) of Alpaca, Aurelia crewman Daniel Fitzgerald and (right) Dave Cullinane (Kinsale YC), front row are crewmen Zixi Dong and Jamie Tingle
While the first weekend of June suddenly brought summer, the last weekend of May seemed to be winter re-asserting itself on the Atlantic coasts, and merely to finish the shortened Kinsale YC Inistearaght Race(it rounded the Bull Rock off Kerry,…
Discover Derrynane Festival - along with Seashore Discovery Walks with Vincent Hyland, the programme offers Forest Bathing and Sunset Yoga with Louise Weinzweig and Photography Workshops with Patrick Kavanagh
Seashore discovery walks with marine artist and photographer Vincent Hyland are among activities planned for “Discover Derrynane”, a weekend family festival hosted by the Office of Public Works (OPW) in south Kerry. Hyland, who is based in Derrynane,is an outdoor…
Belmullet tidal pool in County Mayo is among over 69 outdoor recreation schemes earmarked for over €16 million in govt funding
A north Mayo tidal pool and a number of Atlantic coastal walks have been approved for funding by Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys. The projects are among over 69 outdoor recreation schemes earmarked for over €16 million.…
The scheme will extend from Galway harbour to Spanish Arch, properties in the Claddagh area, along with Grattan road and Fr Griffin road, will be protected by quay wall along the Claddagh Basin and Nimmo’s Pier
Proposed flood defence work in Galway will be extended to protect some 940 properties – three times the number in an original scheme. However, planning permission for the scheme may not be applied for until 2027, Minister of State for…
SSE Renewables plans to add 800MW of wind generation at Arklow Bank, which would power around 850,000 homes
A planning application for the Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 project is being submitted this week to An Bord Pleanála by SSE, the British energy major. The 800 MW offshore wind project, quoted at over €2bn and spanning the Wicklow…
File image of Portballintrae harbour and boat club
Police in Northern Ireland are treating a fire on a boat flying the Irish tricolour as a sectarian hate crime. According to the Belfast Telegraph, the incident in Portballintrae on the North Coast on Monday evening (3 June) followed the…
Island Energy Organisations will make their case at Mary Robinson Climate Conference in Mayo
West of Ireland community energy organisations say they believe Ireland can also benefit economically and socially from renewables while tackling climate change. Representatives of the organisations intend to make this case at the Mary Robinson Climate Conference which opens in…
GP14 Leinster Champions Stephen Boyle (left) and Sean Craig receive the McDowell Trophy from Christina Knowles (Howth Yacht Club Rear Commodore)
The Leinster Championship for the GP14 fleet held at Howth Yacht Club on the June Bank Holiday weekend attracted a strong turnout, demonstrating the growing depth of talent in the mainstay Irish dinghy class.  A fleet of 34 boats gathered for the third…
Carrybridge RNLI’s inshore lifeboat approaches an 8m vessel with four people on board which had lost steering south of Crom Castle
Carrybridge RNLI’s inshore lifeboat launched on Sunday evening (2 June) at the request of Belfast Coastguard to assess an eight-metre vessel with four people on board which had lost steering south of Crom Castle. Winds were north-westerly Force 2 and…
Full sail at Cork Week 2022
The start of Volvo Cork Week 2024 is now less than six weeks away, with five days of racing in Cork Harbour and beyond set for 15-19 July. Organisers at the Royal Cork Yacht Club say entry numbers have been steadily…
File image of an Atlantic salmon in Irish waters
Spawning Atlantic salmon in Ireland’s rivers have suffered a “catastrophic decline in one generation”, according to Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI). Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Monday (3 June), IFI deputy chief executive Dr Cathal Gallagher said numbers of wild…
D Day veterans were on board a Brittany Ferries sailing from Portsmouth (above) to Ouistreham (Caen) in Normandy, when travelling yesterday on Mont St. Michel. The cruise-ferry was ‘dressed overall’ in advance of marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied forces (on 6 June, 1944) that landed on the beaches of the northern region.
Ferry firm Brittany Ferries carried across the English Channel, the largest group of D Day veterans from Portsmouth to Ouistreham (Caen) in Normandy yesterday aboard their cruise-ferry Mont St. Michel. Accompanying the 31 veterans were their carers, hosted by the…
Harland & Wolff’s new subsidiary, Scilly Ferries with the high-speed-craft Atlantic Wolff in a dry dock in Portsmouth, where it has been delayed due to torrential rain hampering paint work. However, the 42m craft is due to go back into the water tomorrow (5 June), but will remain in the UK south coast port. The new service was initially to start in May but is now likely to take place around mid-June.
A new operator, Harland & Wolff (Scilly Ferries) Ltd., was to introduce a ferry service from Cornwall, England, to the Isles of Scilly, but it has been delayed again because rain has hampered a paint job of their dry-docked fast-craft.…

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