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Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Arklow RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat tows the 16m yacht into the safety of Arklow Harbour on Tuesday morning 2 April
Arklow RNLI in Co Wicklow were requested to launch early on Tuesday morning (2 April) following reports of a large yacht with four crew onboard in difficulty near the Arklow Bank. Shortly after 6.30am, Arklow volunteers launched the station’s all-weather lifeboat…
Royal Cork duo Seafra Guilfyole and Johnny Durcan have moved up one place to 24th overall at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Trophy in Mallorca
Another sea breeze day kept the giant 53 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca by Iberostar rolling through a demanding schedule of races. Across the classes are some marked, understandable differences between the mindsets of those who are in the throes of…
Met Eireann has issued a small craft warning for all coasts of Ireland valid from Thursday afternoon
Ahead of a forecasted breezy weekend, Met Eireann has issued a small craft warning for all coasts of Ireland valid from Thursday afternoon.  Easterly winds, veering southwesterly in southern sea areas, will reach force six or higher, the State forecaster…
Marine advisors have been appointed to support the procurement of a multi-role vessel (MRV) to replace the Naval Service’s decommissioned flagship, LÉ Eithne which departed the navy’s base in Cork Harbour last month and awaits to be recycled from an EU approved facility. AFLOAT also adds above at the city’s north quays, the bow of Arklow Fame, previously reported in 2016 as the last vessel to be dry-docked (asides static museum ship Jeanie Johnston) then the state’s largest such facility in Dublin Port, before ‘finally’ forced to close in 2017, in order to facilitate major infrastructure works, since completed. Currently, the only ‘ship’ dry-dock in the Republic is the Rushbrooke based Cork Dockyard (Doyle Shipping Group) which is used by the Navy.
Advisers from the marine sector have been appointed to help procure a multi-role vessel (MRV) to replace the former flagship of the Naval Service, the LÉ Eithne which was decommissioned in 2022. According to the Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, who is…
The mighty John Alden schooner Puritan is just one chapter in Bob Fannin Jnr’s very varied history of sailing experience
Bob Fannin Jnr feels most at home on the high seas. For as the Bristol-based writer, broadcaster and university lecturer told the members of the Cruising Group at his former club of Howth on Tuesday night, when sailing the sea,…
Pictured at Cork City quays is Captain Damien O’Sullivan, marine engineer Brendan Courtney and Dave Ronayne with the background of the two 17m suction sail-towers stern-mounted on the cargo ship Eems Traveller. Read below to find out more, as AFLOAT’s research further led to the Airbus component carrying vessel, Ville de Bordeaux which this week, Monday, 1 April, completed its first Europe-USA round voyage (based on the automated sail-assisted technology) to save on fuel and importantly reduce (C02) emissions.
Dock operatives of Ronayne Shipping, part of Irish Mainport Holdings, were discharging fertilizer in the Port of Cork recently from a short-sea cargo ship that had distinctive towers mounted at the stern, writes Jehan Ashmore. The 2,850-dwt vessel, Eems Traveller,…
Ballycastle, on the island’s famous Causeway Coast, will host the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series on Friday, July 19th and Saturday, July 20th
Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, is all set to host a leg of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2024. This July, the global event will witness the world’s best cliff divers competing against each other on the beautiful Causeway Coast.…
Cian McCarthy addresses the Kinsale Yacht Club gathering saluting his achievements with Sam Hunt in the 2023 Sydney-Hobart Race
Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt were honoured at home on the Easter weekend by Kinsale Yacht Club, the West Cork club joining a long list of organisations that saluted the duo's Christmas 2003 achievements competing in Australia's Sydney Hobart Race.…
European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) is excited to join forces with 44 European transport organizations in advocating for robust funding for Europe's transport sector. ESPO’s new investment study reveals that Europe’s ports alone require over 80 billion EUR in investment over the next decade. These ports are crucial not only for maritime supply chains but also for energy security, green transition, cohesion, agriculture, industry, and military capabilities.
European transport organisations (totalling 44), representing the key spectrum of Europe’s transport network, operators and stakeholders, are again joining forces in a campaign to call the Council and the European Parliament for a robust transport funding instrument in the upcoming…
Ireland's Finn Lynch moved up nine places in the ILCA 7 class to 11th as the thermal sea-breeze conditions for which Mallorca’s Bay of Palma is world renowned returned to allow a full programme of competition to be completed on Tuesday, getting the giant 53 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Iberostar Olympic classes regatta back on course after Monday’s schedule was curtailed by strong winds and big waves
Great Britain’s Olympic hopeful Micky Beckett took advantage of a dramatic change of conditions at the 53 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca on the second day of the World Cup Series event. Ireland's Finn Lynch also made good on a lighter…
Cork sailing stalwart Donal McClement (left) with Simon Coveney TD at a lunch to celebrate the former’s life and times in the Rochestown Park Hotel on 6 April 2023
Former Marine Minister Simon Coveney announced his surprise step down from Cabinet on Tuesday (2 April). The Fine Gael TD for Cork South Central said his tenure in Cabinet “has been an amazing experience for 13 years” but that “the…
Sea surface temperatures over the North Atlantic have also been at record high levels now for over a year
Met Éireann has indicated that last month was among the “top ten” wettest months of March on record. Sea surface temperatures over the North Atlantic have also been at record high levels now for over a year. As RTÉ News…
A message in the sand calling for 30% of Ireland's seas to be protected by 2030 to give our species, habitats and coastal communities the opportunity to thrive
The Irish government has come under fire from environmental groups for failing to introduce the Marine Protected Areas Bill, which would commit to effectively protecting 30% of Ireland's seas by 2030, as promised since July 2023. The Fair Seas coalition,…
European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) congratulates the UK’s Port of Dover with the Port Environmental Review System (PERS) award. Pictured is the Port of Dover’s CEO Doug Bannister along with Lanisha Joseph, Environment Advisor Port of Dover, Anaëlle Boudry and Isabelle Ryckbost from ESPO.
The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has congratulated the Port of Dover (UK) for being certified through the EcoPorts’ environmental management standard (PERS). The ferry port of Dover is a long-standing EcoPorts member, being in the Network since 2003 and…
New chair: Lance Batchelor will chair the Board of Trinity House that manages the maritime organisation’s role as a General Lighthouse Authority (GLA)
Trinity House, the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, and the Channel Islands, has appointed Lance Batchelor as the Chair of its Lighthouse Board, succeeding Sir Alan Massey. Since becoming an Elder Brother in 2022, Lance has been sitting as…
Isle of Man Steam Packet results from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, show the ferry company transported the largest number of passengers and vehicles since 2007, the 100th anniversary of the TT.
The ferry operator, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, has confirmed that final 2023 passenger statistics show the highest number of passengers and vehicles carried since 2007, TT’s 100th anniversary. In 2023, the Company transported 623,037 passengers and 196,430…
Met Éireann meteorologist Joanna Donnelly with her latest book at Malahide marina
Met Éireann meteorologist Joanna Donnelly recently earned the title of “Optimist of the Year” from an Irish Times letter writer for her take on yet another wet spell. As correspondent Kate Power recalled, Donnelly had been describing a rainfront that…
Spinnaker division boats compete in good breeze and sunshine in the first race of the Axiom Spring Series for cruisers at Kinsale
The Axiom Private Clients Spring Series 2024 at Kinsale Yacht Club got underway on Easter Monday with a fine turnout of over 30 cruisers and 1720 sportsboats in both the Spinnaker and Whitesail divisions. The racing lived up to its…
‘Full on’ ‘…crazy’ ‘…nuclear’ ‘…big winds opened the 53rd Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Iberostar
With gusts to over 30 knots at times and a big, untidy swell which has been built up by nearly two weeks of strong winds in the Balearica Islands, of the ten Olympic scheduled events only the Formula Kite Men…
TicTac, skippered by Peter Frazier (left) and Antrim Boat Club Antrim Winter Series overall winner, FA2 (Charlie McAllister and Jeff Harrison)
There is not much in the way of shelter when the wind is in the north on Lough Neagh, so the fleet from the Club in the north west corner was greeted for the first race of the second half…

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