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Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Coastguard helicopter 116 lands at the Carlisle Pier, Dun Laoghaire in 2017
The AAIU Investigation into the accident involving the loss of R116 and its four crew members at Blackrock, Co. Mayo on 14 March 2017 is still in the process of gathering factual and background information and is making steady progress.…
 Scroll down for 'The Mercy' - Official Trailer (2017) starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz
The trailer for the much awaited film, The Mercy, which stars Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz as Donald and Clare Crowhurst, have been unveiled. The movie opens nationwide on 9 February. The film recounts the story of Crowhurst disastrous attempt to…
The 65.5m research vessel RV Celtic Explorer when in drydock at A&P yard in Falmouth,Cornwall. The refit in the UK dockyard started in mid-December 2017 and works were completed this month.
#MarineScience - Research vessel RV Celtic Explorer of the Marine Institute, is off to a renewed start in 2018, after undergoing a major refit. The Romanian-Dutch built ship is ready to accommodate 18 scientific surveys throughout the year. The five-year…
The legendary Dave FitzGerald (foreground) celebrates his 90th birthday with old Galway friends and shipmates (left to right) Tom Foote, Peter Fernie and Pierce Purcell
His many friends in international sailing and the global mining industry will be delighted to hear that the legendary Dave FitzGerald celebrated his 90th birthday at a very convivial gathering of family and close friends in the Royal St George…
From March 1, as part of new animal protection reforms, it will be illegal for restaurants to throw live lobsters into the pot in Switzerland
Switzerland has banned the practice of boiling lobsters alive. From March 1, as part of new animal protection reforms, it will be illegal for restaurants to throw live lobsters into the pot. Only an electric shock or the ‘mechanical destruction’…
Dr Colm Lordan joined the Marine Institute in 1998
#MarineScience - Dr Colm Lordan of Fisheries Ecosystems Advisory Services at the Marine Institute has been appointed as one of the Vice Chairs of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Advisory Committee. The ICES Advisory Committee…
Who will be Sailor of the Year for 2017? All will be revealed on February 9
Nearly one week to go before the Volvo Irish Sailing Awards, and the judges have been weighing up the nominations for the very last time. You still have time to register for tickets for the Awards, taking place in the RDS…
The Clipper Race fleet departing the Whitsundays earlier today
#ClipperRace - The Clipper Race fleet had a Le Mans start for Race 7: The Forever Tropical Paradise Race to Sanya, China, which officially got underway early this morning Tuesday 30 January at 4am Irish time/UTC (2pm local time). After…
Public Consultations Conservation Proposals For Razor Clams In North Irish Sea & Brown Crab
#Fishing - Marine Minister Michael Creed has announced that following proposals made by the National Inshore Fisheries Forum, two public consultations will be held on conservation measures for razor clams in the North Irish Sea and brown crab in Irish…
#FerryNews - Irish Continental Group (ICG) announced today they are to sell their high-speed craft 'Jonathan Swift' which has served the Dublin-Holyhead for almost two decades to a Spanish operator. ICG the Dublin based group (parent company of Irish Ferries)…
Boatyard re-positioning, West Cork style. Ilen is moved to her fitting-out berth by the local islands freight ferry. The next lot of bad winter weather is indicated by the high white cloud to the southwest, but by the time it arrived, Ilen was already safely ashore in her new berth
The historic 1926-built 56ft Conor O’Brien trading ketch Ilen is now comfortably under shelter again after her midwinter adventures (on the Ilen River, naturally) at Oldcourt near Baltimore writes W M Nixon. With her hull, deck and deckhouses restored in…
Eric de Turckheim's A13 Teasing Machine leads George David's American Maxi Rambler 88 off the Round Ireland Race startline in Wicklow in 2016. David was the overall winner with de Turckheim in second place. Rambler and a new 54ft Teasing Machine are in action again this summer in the 3500 nautical mile race from Bermuda to Hamburg, starting on 8th July 2018
The Atlantic Anniversary Regatta is the first ever regatta series with two Atlantic Ocean races in both directions. Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV), based in Hamburg, Germany. The first part of this extraordinary series was…
The Waterford A35 yacht Fools Gold, winner of the 2017 Sovereign's Cup and Welsh IRC Championships
People seem to think that tuning a fractional rig is very difficult. In reality, it is not that hard as Mark Mansfield, Professional sailor and racing consultant/agent for UK sails Ireland, describes below in the first part of a series of 'How To'…
RMS St. Helena at anchor off Jamestown, St. Helena having completed a final Cape Town, South Africa voyage to the remote UK overseas territory today. The deep-sea voyage took five days and the return leg next Saturday to the South Africa port will mark the final ever passenger and cargo-ship sailing.
#Ports&Shipping - RMS St.Helena, the last ship from a mighty fleet that once bound Britain’s scattered empire together will arrive today (Monday, 29 January) after its final voyage to St Helena. As the UK newspaper, The Times reports the isolated British…
#Ferry - Ben-My-Chree, the ropax Isle of Man Steam Packet Company ferry completed 2017 with a reliability record of more than 99%. Operating services throughout the year, Ben-My-Chree chiefly serves Douglas-Heysham crossings and weekend sailings to Birkenhead during the winter…
ICRA Class Zero yachts racing at last year's National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club
After 16 years of progressive existence it needs to negotiate choppy waters. The present Commodore, Simon McGibney, says that the Association is at the stage where it needs an “in-depth” look at its future. Former Commodore Norbert Reilly, who has…
Peter Tangvald aboard Windflower at Terminal Island in Los Angeles Harbour, 30 December 1958
#ClassicBoats - WoodenBoat magazine has put out an appeal for any leads as to the whereabouts of Windflower, a two-masted sailboat sold in Los Angeles nearly 60 years ago and whose trace has since been lost. The EP Hart-designed, 45-foot…
Plans for the Owenriff involve removing pike to help recovery of an important spawning tributary of Lough Corrib
#Angling - Sean Kyne, Minister of State with responsibility for the inland fisheries sector, has announced that Inland Fisheries Ireland will shortly commence fish stock management operations on the Owenriff catchment near Oughterard in Co Galway. The measures to protect…
Dave McGowan (right) with Antonio Maurogiovanni.
#Rowing: David McGowan from Australia will be the new Ireland heavyweight coach. As an athlete he competed in the Australia four which finished fourth in the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. As a coach he had a successful run…
If the Bill passes, Ireland will become only the third country in the world to implement a ban on the exploration of fossil fuels, after France and Costa Rica.
#MarineEnvironment - A ban on any new explorations for oil, coal, and gas on Irish territory is through a Bill about to appear before the Dail early next month. The Climate Emergency Measures Bill writes GreenNews.ie, seeks to stop the…

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