Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
#MarineWildlife - The Galway Atlantaquaria is currently caring for an extremely rare slipper lobster found in Galway Bay off the Aran Islands in recent days. According to the Marine Institute, this is the first recorded landing of the warm ocean…
#LoughDerg - Independent.ie reports that a man in his 60s has died after falling into Lough Derg yesterday morning (Thursday 9 February). Emergency services were called to respond around 9.30am after the man fell into the water while walking with…
#Rescue - LÉ James Joyce was called on to rescue a man from a yacht in difficult conditions off Cork Harbour yesterday evening (Thursday 9 February). As RTÉ News reports, the Naval Service OPV was diverted from a routine patrol…
John Derbyshire OBE, whose involvement with the RYA’s Racing programmes spans some 32 years as a coach, Olympic Manager and as latterly Director of Racing, is to retire from the organisation in late 2017. Two exciting opportunities will now exist…
The Offshore World Championship 2018, a World Sailing sanctioned event, will take place in the Hague, specifically from the port of Scheveningen, in July 2018. An innovative solution will be used for the first time to unite the two largest…
Sailing's Colm Barrington Elected as Olympic Council of Ireland's Vice President
10th February 2017 Olympic
Sailing's Colm Barrington was voted with a clear majority to the position of first Vice–President at last night's ground breaking Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) egm at the Conrad Hotel in Dublin. After three decades of rule by former president Pat…
Royal Cork Yacht Club in conjunction with ICRA and RORC will be running an IRC Measurement weekend on the 5th, 6th and 7th of May. The aim of this weekend is two fold: IRC Measurers:• To train up new people…
As anyone involved in Dublin Bay Mermaid racing knows it’s no easy feat to claim a Championship title. Many have been sailing for years, edging ever closer but not having quite gotten there yet, so, with an excellent sailing season…
A luxury 'glamping' holiday in France with a choice of watersports right on your door step sounds like an ideal mix for a family watersports holiday in the big sailing region of the Vendee. Original Camping and Alain Dominique Perrin…
UKSA are delighted to once again be offering their Test the Water programme to all Isle of Wight Year 6 students. Children from across the Isle of Wight will be invited to spend half a day at UKSA with their…
Six months to go and fifty one teams from fourteen nations are already signed up to compete against Irish world champion Conor Clarke and his Embarr crew. The Royal Irish Yacht Club crew will race at the 2017 Melges 24…
#CoastalNotes - An unusual vessel that washed up in Co Sligo at the weekend has been traced thousands of kilometres across the Atlantic – to Cuba. According to BBC News, Gordon Fallis was walking his dogs on the beach near…
Boat owners, shipping companies and anyone who puts out to sea are being informed about a change in some of the VHF channel numbers used to contact UK Coastguard. As a result of changes to Appendix 18 (Marine VHF) of…
#LoughDerg - Two years after Lough Derg Marina sold for more than three times its guide price, another marina on the third-largest lake on the island of Ireland has come on the market. As The Irish Times reports, more than…
#Rowing - Just days after completing his 5,000km solo row across the Atlantic, Gavan Hennigan has taken control of Ireland’s national Twitter account for a week. On Monday 6 February, Hennigan — who normally tweets @soulogav — was given the…
#DryDockClosure - The largest dry dock in the State and the last remaining working dry-dock (No. 2) in Dublin Port is to close marking an end of an era of our maritime heritage, writes Jehan Ashmore. The 200m dry dock…
There are photographs on marine animal welfare websites which show the awful horror and terrible suffering which balloon and lantern releases into the air have caused to marine wildlife. If you saw or see them, you would never again let…
This month sees Conor Fogerty of Howth Yacht Club, preparing for one of the most prestigious and demanding solo ocean races in the international yachting calendar. The latest instalment of the OSTAR (Original Solo Transatlantic Race), commences on 29th May…
#Rowing: The Afloat Rower of the month for January is Gavan Hennigan. The Galway man set a new Irish record for a solo row across the Atlantic ocean. He crossed from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in…
#Rowing: Sarah Keane of Swim Ireland will get the rowing vote in the election for president of the Olympic Council of Ireland. The Rowing Ireland board chose Keane on the basis that she will address the governance problems which have…
