Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
11 Million Tonnes of Trade Flowed through Ports of Cork & Bantry in 2015
28th July 2016 Port of Cork
2015 was a very good year for the Port of Cork and subsidiaries. The combined traffic amounted to 11.02 million tonnes compared to 10.15 million tonnes in 2015 which represented an increase of 871,713 million tonnes or 8.6%. Container traffic…
#MajorDevelopments - Major developments worth several hundred million euro are signalled for strategic Cork city and harbour water-fronting sites, at CIÉ-owned Horgan’s Quay, and separately at Marino Point for Port of Cork. The Irish Examiner writes that a powerful development…
Laser Sailor Finn Lynch Takes His Place in Olympic Games Largest Sailing Fleet
28th July 2016 Olympic
The Rio 2016 One Person Dinghy (Laser) fleet will welcome a bumper 46 boats, making it the largest fleet at the Olympic Games.The youngest competitor of all the Laser helmsmen will be Ireland's Finn Lynch, a 20–year–old so fast-tracked that…
Comanche, the offshore record-breaking 100–ft yacht owned by Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze-Clark, looks set to conclude their transatlantic record bid at Lizard Point (UK) on Thursday July 28. The latest ETA puts the Supermaxi at the finish point around…
As we approach the Bank Holiday Weekend, CEO of Irish Water Safety John Leech reminds swimmers, surfers and all beach users of the little sandy coloured fish that lives in the sea on our beaches. It spends most of the…
The Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup race course took on a different complexion today. A front passed through early morning leaving behind it a lumpy sea, further kicked up by a strong eastbound tide. Conditions gradually abated and the sea flattened…
Wexford Boat Club's Ronan Wallace leads the KBC Mens Laser Radial World Championships at the halfway stage at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. In the boys division Howth Yacht Club's Ewan McMahon has produced a stand out performance after five races to be…
Limerick City to Parteen Weir Navigation Will Not Open This Weekend As Anticipated
27th July 2016 Inland Waterways
Waterways Ireland has advised all users of the Shannon Navigation that remedial work to effect repairs to the infrastructure between Limerick City to Parteen Weir has been delayed and the navigation will not open this week as anticipated. As Afloat.ie reported in May, the…
Inaugural Classic One Design Regatta At Howth 'Could Lead On To Greater Things'
27th July 2016 Historic Boats
For many years now the 1898-founded Howth 17s have spun quite an event out of their annual “National Championship” writes W M Nixon. It may only be a weekend series for a vintage one-design class at its home port, but…
#NewestShip - The Appledore shipyard in the UK has completed its third Irish Naval Service patrol vessel as it prepares to start work on the next one. According to the North Devon Gazette, the offshore patrol vessel (OPV) LE William…
Valentia Island Seeks United Nations Recognition That It Changed The World
27th July 2016 Island Nation
I reported in detail the two battles which the people of Valentia fought against the Department of Transport and the Coast Guard to prevent the closure of the Coastal Radio Station on the Kerry island.Valentia is fortunate to be linked…
#LargerShip - Maersk subsidiary Seago Line has introduced a larger capacity load-on /load-off (lo-lo) containership to its recently created feeder service calling at Dublin Port, writes Jehan Ashmore. The Independent Accord (2007/20,995gt) operates the new container route between Algeciras-Liverpool-Dublin that…
#LiffeySwim - The 97th Dublin City Liffey Swim will take place on Saturday 6 August. The men's race will kick off from 1.30pm at Croppies Acre heading downstream beneath 12 of the city's bridges as far as the Loop Line…
Coastguard Rescues Lone Yachtsman From Upturned Vessel Off Wexford (Video)
27th July 2016 Coastguard
#Coastguard - The Irish Coast Guard welcomed the successful rescue last night (Tuesday 26 July) of a lone yachtsman found on his overturned yacht 20 miles off the Co Wexford coast. The yachtsman triggered his personal locator beacon (PLB) around…
#Rio2016 - World Sailing has provisionally confirmed six Russian sailors for the Olympic Games that kick off next Friday in Rio. Following a conference call yesterday (Tuesday 26 July) with its board of directors in the wake of the damning…
Youghal Lifeboat Launches Twice In One Day To Reports Of Engine Trouble, Missing Person
27th July 2016 RNLI Lifeboats
#RNLI - Youghal RNLI in East Cork was requested to launch twice this past Sunday (24 July) to separate reports of a boat with engine trouble and a missing person. The volunteer lifeboat crew were first called upon to launch…
The chances of winning an Olympic sailing medal next month, have been described by Team manager James O'Callaghan as an 'outside shot'. Can Ireland's four boat Irish Olympic Sailing Team deliver on the 36–year medal drought? Afloat.ie gives its assessment boat by boat Belfast…
Commandant Barry Byrne tells his story of how the Irish military assembled a winning crew in a matter of months for the inaugural international inter-service sailing contest On 15 January I was called to a special meeting in the Carrigaline…
CRUISERS 1 - 1. Jalapeno (P Barrington et al), 2. D-Tox (P McSwiney et al), 3. Thalia (G Kinsman) CRUISERS 3 Tuesday - 1. Jiminy Cricket (M Tyndall), 2. Maranda (M Kelly), 3. Papytoo (M Walsh/F Guilfoyle) FIREBALL - 1.…
Laser Radial Sailors Search for Wind at Royal St. George Youth & Men’s World Championship
26th July 2016 Laser
Catching up on the race programme is now the priority at the KBC Laser Radial Youth and Men’s World Championship after more races were lost to fickle winds on day two of the Dublin Bay championships today. Four races should…