Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#MarineWildlife - A seabird usually found in the eastern Mediterranean has not only taken up residence in Belfast – she's successfully hatched her first chick. The Belfast Telegraph reports on the Mediterranean gull that's been attracting bird watchers from all…

#AranIslands - The Aran Islands air service is still without a mainland airport as the deadline for talks on the €3.6 million contract fast approaches, according to The Irish Times. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Department of the Gaeltacht…

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 9 JULY 2016 FLYING FIFTEEN Race 1- 1. Frenetic (H & M Cahill), 2. Hi Fibre (Michael McCambridge), 3. Betty (D & S Gorman) FLYING FIFTEEN Race 2- 1. Frequent Flyer (C Doorley/A Green),…

#NiceNewService - Former Fastnet Line’s Cork-Swansea ferry which was due to enter Mediterranean service later this month, has since our previous report begun sailings on a new France-Corsica service, writes Jehan Ashmore. The 1,850 passenger/325 car/30 truck Julia which had…

#Navy - The future of maritime defence is here – in the form of a torpedo-wielding drone boat called Seagull. The video below from Vocativ shows a prototype of the 40ft vessel in action, displaying its stealthy manoeuvrability on the…

#ShippingReview - Jehan Ashmore reviews the shipping scene and of the following stories among the last fortnight. Enterprise Ireland are to seek its clients to be less reliant on UK markets following Brexit, this is to reduce exports by about…

#MarineScience - Marine Institute chief executive Dr Peter Heffernan was among the heads of European marine science institutes meeting with Karmenu Vella, EU Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, at the European Marine Board offices in Ostend, Belgium yesterday…

#RNLI - A visiting yacht which ran aground on the way into Wexford Harbour was rescued by Wexford RNLI on Thursday afternoon (7 July) in what was the third callout for the volunteer crew this week. The previous evening, the…

The Dragon Edinburgh Cup 2016 came to a spectacular conclusion off Abersoch as the 35 strong fleet enjoyed one finalrace in glorious sunshine, big waves and a brisk west-south-westerly of 18-22 knots. Going into the day the only way that…

Awareness of Cork Harbour’s long and colourful history of sailing has become so widespread and generally acknowledged that there’s a risk that the Irish and global sailing community will take it all for granted. Equally, the wonderful natural harbour of…

The next event on the circuit for the RS fleet is the Waterways Ireland Inland championships, being hosted by Lough Ree Yacht Club, on 23rd and 24th of July, All three fleets will be taking part in what was one…

Seventeen Flying Fifteens were out in Dublin Bay last night in great conditions with a turning tide and a s-sw wind. PRO Jack Roy was back from his holidays and was greeted by an over eager fleet which resulted in…

Clare County Council, supported by An Garda Síochána, The Irish Coastguard and Irish Water Safety, has announced the installation of marker buoys delineating the speed limit for powered craft in the vicinity of Kilkee pier. The buoys, which have been…

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes – this week we talk to sailing instructor and yachtsman Niall McAllister in Adrigole in West Cork; we have music from Eleanor Shanley and “Sail Away To The…

#ConcernsIncinerator - Concerns have been raised over development of Dublin’s Poolbeg incinerator by US waste firm Covanta, writes The Irish Times, following the failure of emissions tests by a Canadian plant built by the company. Covanta last May had to…

The inaugural International Inter Services Sailing Competition ‘The Beaufort Cup’, hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club and supported by the Irish Defence Forces starts on Monday, 11th of July, off Haulbowline Island, the home of the Irish Naval Service.…

The International 505 Class Association has selected the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) to host the 2016 SAP 505 World Championships and Classic Championships running from the 27th July – 5th August. Attracting some of the best dinghy…

Larne RNLI came to the aid of four people yesterday evening after their 16m yacht got into difficulty off the County Antrim coast. At approximately 6.30pm yesterday (Thursday 7 July), the volunteer crew was requested by Belfast Coastguard to launch…

#Angling - Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is seeking submissions from interested parties in relation to proposals to introduce two bye-laws on the Clare River system, and a bye-law defining the upstream and downstream boundaries of the Cong Canal/River – both…

#PortTrafficStats - Irish ports handled 50.7 million tonnes of goods in 2015 according to the Central Statistics Office, an increase of 3.2 million tonnes (+6.7%) when compared to 2014. Goods forwarded fell by 7.5% to 17.0 million tonnes in 2015,…