Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

While many reckoned that the "Fingal Flyers" duo of Rob Dickson and Sean Waddilove had taken Ireland's 49er place for the July-August 2024 Sailing Olympiad in Marseilles before Christmas 2023 had passed, it was still theoretically possible until very recently…

A new report from Fair Seas and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has raised fresh concerns about the lack of monitoring of Ireland’s inshore waters by the state, just days before World Ocean Day this Saturday, June 8th.…

In tribute to the late Commander Bill King, a group of 120 former submariners visited his home at Oranmore Castle, Co Galway, last week, where they planted a “tree of peace”. The visit was hosted by Commander King’s daughter, Leonie,…

Five boats participated in the annual Kinsale Yacht Club pilgrimage to Glandore, West Cork, during the June bank holiday weekend. Sailors were welcomed by abundant sunshine and calm seas. The fleet of five starters included Chancer owned by Michael Carroll, Genesis…

Foynes Yacht Club on the Shannon estuary was a hive of activity recently as it played host to the Munster Mermaid Championships and Commodores Day. The highly-anticipated annual O'Brien Cup race around Foynes Island had to be called off due…

Donaghadee Sailing Club on the Ards Peninsula in Northern Ireland recently hosted the third Topper Ireland/ITCA Traveller event of 2024, welcoming young sailors from various clubs for a weekend of friendly competition and skill-building. The event kicked off with a…

After two postponements due to weather, the Water Wag dinghy Women at the Helm Regatta race took place at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Wednesday evening, June 5th, in strong, testing conditions. As Afloat reported earlier, 1988 Olympian Cathy MacAleavey's Mariposa,…

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Race Officer Harry Gallagher set a two-round course for the 18 dinghies competing in the first race on Wednesday evening in the AIB DBSC Water Wag series at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. In a blustery NW…

The first West Cork interclub race of the season was staged over the holiday weekend in idyllic conditions. Starting in Schull Harbour, the ten-boat fleet rounded Western Calf Island and travelled through the Gascanane Sound before finishing off the Wallis…

Lough Ree RNLI volunteers were on the water to four boats in difficulty on the lake within the span of seven days. Just before 4pm on Sunday (2 June) Lough Ree RNLI was requested by the Irish Coast Guard to…

In a joint operation, Rosslare Harbour and Kilmore Quay RNLI in Co Wexford came to the aid of a lone sailor early on Tuesday morning (4 June) after an 8.5m yacht got into difficulty. The volunteer crews were requested to…

Ireland's solo star Tom Dolan is delighted with second place in the Le Havre Allmer Cup, but what most pleases him is his consistency in the race. Twelfth at the intermediate mark at Eddystone light, Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan…

Cunard Line's mega-ship Queen Anne came into Cork Harbour at dawn this morning and dwarfed everything, starting with Roche's Point. But then she's 1,058ft in length, and - perhaps more impressively - 116ft beam,clocking in at 113,000 tonnes. She is…

The overall winners in the Foynes Yacht Club May Series, which presented some challenging weather conditions on the Shannon Estuary, were Darragh McCormack and his Crew on Stouche in the IRC division and Raymond McGibney and his crew on Tommiray…

While the first weekend of June suddenly brought summer, the last weekend of May seemed to be winter re-asserting itself on the Atlantic coasts, and merely to finish the shortened Kinsale YC Inistearaght Race(it rounded the Bull Rock off Kerry,…

Seashore discovery walks with marine artist and photographer Vincent Hyland are among activities planned for “Discover Derrynane”, a weekend family festival hosted by the Office of Public Works (OPW) in south Kerry. Hyland, who is based in Derrynane,is an outdoor…

A north Mayo tidal pool and a number of Atlantic coastal walks have been approved for funding by Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys. The projects are among over 69 outdoor recreation schemes earmarked for over €16 million.…

Proposed flood defence work in Galway will be extended to protect some 940 properties – three times the number in an original scheme. However, planning permission for the scheme may not be applied for until 2027, Minister of State for…

A planning application for the Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 project is being submitted this week to An Bord Pleanála by SSE, the British energy major. The 800 MW offshore wind project, quoted at over €2bn and spanning the Wicklow…

Police in Northern Ireland are treating a fire on a boat flying the Irish tricolour as a sectarian hate crime. According to the Belfast Telegraph, the incident in Portballintrae on the North Coast on Monday evening (3 June) followed the…