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Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
The NMD54 Teasing Machine competes in the Myth of Malham Race this early May Bank Holiday Weekend
This early May Bank Holiday weekend is the date for one of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s most celebrated races. An impressive RORC fleet will gather off Cowes, IOW for the Myth of Malham Race with multiple starts from the…
Dr. Fiona Grant from the Marine Institute in Ireland has been appointed as the Chair of the European Marine Board
The Marine Institute's Dr Fiona Grant, a prominent figure in the global maritime science community, has been appointed as the Chair of the European Marine Board (EMB), a leading organisation that aims to advance marine science and foster collaboration across…
Bundoran's RNLI Atlantic 85 lifeboat
Bundoran RNLI lifeboat in County Donegal came to the aid of a fisherman on Wednesday, 24 April after their 6m open-top fishing boat sustained engine failure approximately half a mile from the pier at the lifeboat station. The volunteer crew…
Harland & Wolff’s CEO, Mr. Wood, said a replacement vessel for the new operator, Scilly Ferries, had become unviable due to conflict in the Middle East. AFLOAT adds that the above fast ferry is the original proposed craft; however, an alternative, Aquabus Jet 1, has been chartered and renamed Atlantic Wolff. The craft departed Spain, and today (24 April), it is off Portugal before it completes a delivery voyage to Portsmouth in the UK.
Scilly Ferries, a division of Harland & Wolff Group, is a new ferry operator that was due to start running in May between the Isles of Scilly and Penzance, Cornwall, but has been delayed. The shipbuilder group announced on Friday that…
The new AC75 designs reveal that different solutions have been found for very similar questions
As the sailing world eagerly awaits the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup, the intensity of the competition is only increasing. With four teams revealing their newly-designed AC75s, it's clear that each team has found unique solutions to the same questions,…
Inver Colpa coastal rowing club members out on a training row on the River Boyne
The first few months of 2024 have been busy for the members of Inver Colpa Rowing Club. Although it’s been a pretty dismal start to the year from a weather point-of-view, training sessions have continued on the river throughout the…
Victoria Dews, the owner of Sigma 33 Elandra based in Belfast Lough
Victoria Dews, the owner of Sigma 33 Elandra based in Belfast Lough, possesses many of the characteristics associated with the name Elandra, such as a strong personality, energy, charisma, and focus. She is a great advocate of Women on Water,…
Howth's Eve McMahon is now in fifth overall after her three opening races at French Olympic Week at Hyères
Howth Yacht Club boats have moved into the top ten of their respective events on the second day of French Olympic Week at Hyères on the Cote D'Azur, France, one of the last big regattas before the Olympic Games itself.…
Day one of the Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona on Tuesday 23 April; the world’s largest seafood trade fair has over 2,000 exhibitors and expects some 34,000 visitors over three days
Marine Ministr Charlie McConalogue and Bord Bia chief executive Jim O’Toole are leading a contingent of Irish seafood exporters at this week’s Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, the world’s largest seafood trade fair with over 2,000 exhibitors and 34,000 visitors.…
Galway RNLI’s volunteer crew on board the Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat, launching to rescue a casualty stranded on Hare Island on Monday 22 April
Galway RNLI’s volunteer crew were requested to launch by the Irish Coast Guard on Monday afternoon (22 April) to rescue a walker on Hare Island who was cut off by the incoming tide. The request to launch came shortly before…
Recently serving Rosslare Europort ferries on rival routes to south Wales, Oscar Wilde (Pembroke) and Stena Europe (Fishguard), as seen last month, before both were deployed elsewhere. The ‘Europe’ is currently at A&P Falmouth, Cornwall, after dry-docking, while the Irish Ferries chartered cruise ferry is on the Holyhead-Dublin/Cherbourg route rotation. The French connection is also operated by W.B. Yeats, competing with Stena out of the Wexford port along with Brittany Ferries.
Less than a week ago, Afloat tracked Irish Ferries Dublin Swift at Cardiff, however the fast ferry has since sailed from Wales to England, for dry-docking in advance of resuming seasonal service to Holyhead next month, writes Jehan Ashmore. The Cypriot…
In anticipation of the upcoming EU elections, ESPO has outlined its priorities for the next five years. These priorities are crucial in shaping the future of Europe's seaports and maritime landscape. ESPO’s strategic focus for 2024-2029 involve initiatives aimed at fostering sustainable growth, innovation, and resilience in Europe.
The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has set out its priorities for the next five years in view of the forthcoming EU elections to be held in May. EPSO represents the port authorities, port associations and port administrations of the seaports of 21…
Royal Cork Yacht Club Admiral Annamarie Feganand Deputy Simon Coveney TD, pictured with Ciara Murphy (6) Laura Sullivan (8), and Fiadh Murphy (4) at the launch of the club's Volvo Cork Week Regatta 2024.  The world-renowned regatta returns to Crosshaven from 15th-19th July 2024.  A week of world-class racing is expected and a packed schedule of onshore events including a family fun day and the Volvo Cork Week Ladies Day lunch in aid of the Crosshaven RNLI
The picturesque village of Crosshaven in Cork Harbour is gearing up once again for one of the most anticipated events on the sailing calendar - Volvo Cork Week. This biennial regatta promises an amazing week of competition, camaraderie, events, and…
The epitome of a community lifeboat – Crosshaven RNLI in action on Cork Harbour
We’ve become so accustomed to the RNLI’s Yellow Wellies being used as receptacles for Lifeboat Fund-Raisers – with silent donations much preferred, and usually generously given - that we can easily forget they’re practical items of footwear. But Crosshaven Lifeboat…
The Rowing Ireland initiative, called
Rowing Ireland, the governing body for rowing in Ireland, has launched an exciting new initiative to engage schools and clubs across the country in the world of rowing ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The initiative, called…
Masterplan in well in progress with construction at Rosslare Europort, where Stena Vision, one of two ferries serving the Swedish operator’s route connecting Europe through Cherbourg, France. The Irish south-east port which has seen a dramatic surge in Brexit-bypass freight directly to the continent, has a dominant 41% market share of the ro-ro traffic. On a recent visit, Afloat observed the construction of several port infrastructure buildings taking shape at Co. Wexford port estate.
Construction work is well underway at Rosslare Europort to develop the south-east port’s masterplan and follows the massive surge in Brexit bypass freight trade traffic to and from the continent, writes Jehan Ashmore. Each week the strategically located south-east port,…
Robert and Elaine Hayes, owners of seafood business Naughton’s Yard in Kilkee with their vintage 1968 American Airstream trailer which has been converted into a food truck
A Co Clare couple have invested €850,000 to transform a derelict site in the centre of Kilkee into a seafood destination. Robert and Elaine Hayes recently opened Naughton’s Yard, a development which includes apartments, a café, an art gallery and…
Fireballs arrive at a mark at the Monkstown Bay Sailing Club hosted Munster Championships in Cork Harbour
The 2024 Fireball Munster Championships were held on April 20th/21st at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club (MBSC) in stunning weather conditions writes the club's Chris Bateman It had seemed like a long time coming, but alas, the wait was finally over,…
The indicative map of the first Marine National Park announced on the Kerry coastline
Government ministers have announced Ireland’s first marine national park involving some 70,000 acres of Kerry’s land and sea. The new park, Páírc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí, is centred around Corca Dhuibhne in Co Kerry and includes the Conor Pass, the…
The 32-metre high-performance superyacht Sorceress
The 32-metre high-performance superyacht Sorceress berthed in Dun Laoghaire on Monday, April 22nd, following a voyage to Ireland from Spain.  The Marshall Island flagged yacht was the first of a new series of cruisers launched by Southern Wind in May 2017. …

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