Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan is delivering on his pre-race promise of consistent sailing and is now up to 13th place and less than four miles behind the leader. It's an impressive performance from the County Meath sailor to add…

With the loss of the key cruiser-racer events in 2020 Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Commodore Richard Colwell says the association is unable to award its annual Boat of the Year prize. As well as its own ICRA National Championships,…

Users of the Erne System have been advised to expect reduced water levels throughout the navigation from Thursday 1 October. This is when water levels on Lower Lough Erne are expected to be drawn down by DfI Waters to a…

Waterways Ireland advises that emergency works on the Royal Canal embankment in Westmeath will continue until the end of this month. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the inland waterway between the 34th and 35th locks, at Balroe and Ballynacarrigy respectively,…

After forty years of service, popular County Cork boatyard manager Matt Foley has retired from Crosshaven Boatyard. Matt started work in the Cork Harbour yard on the 20th of August 1980. His first role was as a storeman at a…

The Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire hosted the 2020 Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championships on 13th September with two alternative rigs permissible, the International 12 Foot Dinghy rig with a single sail and the Dublin Bay Sailing…

Dun Laoghaire Harbour skiff sailor Saskia Tidey of the Royal Irish Yacht Club was part of a four medal haul for Britain's Olympic Team GB at Kiel in Germany last weekend.  The British Sailing Team returned an impressive four medals…

USA-based Marcus Spillane is Ireland's candidate in the forthcoming election for Vice President of World Sailing. World Sailing’s Election Committee overseeing the 2020 Election of World Sailing’s Officers has announced the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Candidates standing for election this October.…

Having led the 33 strong La Solitaire du Figaro fleet since the early hours of this morning Britain’s Sam Goodchild (Leyton) has had to see his hard-earned margin evaporate in a fast failing breeze off the Baie de Morlaix this…

The new Dufour 470 is the shape of things to come from the French sailboat brand. Set for her world premiere in the New Year at boot Düsseldorf 2021, the 470 balances contemporary design with Dufour’s iconic elegance and performance.…

Rosslare Europort rolled out the red carpet as Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton recently made a private briefing with management at the port which Afloat previously reported has attracted offshore renewable wind business.  Her arrival, writes Wexford People, was without fanfare…

North Sails Ireland clients demonstrated the power of 3Di at the weekend in the Cobh to Blackrock Race taking a clean sweep across all the classes. In fact, we had performance in depth with the top two boats in each…

Freight tonnage volumes moving through the UK’s ports fell by nearly a fifth in the second quarter of 2020, as the full impact of the pandemic took its toll, according to figures from the Department of Transport. Total volumes fell,…

The Irish sailing community's response to the pandemic-induced prohibition on open events has seen some inspiring out-of-the-box thinking where there are significant local fleets. So although Howth Yacht Club has weathered two major setbacks in 2020 in being unable to…

The fragility of coastal languages, music and poetry will be celebrated by ten artists from five countries with minority languages at a Galway 2020 show opening in south Connemara next week. Musician Liam Ó Maonlaí, who participated in the last…

Islands along the Wild Atlantic Way not surprisingly are among seven in a list of islands within Irish and UK waters which draw attention as there’s something about crossing the sea that makes a holiday feel proper. As BreakingNews adds…

Government members at senior level have rejected claims from UK prime minister Boris Johnson that the EU is seeking to impose a blockade in the Irish Sea after Brexit. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said another of Mr Johnson’s claims – that…

As Afloat reported in July, the new public recreation area at Paddy's Point in Cork Harbour now has a new floating pontoon added to the existing marine leisure facilities at Ringaskiddy. As it turns out, the new facilities were about…

Seven people were rescued from two vessels that ran aground on Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland on Saturday night (12 September). Lifeboats and shore crew were quickly tasked by Belfast Coastguard to the scene at Coney Island, where the vessels…

There was no further improvement for Irish sailing star Annalise Murphy after her special run of three race wins in the women's Laser Radial class in strong winds last Friday at Kieler Woche Regatta. As Afloat reported previously, Ireland's Olympic silver medalist started…