Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

There was a heart-breaking end to canoeist Liam Jegou’s quest for a Tokyo medal, finishing 15th in the Semi-final and not progressing to the Olympic Final. A fantastic start to his racing was cut short with the tiny margins in…

Two Government ministers have called on people to give their views on the expansion of Ireland’s marine protected areas (MPAs) before the deadline at the end of this week. Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien and Minister…

Royal Cork Yacht Club congratulated the rescheduled Astra Construction Topper 'Winter' Championships winner at Crosshaven yesterday evening after two full days of competition on the Curlane Bank in Cork Harbour. As Afloat reported earlier, after four races sailed on Saturday, the host…

Bruce Kirby, designer of the Laser single-handed dinghy passed away earlier this week and the Dublin Bay Laser fleet certainly gave him a fitting send-off. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the official unveiling of the Laser dinghy in…

Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella are the new Fireball National Championships after eight races in Dublin Bay over the weekend. Second-placed at the event, hosted by the DMYC, were Noel Butler and Stephen Oram while the Thompson brothers Daniel and…

Teams racing Two-Handed in IRC Four dominated the overall results for the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Channel Race. Held in light to medium airs, the 98nm offshore race was won overall by Jeffrey Knapman’s MG335 Virago, racing with Tristan Kemp.…

Diving in for a cool swim after a car journey in warm weather may seem tempting, but it multiplies the risk of drowning, Water Safety Ireland has warned. As The Sunday Independent reports, the appeal has been issued on the…

Andrew Crosbie and Stephen O'Shaughnessy in the National 18 'Virtual MissFits' were the 2021 Ballinacurra Race winners hosted by Cove Sailing Club in conjunction with the National 18 dinghy class.  Among other competing boats, Nine Eighteens contested the race that has traditionally been an…

Royal St.George's Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella head into the last day of racing at the Fireball National Championships with one hand on the trophy. The championships are being hosted by the DMYC at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.  As regular Afloat…

Royal Cork Yacht Club may have had to cancel its planned Topper World Championships scheduled for next month due to COVID but the Astra Construction Topper 'Winter' Championships at the Crosshaven club is just the ticket for 76 Topper youth…

This month the Oireachtas Library has been displaying an 1807 pamphlet by Reverend William Liddiard (1773–1841), calling for the establishment of an organised lifeboat service along the Irish coast. Rev Liddiard was writing in response to the sinking of two…

Minister of State for Heritage, Malcolm Noonan has announced a partnership agreement with Enniscoe House, in Co Mayo that will see the establishment of a new nature reserve on the site. The reserve would be jointly managed by the owners,…

X-Yachts GB have introduced a new summer gardiennage menu which will run in the Hamble area during the summer months. “We hope this will further increase your enjoyment and maintain the value of your X-Yacht,” the company says of the…

Ireland’s Tom Dolan proved his preparation for next month’s La Solitaire du Figaro is on course when he finished a very tough, testing Solo Concarneau Trophée Guy Cotten race in fifth place from 33 starters. Exhausted after sleeping for just…

Annalise Murphy's defence of her 2016 podium result got off to a slow start in race one of the 2020 Olympic Games. Her 35th place of the 44 sailors that started the race in an Easterly wind that never rose…

Liam Jegou has qualified through to the semi-final of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the C1 Men category. This morning's heats provided some serious challenges for the field with Liam proving no exception to this. As Afloat reported earlier, the…

Liam Jegou got his C1 Canoe Slalom campaign underway at the Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre posting a time of 174.57 in his first run of the heats after picking up a missed gate penalty. “A shaky start I’ll call it,”…

In her third Olympic Games, the current World Rowing Champion in the Women’s Singles Sanita Puspure won her quarter-final in impressive style in today’s race in Tokyo, and will now compete in the semi-final A/B next Tuesday. The Women’s Pair…

After eight races sailed and with two discards applied, Oisin Pierse is the leader of Royal Cork Yacht Club's Optimist dinghy July Main fleet Series.  With for race wins on his scorecard, Pierse has a six-point margin over Isha Duggan on…

14 Flying Fifteens enjoyed glorious sunshine and light winds just inside the narrows of Strangford Lough for their Northern Championships on Day 1. Race Officer John McAlea had his hands full with fickle winds and a strong tide but still…