Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Sail Training Ireland chief executive Daragh Sheridan has hailed the recently announced Government funding for young people with disabilities and from disadvantaged backgrounds to take part in tall ships training voyages as “a hugely positive development for the charity”. Sheridan added…

Rob Taylor from the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) was at UK Sailmakers Ireland loft in Crosshaven yesterday (Wednesday 23 January) for the refreshing of its In-House Certification (IHC). UK Sailmakers in Crosshaven is the only IHC loft in Ireland –…

#Rowing: The Dambuster Head of the River, scheduled for this Saturday, January 26th, at Blessington Lakes, has been cancelled. The organisers, Carlow Rowing Club, say that they had to take into account the forecast of strong winds. As the week…

RYA NI is hold its Cruising Conference in Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club in Cultra, Co. Down this Saturday Jan 26th starting at 9.30am. As part of it, North Sails Ireland's Prof O'Connell will be giving a talk on…

Today (Thursday 24 January 2019) marks an 'historic' moment  say industry chiefs for Britain’s marine industry with the launch of Maritime 2050, the UK Government’s first ever long-term strategy to support and grow the sector. Ironically, the announcement comes when…

Following last year’s performance of ‘Flying Irishman’ Tom Dolan and pioneering woman Joan Mulloy in their Solitaire du Figaro debuts, now the renowned solo offshore race is coming to Ireland. The Solitaire URGO Le Figaro is set to return to…

Veteran French skipper Jean-Luc van den Heede (73) has been giving a strategic sailing masterclass in the final 1500 miles of the Golden Jubilee Golden Globe Race writes W M Nixon. A week ago, after enduring flukey and unfavourable conditions…

Two of my favourite waterside places along the Liffey are in Dublin Port – Ringsend and Poolbeg. The maritime history of Ringsend is part of the marine story of Ireland, an area resonant of seafaring history and Poolbeg Yacht and…

#ports - As Brexit looms and all the uncertainty, the Port of Felixstowe in England, has announced an agreement (see story: UK Government contract) with Danish ferry operator DFDS to increase its roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) capacity by over 40%. According to…

Dun Laoghaire campaign group Save Our Seafront will hold a public meeting next Monday 28 January to discuss ongoing and future plans for Dun Laoghaire Harbour, including its baths restoration project. The meeting is scheduled for 8pm next Monday night…

North Sails Ireland will be hosting its successful Sail Trim presentation at Arklow Sailing Club from 7.30pm this coming Friday 25 January. Following on from last week’s trim talk in Greystones, North Sails Ireland expert Shane Hughes will take Arklow…

Gardaí in Cork have launched an investigation after human remains were recovered by the crew of a fishing vessel 180 nautical miles off Castletownbere in Co Cork at the weekend. TheJournal.ie reports that the vessel docked in Castletownbere on Sunday…

#navy - PDforra, the organisation representing enlisted personnel in the Defence Forces has said recruitment in the Naval Service has reached a new crisis point and the only way to solve it is with pay increases to retain personnel. As…

#ferries - The European Investment Bank is providing EUR 155 million to finance two new passenger and vehicle ships for the Irish Continental Group subsidiary Irish Ferries. The announcement was made as the first of the new cruiseferries, W.B. Yeats…

There was a full house to hear solo sailor Tom Dolan outline his 2019 plans in the new foiling Figaro 3 at Kinsale Yacht Club last Thursday.  As Afloat.ie previously reported, the evening also featured Mark Mansfield from UK Sailmakers Ireland…

The International Laser Class says it has no plans to replace or remove any of its existing classes in response to recent media speculation on the future direction of the Olympic class boat plus a statement on social media from…

As Afloat.ie reported earlier, the No.11 Liffey Ferry aka the “dockers’ taxi” is back in service after 35 years following a restoration project involving Richie Saunders of Ringsend, the Irish Nautical Trust, Dublin Port Company and Dublin City Council. It…

#Lifeboats - Hundreds gathered on the high wall in Dunmore East on Sunday evening (20 January) to welcome the town’s all-weather lifeboat Elizabeth and Ronald back home after more than a year out of service. On 1 December 2017, Dunmore…

#Lifeboats - The RNLI's all-weather lifeboat from Courtmacsherry rescued a fishing vessel which got into difficulty today with two people onboard yesterday afternoon (Monday 21 January). The lifeboat was called out at 1.15pm to go to the aid of the 40ft…

#ferries - W.B. Yeats has finally made its maiden sailing this morning, as the €147m cruiseferry completed a Dublin-Holyhead crossing by arriving in the Welsh port before lunch-hour, writes Jehan Ashmore. The impressive 1,885 passenger and crew/300 car/165 truck capacity…