Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine

Wicklow-based designer Mark Mills has been working on a 60ft foiling ocean-going version of the current America's Cup AC75 boats, and the new machine has just had her first sail, full story and pics here

Fourteen DBSC Flying Fifteens had a cracking night on the water last night on Dublin Bay when the light zephyrs of the past few sessions, Thursdays and Saturdays, were replaced by a robust breeze out of the west. The forecast had…

Afloat.ie joins with his extended family and many friends in sailing and the business world in wishing Sean Flood of Howth a happy 90th Birthday this week. The very epitome of enthusiasm, energy and optimism both ashore and afloat, Sean…

Royal Canal Boaters Advised of Further Canoe Polo Events in Mullingar Harbour
13th May 2022 Inland Waterways
Waterways Ireland advises masters and owners of vessels on the Royal Canal that a further canoe polo event will be taking place in Mullingar Harbour this weekend, Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May. A subsequent event will be held on…

Scotland's top regatta has been cancelled just 20 days before the first race. The scrubbing of the 'premier regatta' is not due to a lack of entries but a lack of volunteers to run the event on Loch Fyne, according…

Colin Byrne's XP33 Bon Exemple from the Royal Irish Yacht Club was the winner of tonight's windy third race of the AIB Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Thursday night series. Tony Fox's IMX 38 Gringo from the National Yacht Club was…

Morale among the Irish Coast Guard’s volunteers is at an all-time now, an Oireachtas committee has been told. RTÉ News reports on yesterday’s hearing of the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications, which was addressed by former coastguard volunteers who…

Dubliner Michael O’Donnell's J/121 Darkwood is Racing for RORC De Guingand Bowl Race Honours
12th May 2022 RORC
The fifth race of the RORC Season’s Points Championship is the De Guingand Bowl Race, scheduled to start at 09:30 BST on Saturday 14th May to the west, from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, Cowes. The course for the overnight…

Frequent Irish Ports Caller Thun Tankers Order Resource Efficient Coastal Tankers
12th May 2022 Ports & Shipping
Frequent Irish ports caller, Thun Tankers whose fleet continues to expand as the Scandinavian shipping company haved place an order for a pair of 7,999 mts dwt tankers. Thun Tankers is part of the Erik Thun Group, a company owned by…

Is Derry on the island of Ireland? That’s a question being asked by fishing industry representatives in a bitter row over how the State’s sea fisheries regulator has been handling landings of valuable blue whiting. The Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation…

Freeport for Wales to Get £26m to Set Up As Deal Confirmed by Welsh and UK Governments
12th May 2022 Ports & Shipping
Accross the Irish Sea, the Welsh Government has reached an agreement with the UK Government on the establishment of Freeports in Wales with £26m in starter funding secured. As North Wales Live revealed (earlier) this morning, the deal had been…

The Bantry inner harbour development scheme has re-generated interest in the West Cork town as a marine leisure and sailing centre. Bantry Bay Port Company, operated by Cork Port, has a sheltered marina with 40 berths there. But the town…

The 'mystery' to local observers of just who was behind the impressive 15-boat strong RIB raid fleet powering across Dublin Bay last Sunday morning was answered this week on social media when it emerged the boats, ranging from 5 to…

With less than nine weeks to go, the countdown is on to the ICRA National Championships 2022 which forms part of Volvo Cork Week from July 11th -15th. Hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in…

Renewal of Interest in Radio Sailing as International One Metre Open Event Set for Lough Ramor
12th May 2022 Model Boats
The first radio sailing event in the Dublin area for many years will be sailed on the 4th and 5th June. The event will take place at a new venue for radio sailing on Lough Ramor and is organised by…

Two Irish sailors are among the crews lining up this morning in the 44Cup, the circuit of the high-performance one-design RC44 class. As Afloat reported previously, Simon Johnson is in the Pit of Black Star Racing and Dublin Bay's Cian…

Cork Harbour Dinghies Ready for Ballinacurra Race and The Schooner Brooklands
12th May 2022 Cork Harbour
The home of Ireland’s last engineless freight-carrying schooner, the Brooklands, will be the centre of the popular Ballinacurra Race in Cork Harbour this Sunday. Creenan’s hostelry in Ballinacurra village near Midleton in East Cork will be the mecca for dinghy…

The world’s largest fish may be under threat due to collisions with ships in the oceans, a new study has claimed. As reported by RTÉ News, researchers in the Global Shark Movement Project set out to identify reasons for a…

The iconic Belfast shipyard and multisite fabrication company of Harland & Wolff with over 160 years of maritime and offshore engineering pedigree has appointed The Seafarers’ Charity as its 2021/22 partner. This partnership will see Harland & Wolff join forces with one…

The owner of Irish Ferries, the Irish Continental Group said it has been forced to pass on increased costs to consumers in the form of higher prices. In a trading update (see also) the ferry operator reported an 80 per…