Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Lough Ree RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew located two kayakers following a short lake and shoreline search of the inner lakes of Lough Ree yesterday afternoon (Saturday 26 December). The two men had departed Coosan Point at lunchtime and the alarm…

At less than one day from Point Nemo, the most isolated point on earth, Vendee Globe Race leader Yannick Bestaven still has company in the shape of Charlie Dalin who is less than 50 miles behind. But as Thomas Ruyant…

Our header photo is one whose use had not been anticipated for at least another month, and hopefully not at all. For it was optimistically expected that by late January, we'd have evidence the vaccines were beginning to work, with…

Nigel McNeely was a motorboat man who had also enjoyed sailing a Leisure 17. But with two young boys reaching the age at which they could learn to sail, Nigel bought a second-hand GP14 called Alchemellia (no 12819) originally owned…

As previously reported in Afloat, the Irish SB20 fleet was awarded the 2023 World Championships, to be held in the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire in September 2023. As a consequence, the sportsboat class have seen a resurgence with an…

Still racing upwind but having changed on to the ‘making’ port tack – the angle taking them closer to the mark than away from it – Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq) is back in the lead of the Vendee Globe race…

There were shoreside Christmas honours this week for the French offshore sailor Jean Le Cam was awarded 'Officer in the Order of Maritime Merit' by the French Minister of the Sea, Annick Girardin, for his involvement in the rescue of a…

The Dubarry Winter Sale starts today. The Irish sailing footwear and clothing manufacturer is offering up to 40% off selected items until the 17th January. Shop here.    

With the anticyclone blocking the route eastwards towards Cape Horn which is still over 2000 miles away, the leading group in the Vendee Globe Race have made their choices – or had them made for them – and this Christmas…

Marine Minister Charlie McConalogue says that the EU Fishing industry will, unfortunately, have to concede some of the fish previously caught in UK waters arising out of the agreement between the EU and the UK on their future relationship. The Minister…

We would like to wish all our customer a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2021. In such a hard year, we would like to thank everyone for all the support and most of all the staff and people who helped…

Negotiations on a Brexit trade agreement concluded today (Thursday 24 December) with what European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen described as “a good deal”. News of the agreement has been generally welcomed across the majority of Irish businesses and…

(Day 46 - 650 miles to Point Nemo) Strategies are now diverging significantly between the leading two skippers Thomas Ruyant and Charlie Dalin at the front of the Vendée Globe fleet. Ruyant has split north to seek a low-pressure system…

Seventeen single-handers took advantage of a favourable day on Sunday last (20th) to hold a Christmas Regatta at East Antrim Boat Club on Larne Lough before the shut down in Northern Ireland on Boxing Day. The fleet consisted of two…

Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough will host the British Topper Nationals, scheduled for early August next year, a few days after the World Championships in Cork Harbour. With the Irish Nationals in Northern Ireland at Strangford Lough Yacht Club in…

Ferry and air travel from the UK to Ireland will be banned for most people until the end of the year. The Irish cabinet, reports NorthWalesLive, has agreed that the current travel restrictions between Ireland and Britain will remain in place…

While the 2020 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race has unfortunately been cancelled, sailors and fans alike can still take part in the Great Race through Virtual Regatta. The Official Game of the Rolex Sydney Hobart is forging on which means…

In Greek mythology, at the Winter Solstice, there is a brief calm for the Halcyon Day, and this was the experience of the crew on the Limerick ketch Ilen as they headed away on Monday evening, after a busy two…

Atlantean conjures up images of sea serpents, mythical peoples living under the sea and it is also the title of a fascinating project which Aosdána member and filmmaker Bob Quinn embarked on in the early 1980s. The outcome was three…

Royal Cork Yacht Club 2020 winner Nieulargo will set its sights offshore again in 2021 as the family-based Grand Soleil 40 aims for both of next year's big offshore fixtures on the Irish coast; next June's Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race…