Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

The end of the Irish Fireball Regatta Season came to a rather damp end when a reduced fleet took to the water after today's rugby and the dry weather of recent days gave way to drizzle and then rain writes Cormac…

As part of an effort to find the source of a Mayday call off Cork Harbour today, owners of boats named ‘Bluebird’ around Ireland have been contacted by the Coastguard. No yacht has been found after a major six-hour search…

Ignis Caput sailed by National Yacht Club pairing David Mulvin and Ronan Beirne were overall winners of the Flying Fifteen end of season keelboat regatta sailed at Lough Derg Yacht Club in Tipperary today. Second were Dun Laoghaire club–mates Niall…

Carrickfergus sailor Ian Moore, navigator on Vincenzo Onorato's Cookson 50 Mascalzone Latino, reported feeling mixed emotions on board this afternoon in the second day of the Middle Sea race. “Just having a cold beer and some antipasti to celebrate getting…

#Rowing: Shandon had an excellent day at the Skibbereen Head of the River at the new venue of the Marina in Cork on Saturday. Their men’s senior eight were the fastest winning crew. Competing in the fourth fixed head, they…

#Shipping - A gigantic cargo ship nearly a third of a kilometre long has docked in Belfast for emergency repairs. As the Belfast Telegraph reports, the Al Oraiq is the largest shipping vessel Belfast Lough has seen in almost three…

15 Irish Fireballs enjoyed sunshine and moderate breezes for the opening day of the last regatta of the season at Clontarf writes Cormac Bradley. With boats from N Ireland, Skerries, the host club and Dun Laoghaire, it was the most representative fleet…

Light Northwesterly winds for the next two days will test even the most experienced offshore sailors in the Middle Sea race from Malta today. The search is on for the quickest way to get out ahead of the pack in…

#CruiseBerth - An "unquantifiable financial gamble" is how local TD Richard Boyd Barrett described the proposed Dun Laoghaire cruise liner terminal at the first day of oral hearings into the plans. According to The Irish Times, Barrett told the An…

The inland waterways of County Kildare will be buzzing with boats this coming October Bank Holiday weekend. The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI) Kildare will host it’s now annual Naas Canal Festival from Friday October 23rd to Monday 26th.…

The Afloat.ie website, which is ranked by Google as Ireland’s leading source for the provision of a broad range of recreational and commercial maritime information, news and comment, has been completely updated in recent weeks. Yet though it has acquired…

The county of Donegal at the North West tip of Ireland boasts two major Irish mountain ranges, over thousand kilometres of coastline, one hundred sea stacks and many diverse climbing locations writes Ian Miller. Donegal currently plays host to many…

Stories that abound in the West of Ireland concerning German U- boats refuelling and resupplying, or having pints in local pubs during World War Two appear to be "fanciful myths" the second annual Irish Maritime History Conference has been told…

#Budget2016 - Ocean energy research will receive a further €4.5 million boost in next year's Budget, as announced by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The funding follows from last year's €10 million allocation to ocean energy research,…

#DunLaoghaire - Proposals for a National Watersports Centre for Dun Laoghaire at the former HSS terminal are now online. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the idea was recently proposed by the Dun Laoghaire Combined Clubs (DLCC) to Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County…

#ExportAwards2015 - The Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) will be sponsoring the Maritime Services Award Category in the IEA Export Industry Awards 2015. The Export Industry Awards are organised by the Irish Exporters Association (IEA) to recognise the remarkable achievements…

#Surfing - Only two surfers retained their titles at a delayed Irish Nationals that saw 13 new champions crowned in Bundoran last weekend, as the Irish Examiner reports. Marginal surf was forecast for the third of three possible windows for…

#RNLI - Union Hall RNLI was paged at 6.31am this morning (Thursday 15 October) to reports of a flashing strobe light south of Rabbit Island at the entrance to Glandore Harbour. Union Hall’s inshore lifeboat Maritime Nation launched at 06.39…

#CorkHarbour - Falling prices across prime Cork Harbour waterfront sites could be a boon for investors with serious plans in light of the Government's new marine focus. As the Irish Examiner reports, the former Haulbowline Industries site at Passage West,…

The last regatta of the Irish Fireball Class’ 2015 Regatta circuit, the Leinsters, takes place this weekend at Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club and according to the Class’ Facebook site, an entry of 18 boats is on the cards writes Cormac…