Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#MarineScience - Over 900 primary school students got to experience the wonders of the Irish marine environment at the Lifetime Lab in Cork where they participated in the Explorers Education Programme workshops from 2 to 13 March. The pupils learned…

#national18 – There are some special dinghy classes. There are some very special dinghy classes. And then there are the National 18s. You can see any number of reasons why this unique class, celebrating its 80th birthday in just three…

#OnTV - A boatbuilding project on the shores of Lough Ree will feature in a segment of tonight's Nationwide on RTÉ One from 7pm. The 'Mens Shed' scheme for the Lanesborough-Ballyleague area – as part of a job activation and…

#rnli – Final preparations are being put in place for 'the Homecoming', which will see Lough Swilly RNLI receive the first Shannon class lifeboat in Ireland. The station is planning a special celebration, as the €2.4 million lifeboat arrives into…

#lifesaving – President Michael D. Higgins will officially open a new Lifesaving Training Centre at White Strand, Miltown Malbay, Co Clare this afternoon.  The centre will train Lifeguards and the general public in Irish Water Safety's syllabus for swimming, water…

#EnterDryDockVideo - Afloat.ie has been informed by the Department of Defence that sea-trials of Naval Service latest newbuild OPV90 James Joyce took place between 6-9 March with delivery due shortly, writes Jehan Ashmore. As originally reported, the trials took place…

#IrishLightsScilly – ILV Granuaile, the Commissioners of Irish Lights aids to navigation tender is understood to have carried out work for the first time within waters of the Isles of Scilly, writes Jehan Ashmore. The tender's call in this week…

#rnilmayday – The RNLI, the charity that saves lives at sea, is issuing its own call for help, appealing for volunteers and fundraisers to get involved with 'Mayday', the organisation's forthcoming national fundraising event which will take place from 1–4…

#ucdboatclub – UCD Boat Club has launched an online crowdfunding campaign on PledgeSports.org to raise money to refurbish its training Bank Tank in Islandbridge. The 98-year-old team, a regular at the Henley Royal Regatta, Colours, and the Irish National Championships,…

#ryajob – The Royal Yachting Association in Northern Ireland (RYA NI) is seeking to appoint an Active Clubs Coordinator. The purpose of this role is work in partnership with RYA clubs and training centres to create and implement sustainable introductory…

#GroundedShipDryDock - Lysblink Seaways, a cargship which ran aground off the Scottish west coast while on passage from Belfast to Norway just over a month ago is currently in a Greenock dry-dock, writes Jehan Ashmore. As previously reported on Afloat.ie,…

#checkmateforhowth – The story is that there has been a bit of re-juggling in the Half Tonner lineup at Howth, where Dave Cullen has moved on from the historic King One which once upon a time took the Half–Ton World…

#Rescue - A world champion bodyboarder was airlifted to hospital from the base of a Doonbeg cliff earlier this week after suffering an injury in the water off the Clare coast. The Clare Herald has more on the incident, telling…

#DryDockings - Belfast-Cairnryan sailings covered by Stena Nordica, as previously reported will remain to the end of this month, when North Channel Superfast sisters VII and VIII each take turns to dry-dock, writes Jehan Ashmore. Following the overhauls taken place…

#D2D - The National Yacht Club has launched a new website for the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race. Counting down the 85 days till the fleet sets off on the latest edition of the biennial offshore challenge, D2DRace.ie is the…

#WickowPorts - UKD Orca (2000/3,087grt) yesterday departed Arklow Bay having completed capping a spoil pit site off the County Wicklow harbour which was dredged last year, writes Jehan Ashmore. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, UKD Orca was tasked in capping…

#solosailor – A talented UK dinghy and solo sailor Alan Roberts for 2015 has signed a new sponsor for his second Solitaire du Figaro campaign. Alan, has been a professional sailor since 2012 and spent 2013/14 training and competing with…

#colourmatch – This Saturday, Trinity Sailing Club hosts its Colours team racing Event at a new Grand Canal Dock venue in Dublin city. All six UCD and TCD teams will compete against each other in the Dubarry of Ireland sponsored event. A…

#sailingplan– Changes have been made to the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) Strategic Plan 2015 – 2020 that is to be proposed for adoption at the 2015 AGM in a fortnight. The revision includes the edits made to the original draft to reflect the input…

#clipperskipper – There will be no Irish skipper in the next Clipper Round the World Yacht Race but the world's longest global race has revealed its most diverse ever line-up of professional skippers who will lead their amateur crews in the tenth…