Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#Weather - Huge waves came crashing over the Inishowen Peninsula yesterday as the Atlantic 'weather bomb' hit the northwest coast. The video above, care of The Daily Edge, shows the sheer power of the swells that brought waves as high…

#CancelledSailings - UT.V News reports the ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan collided with the dock at the Scottish port around 6am on Tuesday. Stena Line said no passengers or crew were injured. It also said the incident was not weather…

#vdlr – Up to 15 entries have already been received for what is expected to be Ireland's biggest sailing event in 2015. Among the early entries for Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta (VDLR) is a number of Scottish, English and Northern Ireland…

#Condor102 - Channel Islands operator Condor Ferries latest acquisition, Condor 102, departed last week from Austal's shipyard in Balamban, Cebu in the Philippines, to begin her long (approx. 10,500 nautical miles) delivery voyage to Southampton. Upon her arrival in the…

#Cruiseliners - Killybegs Information Centre has confirmation through Sinbad Marine Services that three visits to the port in 2015 have been scheduled by the prestigious brand P&O/Carnival Lines. The cruiseships to visit Killybegs under the P&O Cruises flag will be…

#CancelledSailings – As a gale warning is in effect this has led to some cancelled fast-ferry and conventional sailings on the Irish Sea in addition to some sailings to and from France. Due to the adverse weather conditions Isle of…

#afloatmag – The 2015 Irish Sailing Annual is published next Monday and packed with details of the forthcoming season plus a review of 2014. Details of the full colour annual below: NewsVOR reporter's prize then BANG!; Dun Laoghaire sailor becomes RORC Commodore;…

#StenaHSSfuture? – Stena Line's introduction of Stena Superfast X to expand capacity on the Dublin-Holyhead route in early 2015, raises uncertainty over the future of the Dun Laoghaire HSS operated service to Wales, writes Jehan Ashmore. Now that Superfast X…

#energy – A major energy conference entitled "Cork Harbour – Energising the Region" will be held in Cork this week, to discuss the opportunities and challenges in terms of energy, industry and tourism for the Harbour. Providing more than one…

#MarineWildlife - Leona the Loggerhead's last known whereabouts put her swimming south of the Canary Islands after her successful release last week, according to The Irish Times. The female sea turtle jetted off with Aer Lingus to the warmer waters…

#VOR - Disaster-struck Team Vestas Wind is "exploring the opportunity" of re-joining the Volvo Ocean Race a week after coming a cropper on an Indian Ocean reef, as Jonno Turner reports on the official race website. The news comes days…

#Overhauls - Winter overhauls of the majority of Irish Ferries fleet in early 2015 are understood to be heading to Birkenhead at Cammell Laird shipbuilder and repairs, writes Jehan Ashmore. Ulysses has been scheduled to go first for annual maintenance…

#Surfing - Big wave surfers on the west coast are at the ready today (9 December) as a strong northwest groundswell bears down on Ireland, bringing with it waves of up to 50 feet across the Atlantic. According to Surfer…

#StenaSuperfastX – Amid much speculation the deployment of Stena Superfast X to Dublin-Holyhead route in early 2015 as previously reported on Afloat.ie has been finally confirmed by Stena Line. The 29,800 tonnes ropax ferry will bring increased capacity as she…

#inss – A blustery forecast and strong winds passing through Dun Laoghaire on Saturday night was not a good omen for the DBSC Turkey Shoot on Sunday morning. Indeed the code flags N over A were flying from the committee…

#santa – Santa Claus arrived by boat yesterday into Dun Laoghaire harbour and headed straight to a packed National Yacht Club where sackfuls of presents were handed out to children of all ages.   Everyone – big and small –…

#matchracing – Ireland's hosting of International Match racing events is set to to continue in 2015 with Howth Yacht Club's annuoncement that it will host the 2015 Nations Cup European Final on 7-10th May 2015. It follows the acclaimed 2014…

#frostibtes –Strong and gusty westerly winds gusting to over 30–knots at times put paid to both cruiser racing and dinghy competitions from Dun Laoghaire today writes Cormac Bradley. First to be scrubbed was Rathfarnham Ford's DBSC's Turkey Shoot series for…

#MarineWildlife - Two months after striking up a friendship with fellow 'dolphina-non-grata' Dusty in his travels around Ireland, 'bad boy' bottlenose Clet has moved on again - this time to the west coast of Scotland. According to the Island News…

#PolarPlunge - Near freezing temperatures didn't stop a troupe of hardy gardaí from leaping into the drink at the famous Forty Foot in Sandycove for their annual Polar Plunge yesterday (6 December). As the Irish Independent reports, the 150-strong group…