Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine

Flying fifteen Irish Championships: British visitor Charles Apthorp lifted the Irish title this afternoon at the National YC following a light air series where winds on Dublin Bay never exceeded six knots. Apthorp of Hayling Island SC, a former world…

The annual general meeting of the Irish Amateur Rowing Union decided to adopt a new framework for the season which will site a National Championships for bigger boats on the traditional mid-summer dates and and a second National Championships for…

On the far side of the Irish Sea Swansea Coastguard received a 999 call from a member of the Mumbles Yacht Club in Wales. He reported seeing a man stuck in the mud approximately fifty metres off the Antelope slip…

PORTO CERVO, ITALY (11 September 2009). The fourth and penultimate race day of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup brought some surprises as the winning streaks of Roma – Aniene (ITA) and Whisper (IRL), in the Racing/Cruising and Mini Maxi Racing/Cruising…

Two Irish Clubs are entered in to New York's newest sailing competition that sets sail next week. It will be reminiscent of Newport’s America’s Cup days when 19 yacht club teams from 14 nations descend on this “City by the…

Local Sailors Killian and Ronan Collins will be among the front runners at the The Laser SB3 National Championship to be held in the Royal Cork Yacht Club from the 18th to the 20th of September. A competitive fleet of…

It is a year since the national sail training vessel sank in the Bay of Biscay and was abandoned by the Government. What will happen next? Other subject to be covered on RTE Radio One Seascapes programme tomorrow night are:…

Just past the halfway stage in the 2009 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the frontrunners are beginning to show their colours. The jostling for pole position is entering the decisive phase. Only two days of racing left and if you…

A lone sailor was plucked to safety yesterrday evening moments before his 36' motor launch sank off Roberts Cove, Southwest of Cork Harbour by Crosshaven RNLI Lifeboat. The Lifeboat launched at 19.29 with Volunteer RNLI crew of Kieran Coniry, Con…

Dun Laoghaire's Mick Cotter leads the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2009 in Porto Cervo, Italy. His 80–foot yacht Whisper took her second bullet in the Mini Maxi Racing/Cruising division followed by Brian Benjamin’s Aegir (GBR) yesterday. The leaders of the…

Ireland's top Lifeguards will compete at Irish Water Safety's National Surf Lifesaving Championships at Rossnowlagh Beach, Donegal from 9am to 5pm, Saturday 12th and from 10am-12noon, Sunday 13th Sept. Over six hundred competitors from thirteen counties will compete, representing Wicklow,…

Queen’s University finished a creditable fifth in the men’s senior eights at the European Universities Championships in Poland. In a high-quality event in Kruszwica, the Belfast crew looked well on course to finish in bronze medal position until big pushes…

The 2009 Howth Yacht Club Autumn League is scheduled to start its 30th year this Sunday, September 13th. With the forecasters predicting better weather than we’ve had all summer, it represents an ideal opportunity to get some excellent end-of-season racing.…
The SB3s big sister made a return to popularity at its birthplace on the Cork coast last month and now we have video to prove it! Nearly 20 boats raced for national championship honours and Nicholas O'Leary turned the tables…

A Sailing body claims RTE is set to drop 'the most widely used sea area forecast' without any prior warning. The statement from the Irish Sailing Association's training manager says the forecast broadcast each afternoon at 4.50pm plays a critical…

At five minutes to four yesterday afternoon Milford Haven Coastguard received a call from Ambulance Control informing them that they had received a 999 call from a young person reporting that they were on board a small vessel in difficulty…

At just before 1.00 pm on Sunday, a 999 call from the Towy Boat Club reported three kayakers struggling in the fast-flowing river Towy having capsized and become parted from their double sit-on kayaks in wind over tide conditions. It…

The Irish Yacht, Cork, one of ten stripped-down 68 foot ocean racing yachts sailed past The Deep, the iconic ‘submarium’ visitor attraction in Hull, North Yorkshire, UK, in readiness for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race. “The crew…

Sailmaker Maurice O'Connell took part in the Dublin Match Racing Open at Howth in July and the Leinster Championships in August. Here he answers a few questions about the new circuit that is winning fans around the country. Prof, You're…

A Connemara sailor has died and his brother was taken to hospital, following the capsize of their vessel in Galway Bay yesterday. The Gleoiteog McHugh was one of two Carna-based traditional craft en route from Kinvara to Rossaveal when it…