Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Minister for Natural Resources, Fergus O'Dowd, T.D. today set out details of upcoming projects in the National Marine Mapping Programme (INFOMAR), and pledged Government commitment of €15m for the next 5 years, for the continuation of what he called "the…

#rshyr – Around Sydney and the clubhouse of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, he's Dr Darryl, the living breathing embodiment of modern Australia writes WM Nixon. In a country moving on very rapidly from rough blokedom to smooth hyper-affluence,…

#AntarcticIce - A research vessel carrying journalists from the UK's Guardian remains trapped in Antarctic ice after a failed attempt by an Australian icebreaker to reach the ship, the newspaper reports. The Akademik Shokalskiy has been trapped for more than…

#Coastguard - Proposals to cut Malin Head's coastguard watches from round-the-clock to just 12 hours threaten to “to tear up 30 years of progress” in marine safety, as The Irish Times reports. The statement by Irish Coast Guard chief Chris…

#rshyr – The Dun Laoghaire crew led by Barry Hurley of the Royal Irish Yacht Club have successfully completed a testing Sydney–Hobart race to finish 27th overall in the 92–boat fleet and take sixth place in IRC Division 3 in…

#shipdrifting – A bulk carrier ship registered in Bermuda is drifting off the Old Head of Kinsale in Co Cork in strong winds and big seas.The 108-metre vessel, Abuk Lion, is en route from Aughinish in Co Clare to St Petersburg…

#commodorescup – The build up for next Summer's Commodore's Cup event starts next month in Florida. Irish Interest in Key West features Cork Olympic sailor Peter O'Leary at the helm of the New York based Ker 40 Catapult, a boat tipped as…

#rshyr – A dream came true for Lough Swilly skipper Sean McCarter (31) at 1916 hrs this evening (Sunday December 29th) when he skippered the Irish Clipper 70 Derry-Londonderry-Doire across the elusive finish line at Hobart in Tasmania to win…

#MarineWildlife - Fewer than a dozen of a once plentiful native shark species that dates back some four million years remain in Irish waters, as the Irish Examiner reports. The bottom-feeding angel shark has fallen victim over the years to…

#Rescue - The Irish Independent reports that a 13-year-old boy has been rescued after falling into the River Boyne in Drogheda last night (28 December). It's believed the boy had been playing close to the edge of the river opposite…

#rshyr – Ireland's boat in the Clipper Round-the-World Challenge, the 70ft Castro-designed Derry-Londonderry-Doire, is on target to win her 12-boat class in the Sydney-Hobart Race today writes WM Nixon. Skippered by Sean McCarter of Lough Swilly Yacht Club, and with Garda…

#rshyr – Veteran owner Bob Oatley's Reichel Pugh 100 Wild Oats XI, skippered by Mark Richards, has taken her seventh line honours win in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, with an evening finish at Hobart at 19.07.27 hrs AEDT writes…

#Docklands - Local business interests and marine authorities are mooting ambitious new plan to construct a dozen pontoons along the River Liffey in Dublin's Docklands in 2014. The Sunday Times last weekend reported that the €4 million scheme, put forward…

#Coastguard - TheJournal.ie reports that yesterday's severe storm conditions forced two Irish Coast Guard helicopters to stand down a mission to retrieve an ill fisherman from a Spanish trawler 100 miles off the west coast last night (27 December). A…

#ShippingReview - Over the last fortnight Jehan Ashmore has reported from the shipping scene where the Cork Port Authority proposes to take-over the Bantry Harbour Board on 1 January 2014. Irish Ferries chartered ro-pax ferry Cartour Epsilon made her commercial…

#MarineWildlife - Four new species of marine wildlife have been discovered off Rockall, as the Guardian reports. It was a bonus Christmas present for marine scientists in Scotland who've announced that a handful of the array of deep ocean creatures…

#Jetskiing - Registration for Jetskis, or personal watercraft, is on the cards in an effort to cut down on antisocial behaviour by 'boy racer' elements that marred some water users' enjoyment of this summer's exceptional warm and sunny days. According…

#rshyr – It is developing into one of the most complex Rolex Sydney-Hobart Races sailed in many a long day. And as it's in the upside-down Southern Hemisphere, weatherwise everything moves in different ways. W M Nixon isn't sure he…

#TradeNews - Afloat.ie first reported in March last year on Inland Inflatables Services' planned relocation to larger premises in Collooney, Co Sligo. And now the move is finally going ahead, as the RIB service business - one of the largest…

#MarineWildlife - There's a "fantastic opportunity to witness the second largest animal on the planet close up" on Achill Island over the next few days after a male fin whale was stranded on Keel Beach on Christmas Eve. The 20-metre-long…