Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

100 yachts are expected in Le Havre from 3 to 9 June for the eighth running of Normandy Sailing Week. Around ten series will be racing during the week-long competition in Baie de Seine, North-East France. A number of events…

Leading Irish boat sales firm MGM Boats is preparing a summer long celebration of its 15–years in business and a new logo is part of the firm's birthday rebranding. Afloat.ie brings you a sneak peek of the new MGM look…

July's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is running a coastal series as part of the fifth edition of the combined club's event and judging by entries to date (see below) there it looks like the initiative is getting a good response.…

#LinerQueenMary2 -RMS Queen Mary 2 the world's largest ocean liner made her maiden visit to Dublin Bay, anchoring offshore in calm sunny conditions off Dun Laoghaire Harbour early this morning. A five star welcome saw 3,000 passengers greeted by a…

#LinerQueenMary2- Queen Mary 2 is currently underway and bound for Dublin Bay, having departed Greenock Ocean Terminal, where she launched the cruise season at the Clyde port. Tomorrow morning the world's only 'liner' will make her historic maiden anchorage call…

#OnTV - Sunday 26 May sees the first of a two-part documentary series on The Secret Life of the Shannon on RTÉ One. The series will take viewers on a journey along the River Shannon with wildlife cameraman and presenter…

#NavalService – Two Irish-built navy patrol ships launched at Verolme Cork Dockyard, are to be sold off after 40 years of service according to the Herald. LE Emer (P21) and a sister ship LE Aoife (P22) were built between 1978…

#DublinPort –Visiting cruise ships such as today's arrival of Le Boreal to Dublin Port are to be brought much further up the Liffey in a new plan to develop deep water berths. Part of the river at Dublin Port is…

You might imagine that an event with over forty knots of wind recorded on the racecourse and with only nine Fireballs entered would be a disaster writes Frank Miller. In fact you would be wrong. The Irish Fireball Open event…

From the pre-departure programme ensuring crews are relaxed and prepared, to the friendly welcome each boat receives on arrival in Saint Lucia, the unique spirit that surrounds the ARC each year has meant the Rally is firmly on the 'bucket…

#CruiseLiners – Sea Explorer the small cruiseship which spent a brief 'lay-up' period in Dun Laoghaire Harbour during the Spring, as previously reported on Afloat.ie, returned to Dublin Bay today again 'without' passengers, with the ship docking instead in Dublin…

Video taken on an evening microlight flight over Greystones harbour in County Wicklow reveals progress at the new town marina a month after it opened. A mix of 25 boats from sailing cruisers to motor boats to ribs and speedboats…

#CFP - The deal reached between EU fisheries ministers this morning on reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) should bring an end to the practice of fish discards within the next six years, according to Ireland's Marine Minister. As…

#DetainedCargoship – The detained Belize-flagged 19,000 tonnes cargo-bulker, Clipper Faith, previously reported on Afloat.ie, had to shift berths in Dublin port today so in order to accommodate a cruiseship, writes Jehan Ashmore. In place of the Clipper Faith is the…

#Angling - Ireland’s top mentalist - and passionate angler - Keith Barry is encouraging kids of all ages to get hooked on angling during Fisheries Awareness Week 2013. Angling events for newcomers to the sport will continue at coastal and…

#MarineWildlife - Seven dolphins and two beaked whales have stranded on beaches in the northwest in events described as "unusual" by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG). On the Mullet Peninsula, a group of seven common dolphins - comprising…

The Minister for Marine, Simon Coveney TD, at 6.15 a.m. this morning, after some 36 hours of negotiations, secured a new mandate from EU Fisheries Ministers to enter final negotiations with the European Parliament on a reformed Common Fisheries Policy.…

Who would be a forecaster? XC Weather was suggesting that at 19:00 it would be blowing 2 knots from the south, gusting to four knots. We could expect some light rain writes Cormac Bradley In reality it was blowing quite…

The Howth 17s – widely regarded as the world's oldest one-design keelboat class still racing as originally designed – will play centre stage of a three-day sailing regatta in Dublin Bay on June 1. Adding backdrop splendour along the city…

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Borraine (Ean Pugh), 2. Bendemeer (L Casey & D Power), 3. Cor Baby (Keith Kiernan et al) CRUISERS 3 Tuesday - 1. Grasshopper II (K & J Glynn), 2. Asterix (Boushel/Meredith/Counihan), 3. Papytoo (M Walsh/F Guilfoyle)…