Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Kilrush Marina and boatyard is strategically placed for exploring the unspoilt west coast of Ireland, including Galway Bay, Dingle, west Cork and Kerry. It also provides a gateway to over 150 miles of cruising on Lough Derg, the River Shannon…
Schull Community College Reign Supreme in Irish School's Sailing Regatta
15th April 2013 Team Racing
#school team sailing – Racing in the shadow of a gale warning Schull Community College won the Irish Schools Team Racing Championships on home waters at the weekend. 14–teams competed in the event drawn Munster, Leinster, Connaught and two teams…
#lifeboat – At 17.40hrs this evening Valentia Coast Guard requested Lough Derg Lifeboat to launch to assist three people on board their 18ft speedboat, after they lost steerage and were pushed on to rocks by the entrance to the Scarriff…
#wolfhound – You can't put a good boat down. Here she is. The lost one. The Irish Swan 48 Wolfhound, doing better on her own than she did with a crew writes W M Nixon. Nine weeks after she was…
Royal Navy Patrol Boats Return to Dun Laoghaire Marina Adding to Mix of Non-Leisure Craft
14th April 2013 Dun Laoghaire Harbour News
#NavalVisits – This weekend Dun Laoghaire Marina is host again to the same pair of Royal Navy 'Archer'-P2000 class training patrol boats that had called earlier this month, writes Jehan Ashmore. As previously reported the Cardiff based pair HMS HMS…
#RNLI - The RNLI has announced that Clifden lifeboat station in Co Galway is to receive an all-weather class lifeboat for a trial period of 12 months to operate in conjunction with the existing inshore lifeboat service. The decision, which…
#VOR - Lorient in France completes the route for the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. Like last year, the Brittany port city will be the penultimate stopover for the race fleet when they sail in at some point…
#Surfing - Ireland is represented for another year running on the shortlist for the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards to be presented next month. According to The Irish Times, Clare surfing pro Peter Conroy and Portrush photographer Roo McCrudden are…
#Coastguard - The Howth unit of the the Irish Coast Guard responded this weekend to a vessel that lost power at the mouth of the River Boyne. Howth's coastguard crew were undertaking helm training with a passage to the Drogheda…
#figaro – Exhausted but elated to have secured his place for June's Solitaire du Figaro race, 22–year–old Cork sailor David Kenefick talked to Afloat.ie on completing his longest race to date, the 320–mile Solo Arrimer this morning. The Crosshaven rookie…
There is a reason the Figaro Class has a Rookie prize in every event they run. And it is highly sought after writes Marcus Hutchinson. The French call it the Bizuth prize. In the Solo Arrimer there were six 'Bizuths',…
#irishcruising – Henry Ford famously said that if he'd started out by asking people what they wanted, they'd have demanded a faster horse. Quite. But if you don't have the lightbulb moment of a Fordian concept so utterly brilliant that…
#isa – In the wake of today's ISA recommendations for small boat sailing, Ric Morris suggests his own and they include a rekindled dinghy racing association as one of five solutions to the decline in Irish small boat sailing: 1/…
#sovereigns cup – Over a quarter of entries to date for the Sovereign's Cup Regatta hail from the UK and current entry levels are running at over twice the rate of April 2011. Minister Simon Coveney was in the newly…
Marine Notices: Hydrographic Survey Off Clare Coast; Waverider Buoy Off Mayo
12th April 2013 Marine Warning
#MarineNotice - Marine Notice No 15 of 2013 from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) advises mariners that a hydrographic and geophysical survey operation is being undertaken by INFOMAR for the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland till 25…
#isa –The ISA President Niamh McCutcheon says the association's decision in 1998 to move away from utilising voluntary support has been a significant factor in the 'perceived disengagement of the membership from the operations of the ISA'. The conclusion is…
#InlandWaterways - The Irish Underwater Search and Recovery Unit (IUSRU) has announced details of its Raft Race as part of the Waterways Ireland Docklands Summer Festival. Entry is €25 per person with four persons per raft for the day of wackiness on…
#Clipper - Irishman Sean McCarter is among the 'dynamic dozen' skippers selected to lead their amateur crews in the ninth edition of the Clipper Round the World Race. The 31-year-old is looking forward to a home crowd welcome when the…
#Coastguard - Dublin MEP Gay Mitchell has called for the formation of a Europe-wide coastguard to tackle the scourge of drug smuggling, as Herald.ie reports. The Fine Gael MEP said that cocaine in particular "is still entering the EU from…
#corkharbour – With the aim of providing better racing for Cork harbour class three yachts, a new harbour intiative this season attempts to combine up to 30 yachts currently split between different clubs and courses, namely Royal Cork Yacht Club…