Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Twin brothers Turlough and Patrick Hughes (20) will vie for dominance in the Gannon Cup, the annual colours race between Trinity and UCD, on the Liffey on Bank Holiday Monday. UCD, who will be seeking their fifth consecutive Gannon, will…

#INLAND WATERWAYS – As the 2012 Irish boating season kicks off this weekend Waterways Ireland authority has warned boat owners on the Erne System that following a period of dry weather the water levels on Lower Lough Erne are below…

#SEA KAYAKING - Brit duo Andy Pearson and Paul A'bear will embark on a 500-mile sea kayaking voyage along Scotland's west coast this summer in aid of charity. Canoe & Kayak UK reports that the pair will set out from…

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The rate of cetacean strandings on the Irish coast remains unusually high, according to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG). The group's Cetacean Stranding Scheme recorded 162 strandings in 2011 which, while numbers do vary from…

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE – The Government backed sailing yesterday when Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Marine Minister Simon Coveney hosted a press conference at Government Buildings to highlight plans to harness the opportunity for Irish business and tourism presented by the…

ROWING: The new experiment which sees club athletes coming together at Munster crews will get a big outing on St Patrick's Day. Munster will be racing two eights in  the London Head of the River.  The Heavywegiht eight will start…

#FERRY NEWS- Stena Line have changed the resumption date of Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead HSS fast-craft operated sailings to 30th March,  two days earlier than originally planned and as previously reported on Afloat.ie The seasonal-only service is to operate a daily single…

#LEARN TO SAIL – Dun Laoghaire's Irish National Sailing School (INSS) run by Fireball dinghy champion Kenneth Rumball has joined forces with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council Sports to provide sailing lessons for children from a number of primary schools…

#SAILING – Howth Yacht Club's highly successful Spring Warmer series in April, again sponsored by Key Capital Private, has an added significance for crews seeking early season practice before the BMW Cruiser Nationals at Howth in late May. That event…

#CANOE – An old derelict cottage on Trannish Island has been given a new lease of life, recently refurbished and launched as bothy accommodation for canoeists on the popular Lough Erne Canoe Trail in County Fermanagh. Managed by the Share…

#NAVAL VISIT – A sistership of the French Naval patrol vessel that performed 'guardship' duties during last year's La Solitaire du Figaro Race to Dun Laoghaire (click HERE), is due to dock in Dublin Port in advance of St. Patrick's…

#INLAND WATERWAYS - Officials at the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) are attempting to find the source of a pollutant that resulted in a fish kill on the Threemilewater river in recent weeks. The Newtownabbey Times reports that more than…

#ANGLING - The Irish Angling Development Alliance (IADA) is running a series of biosecurity awareness evenings at venues across Ireland over the next two months. The evenings follow from the "success" of the IADA's awareness section at the recent Ireland…

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Red Arrow jets will not be returning to the skies over Galway Bay when it hosts the Volvo Ocean Race finale this summer, the Galway Sentinel reports. The Royal Air Force (RAF) has turned down a…

#FERRY NEWS - BBC News reports that the captain of the cargo ship that collided with a passenger ferry in Belfast Lough could face up to two years in prison as his case has been sent to Crown Court. Miroslaw…

#LECTURES – Pádraig Laffan will present his lecture on 'Dublin Bay and the Kish Light' next Tuesday (20th March) starting at 8pm in the Foxrock Parish Centre. The Co. Dublin venue is located at the rear of the R.C. Church.…

#DBSC – The club's only Jezequel 116 marque, Cri-Cri skippered by Paul Colton who last November picked up the trophy for 'the best new boat on the DBSC racing scene' at the annual DBSC prizegiving has also won the 2012…

#TEAM RACING – The Royal St. George Yacht Club Team Racing Invitational was once Ireland's most prestigious team racing event. After a lapse of a few years, the club hosted a revived "George Invitational" on Saturday March 10th. One tradition…

#LIFEBOATS – Crew members of Bundoran RNLI Lifeboat were on hand recently to help launch the newly established Bundoran Lobsters and Lettuce Festival which will take place this July. Volunteer crew members Brian Faulkner and Daimon Fergus kept the live…

#DROWNINGS – On average three people drown every week in Ireland* and with St. Patrick's Day festivities approaching, Irish Water Safety is appealing to all members of the public to ensure that they wear a well maintained and correctly fitting…