Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE – As plans progress to celebrate the end of the Volvo Ocean Sailing Race in Galway next June Heineken has won the pouring rights and the brewer is expecting to serve over one and a half million…

#DUBLIN BAY – Tonight's Dublin Bay Sailing Club Annual Prizegiving 2011 is taking place at the Royal St George Yacht Club and among the top award winners is the X-34 Xtravagance skippered by Colin Byrne from the Royal Irish Yacht…

#BUYING A BOAT - With all the excitement that comes with buying a new boat, there are a number of important factors that every prospective purchaser should keep in mind, according to website Mad About Yachts. http://www.afloat.ie/resources/buying-a-boat First and foremost,…

#ISLAND NEWS - Cork County Council has set up a working group to examine the future of the Dursey Island Cable Car. http://afloat.ie/resources/island-news http://afloat.ie/resources/island-news The group, established with the objective of securing the future sustainable operation of Ireland's only cable…

#CORK HARBOUR - A never-before-seen collection of images and memorabilia from Cork celebrating the harbour city and its heritage has just been published, the Cork Independent reports. http://www.afloat.ie/port-news/cork-harbour-news Pure Cork features photos, postcards, maps and other items collected by Blarney…

#COASTGUARD – A critical review will be conducted into the feasibility of a single transport safety body, comprising the Road Safety Authority, the Railway Safety Commission and the Maritime Directorate that includes the Coastguard. The Maritime Safety Directorate (MSD) is…

#BOATS FOR SALE – A Quarter Ton yacht for sale at €8,000 is 'a great club racer' that 'normally cleans up in Class 3', that's according to a new advertisment on Afloat's Boats for Sale site this morning. The yacht…

#FACEBOOK – 2,500 people now follow Afloat magazine on Facebook, the social media site. Thanks to all our friends for your comments, suggestion and interest in Irish boating. We enjoy bringing you timely updates on Irish boating and sailing, clearly…

Recognising that Cork's long and varied coastline is one of its greatest assets, the Mayor of Cork County, Councillor Kevin Murphy, and the County Manager, Martin Riordan, launched two major reports on Cork's coastal areas earlier this Summer; a Marine…

#FERRY NEWS- The second of Stena Line's 'Superfast' new ferries Stena Superfast VIII, is en-route fresh from refurbishment in Gdansk, in advance of the new Belfast-Cairnryan route which is to open next Monday, writes Jehan Ashmore. The new route to…

# DBSC TURKEY SHOOT – Two J109s shared the top slots in the first race of last Sunday's Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot, sponsored this year by Boatshed.com. National Yacht Club Commodore Paul Barrington's Jalapeno beat John Maybury's Joker…

#OLYMPIC SAILING–As the important Olympic sailing Qualifier event in Perth, Australia draws closer Ireland had Laser, Laser Radial and 49er teams competing in Sail Melbourne as a warm up event last week. 49er dinghy men Ryan Seaton and Matthew McGovern…

#LASER – Royal Cork Sailor Cian Byrne won the UK's Laser Inland Championships held in Grafham Water Sailing Club last weekend. The event was shortened due to lack of wind. Cian, the only Irish sailor to compete in this class,…

#TALL SHIPS - Not only has the Celtic Mist finally been lifted into dry dock for refurbishing this week, but the Irish Independent reports that day trips will be offered on the yacht when it returns to the water next…

#MARINE WILDLIFE - Conservationists in the UK have voiced their concern that Westminster will enact fewer than a quarter of the proposed Marine Conservation Zones in British waters. http://afloat.ie/port-news/marine-wildlife/ The Press Association reports that some 127 such zones - including…

#MARINE WILDLIFE - "Until a mere couple of decades ago, virtually all we knew of the variety and distribution of the whales and dolphins around Ireland was judged from the catches of a short-lived Norwegian whaling station in north Co…

New developments in Ireland's capacity to uncover its past and explore its future economic potential will be revealed today and tomorrow (16th and 17th November) at a seminar on underwater mapping at the Marine Institute in Galway. Map of the…

#ANGLING - A plaque paying tribute to the late secretary of the Dublin Salmon Anglers' Association has been inveiled at Carton Estate in Co Kildare. http://afloat.ie/watersport/angling Patrick 'Pat' O'Molloy, who died in November last year, was commemmorated for his pioneering…

#MARINE WILDLIFE - A stranded dolphin was rescued at Duncannon on Monday last week, the New Ross Standard reports. http://www.afloat.ie/port-news/marine-wildlife/ http://afloat.ie/safety/rescue http://www.newrossstandard.ie/news/lifeboat-saves-dolphin-2935153.html After being spotted by a member of Fethard-on-Sea RNLI, the dolphin was aided by the lifeboat crew, with…

#SURFING - Irish surfing ace Easkey Britton sat down with Cooler magazine to chat about her "whirlwind" last few months. http://afloat.ie/watersport/surfing/ Britton, who comes from the highly regarded Donegal surfing dynasty, has spent much of this year jugging her studies…