Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
'Disappointing Cancellations' Leads Women’s World Match Racing Tour to Update 2024 Schedule
23rd March 2024 Match Racing
The Women’s World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) has announced an updated schedule for the 2024 Tour after the unfortunate cancellation of the opening season events in Annapolis and San Francisco due to a shortage of registered teams. The revised schedule…
Friday evening’s announcement of the Irish Sailor of the Year 2023 title for 19-year-old Eve McMahon at her sailing home of Howth Yacht Club well captures the zeitgeist of mid-2020s Ireland, not least in the fact that the title holder…
Another Record Achievement for Galway Ocean Rower Gavan Hennigan — This Time on Foot in Alaska
22nd March 2024 Coastal Rowing
Gavan Hennigan, a 42-year-old native of Galway who completed a solo row of the Atlantic in 2017, has become the first Irish person to not only complete but win a 1,000-mile foot race in Alaska. This was achieved while experiencing…
World Sailing Champion Eve McMahon Honoured at Irish Sailing Awards in Howth
22nd March 2024 Eve McMahon
Howth sailor Eve McMahon won the prestigious Irish Sailor of the Year, presented by Afloat Magazine this evening, Friday 22 March, at the Irish Sailing Awards in Howth Yacht Club, Co. Dublin. Former Irish Sailing Youth Sailor Awardee Eve was…
Retiral Puts Howth's Eve McMahon Eighth at Women's U21 European Championships in Mallorca
22nd March 2024 Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing
A retiral in race nine of the 2024 Women's U21 European Championships dropped Ireland's Paris 2024 representative in the ILCA 6 class, Eve McMahon, off the podium in Mallorca this afternoon. The Irish girl led the regatta most of the week, but a below-par…
Coastal Ferry Fresh from Survey in South-East Returns Home to Scenic Carlingford Lough
22nd March 2024 Ferry
A small coastal ferry, Frazer Mariner, with a bridge amidships above the vehicle deck, is this afternoon on a repositioning passage from the south-east bound for Carlingford Lough, writes Jehan Ashmore. The 20-car, 100-passenger ferry had made an en-route call…
Stena Line to Boost Capacity on Dublin-Liverpool (Birkenhead) Route with Dedicated Freight-Only Vessel
22nd March 2024 Stena Line
Stena Line has secured a freight only ro-ro vessel, Bore Song, to operate on its Dublin-Liverpool (Birkenhead) route with the ship boosting freight capacity on the Irish Sea route by 30%. The Swedish operator of the Dublin-Liverpool dedicated freight service has…
Transfennica’s Timca Trades on Yet Awaits Norbay’s Rosslare Route Return
22nd March 2024 Irish Ferries
Transfennica's Timca, on short-term freight charter for ICG's Irish Ferries Dublin-Wales/France routes, is due to end when Norbay returns to Rosslare this weekend, releasing Oscar Wilde, if all goes according to plan, writes Jehan Ashmore. Since late February, the chartering…
Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE Project Uses Esri Ireland’s Mapping System to Prevent Wastewater Pollution
22nd March 2024 Inland Waterways
The Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE (DURL) project, a joint venture between South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Councils, has prevented roughly 13 million litres of polluted wastewater from entering Dublin rivers annually by using Esri Ireland’s digital mapping system. The…
The Burren Smokehouse in Co Clare is expanding with a €171,000 investment in new equipment and energy efficiencies, which includes a Brexit-related grant. The artisan food outlet has been approved for grant- aid of €76,900 under the Brexit Processing Capital…
Loughs Agency staff traded their water testing kits for wetsuits and rescue lines after undergoing vital swift water training with the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS). The collaboration stemmed from NIFRS seeking information about potential training exercises on…
'Our Shared Ocean' Builds Research Partnership Between Ireland and Grenada
22nd March 2024 Marine Science
The Our Shared Ocean funding programme, designed to build strategic research partnerships between Ireland and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) has enabled two scholars from the Caribbean island of Grenada to enroll in Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Galway to undertake…
Five Yacht Clubs Sign Up for Irish Sailing League 2024 – Still Room for More!
22nd March 2024 Irish Sailing League
With five of the biggest yacht clubs drawn from the south and east coasts already signed up, the inaugural Irish Sailing League 2024, due to kick off in a month's time, is looking great! The initial clubs that have committed…
Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series Set to Make First Stop in Northern Ireland on Causeway Coast
22nd March 2024 Northern Ireland Waters
For the first time ever, this summer Northern Ireland’s Causeway Coast will welcome the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. Positioned in the World Series calendar as a major mid-season shake-up, the fourth stop of 2024 from 18-20 July has…
RNLI Red Bay Lifeboat and Sea Shanties on Second RTE Seascapes Special Tonight
22nd March 2024 Seascapes
A man overboard exercise with Antrim’s Red Bay all-weather lifeboat and the experience of a dog walker rescued by Cork Harbour’s Crosshaven lifeboat are among topics on tonight’s (Fri, March 22) RTÉ Radio 1 special issue of Seascapes. The programme,…
Marine Notice: Beach Pull and Cable Lay for Greenlink Interconnector Off South-East Wexford
21st March 2024 News Update
Following the recent pre-lay grapnel run, Greenlink Interconnector Ltd will be conducting offshore and nearshore operations for its electricity interconnector from Friday 22 March to Sunday 14 April, subject to weather and operational constraints. Beach-pull operations in the nearshore are…
St Patrick’s Day Launch for Portaferry Lifeboat to Assist Ocean Rowing Vessel
21st March 2024 RNLI Lifeboats
Portaferry RNLI came to the aid of four people on St Patrick’s Day (Sunday 17 March) after their ocean-going rowing boat sustained a broken rudder and developed steering problems. Belfast Coastguard requested the launch of Portaferry RNLI’s inshore lifeboat at…
Howth's Eve McMahon Drops to Third in Women's U21 European Championships in Mallorca
21st March 2024 Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing
Ireland's Paris 2024 representative in the ILCA 6 class, Eve McMahon (47-33-12), relinquished her lead in the 2024 Women's U21 European Championships after eight races sailed in Mallorca on Thursday after maintaining the top position since the start of the regatta. A…
Manx Cat Calls to Dublin Port following Recent Berthing Trials at Liverpool’s New Ferry Terminal
21st March 2024 Dublin Port
Observed entering Dublin Bay this morning was the Isle of Man Steam Packet’s Manannan, having departed Douglas Harbour, but the fast-ferry was not in service, writes Jehan Ashmore. The reason for the call by the 98m catamaran craft to Dublin…
ESPO Award 2024 Will Reward ‘Circular Economy’ Projects in Europe's Ports - Competition is Open
21st March 2024 Ports & Shipping
The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) Award on Social Integration of Ports is entering its 16th edition. The theme of this year’s edition is “port projects or strategies in the field of circular economy that benefit the city and/or the…