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Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
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The Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) of the Marine Institute and Innovate UK hosted a networking reception in Dublin on Monday (15 April) to advance their joint plans to create green shipping corridors between Ireland and the UK. The event…
The research vessel Fugro Helmert
The Department of Transport has been advised by Dublin Array that they will be conducting geophysical, geotechnical and environmental surveys for the Dublin Array offshore wind farm project. Site investigation operations for the wind farm and the Expert Corridor Route…
Bob Espey was the first-ever Northern Irish championship Waszp winner at Ballyholme Yacht Club
Despite the Yellow Weather warning for County Down last weekend, six Waszp dinghies did turn up at Ballyholme Yacht Club for the first ever Northern Irish championships section of the Four Nations Cup. But with little respite from the North…
File image of Rosslare Harbour RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat
Rosslare Harbour RNLI came to the aid of a sailor who got into difficulty off the Wexford coast on Monday morning (15 April). The volunteer crew were alerted at the request of the Irish Coast Guard after a concerned member…
Jake McCarthy (Skibbereen RC) will row for Ireland in the Lightweight Men’s Single at the 2024 European Championships in Szeged, Hungary
Rowing Ireland has announced the athletes that will represent Ireland at the European Championships. Racing will take place from the 25th April – 28th April in Szeged, Hungary. The Szeged National Canoeing and Rowing Olympic Centre has an eight-lane rowing…
Renewables:  On a visit to Harland & Wolff’s Arnish yard, Humza Yousaf, First Minister of Scotland, who praised the ongoing work in Arnish, along with Methil, both H&W sites in Scotland are to be transformed into hubs for renewable infrastructure through a £270m investment.
Shipyard group Harland & Wolff has welcomed the announcement by the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) regarding the company’s plans to transform its Arnish and Methil facilities into leading hubs for renewable infrastructure. Proposals for Harland & Wolff’s Scottish…
Calves Week 2024 announces Schull Harbour Hotel as the title sponsor for its August regatta in West Cork. From (left to right) Michael Murphy Schull Harbour Sailing Club (SHSC), Eric Coogan Heineken Ireland, Mark Murphy, Commodore SHSC, Jack Allen SHSC, Carmel O'Regan SHSC, Cornelious Ndlovu, Schull Harbour Hotel Operations Manager and Derval Murphy SHSC
Schull Harbour Hotel has been announced as the new title sponsor for the Calves Week 2024 Regatta in West Cork. This partnership will last for the next three years and will bring a great racing and onshore festivities experience to…
Dublin Swift swings off Ferry Terminal (no. 1) at Dublin when bound for Holyhead; such high-speed craft 'seasonal’ services resume next month in tandem with Irish Ferries year-round running cruise-ferries.
Irish Ferries high-speed craft (HSC) Dublin Swift has been tracked by Afloat to Cardiff Docks, south Wales, where the vessel has been wintering, but in a month’s time is to resume seasonal service, writes Jehan Ashmore. According to the Irish…
The Eye Race - 16 stand-up paddle board racers from all over the island of Ireland competed in the waters of Howth Sound and Ireland's Eye, Dublin
Discover SUP hosted the second running of The Eye Race, the final event in the 2023-2024 Irish Winter SUP Race Series, on April 13th, 2024. The race, which took place in the waters of Howth Sound and Ireland's Eye, Dublin,…
In her opening remarks to the UN Ocean Decade Conference, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay thanked Ireland for its overall contribution to Small Island Developing States and the growing impact of the Our Shared Ocean Programme
Ireland’s commitment to strategic partnership with Small Island Developing States (SIDS), through Our Shared Ocean was highlighted throughout the UN Ocean Decade Conference, which took place in Barcelona last week. In her opening remarks to the Conference, UNESCO Director General…
Puffin - the charismatic birds have already been delighting visitors in recent weeks as they arrive back at Rathlin Island
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) anticipates that puffins will benefit from the closure last month of the industrial fishery for sand eels in the North Sea and Scottish waters. The closure of the fishery from March…
Former Team Malizia crew member Rosalin Kuiper now wears the blue of Team Holcim-PRB
Rosalin ‘Rosie’ Kuiper says Team Holcim-PRB will be on the starting line in Kiel, Germany and ready to race in The Ocean Race Europe in the summer of 2025. The Dutch sailor, who competed around the world in The Ocean…
Following the Youth National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club, the Irish Optimist Dinghy teams have been announced for 2024
The anticipation had been building for weeks, and as a group of 39 of the country's more experienced Optimist sailors headed for the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven from April 4th to 7th, excited at the prospect of four…
European Commission headquarters at Berlaymont, Brussels
The European Union has pledged €3.5 billion to protect the world’s oceans, as Silicon Republic reports. A raft of commitments to support marine protected areas (MPAs), improve ocean observation programmes and more was made at the Our Ocean Conference in Athens,…
The Mirror dinghy class is rejuvenated in Ireland for 2024
The rejuvenated Mirror dinghy class is ready to kick off 2024 in Blessington on 27-28 April, whether you have the latest Winder racing unit or the wooden beauty your granddad built in his garage. Is it the fun, the intergenerational learning,…
As part of refurbishment is the Forward Lounge of fast-craft Manannan of the IOM Steam Packet – it is hoped to operate a year round service between Douglas and the ‘new’ ferry terminal in Liverpool. In March, the craft resumed seasonal service to Liverpool and last month to Dublin Port.
Once the new £70m ferry terminal in Liverpool Docks is in operation, it is hoped the Isle of Man Steam Packet can put on a year-round operated service between Douglas and Merseyside. The Steam packet’s fast-ferry Manannan currently does not…
J109, Hanse 341, Starlight 35, Jeanneau & Sun Odyssey 36i all sold By Leinster Boats
The Spring 2024 yacht sales period has been strong for Leinster Boats, with yacht sales completed despite the weather. Recent Spring sales sales include: J109,  Hanse 341,  Starlight 35  Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i   Happy buyers now have their plans set for the…
Bow of the newbuild Arklow Guard, the final of five short-sea traders on the stocks at the Dutch shipyard of Ferus Smit at Westerbroek.
The fifth and final of the 5,150dwt class, Arklow Guard, was launched at Ferus Smit’s Dutch inland shipyard in Westerbroek, writes Jehan Ashmore. Its launch on Friday saw the single-hold cargo ship take to the waters transversely into the adjacent…
Six brand new wing foilers from the Royal St George got their first taste of this extraordinary and fast-growing sport
To fly over water, almost silently is an amazing feeling. That’s according to Brendan Foley, Wing Foiling Class Captain at the Royal St George Yacht Club. Just this weekend six brand new wing foilers from the Royal St George got…
The J122 Aurelia with red kite (Chris Power Smith) and Tom Shanahan's J109 Ruth streak away from the Dun Laoghaire start line bound for North Kish in the second Viking Marine ISORA coastal race of 2024
Following Saturday's dead heat for first place in ISORA's season coastal race opener, 14 boats have entered next Saturday's four-hour race.  Among the contestants are last week's Dun Laoghaire winners, the J122 Aurelia (Chris Power Smith) from the Royal St.…

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