Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

The search continues in Belfast Lough for a young harbour seal spotted with an aluminium can stuck on its lower jaw in recent days. According to BBC News, the seal was spotted on Wednesday (6 October) in a state of…

Coming as it does from David Tasker - an Afloat.ie reader from the Isle of Wight - a typically Autumnal query received a day or two ago from this new owner of an interesting and much-loved vintage boat is one…

After a hiatus of two years, Northern Ireland's RS400 Winter series is back. The Belfast Lough sailing event will kick off on Sunday 31st October for eight consecutive weeks up to 19th December. This event was the last run in…

In the early evening of Saturday, 2nd October, Belfast Coastguard put out a MAYDAY in response to a 20ft yacht with four people on board reportedly taking on water and without power, a mile north of Corsewall Point, at the…

Some of the 'old hands' mixed it with the Laser sailors who had come on the scene since the birth of the Laser class at Ballyholme in 1974. The 39-strong fleet on Saturday (18th September) had a memorable day's racing…

What started off as a challenge in Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club on Belfast Lough by Gordon Patterson's Sigma 362, Fanciulla, a heavy 36-footer, to Gavin Vaughan's new Jeanneau 349, a 34-foot light displacement boat, in a race to…

Donaghadee RNLI carried out a medevac of a passenger who became ill on a cruise ship that left Belfast Lough on Friday evening (17 September). The volunteer crew were requested by Belfast Coastguard to launch their all-weather lifeboat Saxon shortly…

Harold Cottam was a 21-year old radio operator who was on duty on the night of April 14th, 1912 on board passenger ship RMS Carpathia when he received a Morse code message he would never forget. Nor would the world,…

Belfast Harbour has recently made the appointment of three new Directors to its Leadership Team. The appointments are designed so to continue developing its strategy to become a world leading regional port and a key economic hub for the region.…

A study, led by high-performance maritime design and applied technologies company Artemis Technologies based on Belfast Lough has been awarded £533,000 to investigate transformative solutions to decarbonise crew transfer vessel (CTV) operations in the offshore wind sector. The grant, announced…

Sea swimmers in the Carrickfergus area now have safer access to the shore after the repair of steps and railings southeast of the Co Antrim town’s marina on Belfast Lough. According to the Carrick Times, local bathers has raised the…

Nearly 200 swimmers took to the waters of Ballyholme Bay on Belfast Lough in perfect weather on Saturday 28th August, marking the culmination of a very successful season of regular Monday night swims off the Club slipway. Of the huge…

A cargo vessel skipper who nearly caused a collision with a Stena Line passenger ferry in Belfast Lough has been fined more than £6,000, as BBC News reports. Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard that 64-year-old Kolapi Utime was captain of the…

The Fairy class from the Royal North of Ireland fleet at Cultra on Belfast Lough and the River class-based at Strangford Lough YC have raced since 1960 for a special trophy called the Friver Cup. The Rivers, designed by Alfred…

The keelboat weekend held at Royal Ulster Yacht Club on Belfast Lough on 21st and 22nd August is a new venture and benefitted from generous sponsorship by Shortcross Gin. The nine-strong fleet included five visitors, and of these two were…

Sue Monson of Bangor Marina has won the RS Aero Northerns at Carrickfergus Sailing Club. The event was run as part of the RS Northern Championships which also featured the RS Feva, RS 200 and RS 400 fleets. On day…