Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

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…

Belfast Lough Sailability held a very successful regatta out of Carrickfergus Marina last Saturday (7th August) and welcomed visitors from Lough Foyle in the North West and Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, making eight boats in all. Sailability gives access…

It was worth the wait for Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough to stage a full-on Topper Northern Ireland Championships over the past weekend. Sixty-nine young sailors came from the length and breadth of Ireland; from Royal Cork and Waterford…

There was non-stop activity at Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough at the weekend (July 17th/18th) for the Regatta which enjoyed day-long hot sunny weather. Though lacking any decent breeze on a Saturday morning for the Cadet racing, just enough…

A multi-agency response was launched last night (Monday 12 July) to battle a fire on board a Stena Line ferry in Belfast Lough. As BBC News reports, the fire broke out in the engine room of the Superfast VIII around…

Several rescue teams went to the aid of a man trapped in mud near Holywood on the south coast of Belfast Lough this morning. (13th July). The tide was flooding, and Mud Rescue Technicians worked rapidly to free the man,…

The 18-foot Waverley open racing yacht has for many years been a Ballyholme Yacht Club class, and those which are still sailing have been berthed in Bangor Marina, which from when it was opened in 1989 proved to be something…