Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

In what will be a welcome decision by the Ballyholme Yacht Club, members will now be able to proceed, albeit slowly and patiently, towards a return to watersports. Commodore Aidan Pounder has emailed members with the news that SportNI has…

Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough may still be closed but Harbour Master Kevin Baird has given berth holders a very clear and concise set of guidance notes detailing what to expect when it reopens and indeed something to look forward…

InfraStrata the energy firm has asked for an extension from Harland and Wolff administrators to pay the final instalment for its purchase of the Belfast shipyard - due last Thursday - blaming the coronavirus pandemic. The company still has £1.45m…

For those boat owners in Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough itching to have access to their boats and get afloat again, the latest communication from Dean & Reddyhoff and Quay Marinas will give some hope. They say that “we’re starting…

Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team on Belfast Lough was tasked on Friday afternoon after a member of the public contacted the Belfast Coastguard Operations Centre raising concern about an inflatable canoe with two people on board. The team arrived on scene at the 'Long…

Yet another event at Ballyholme has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation. Richard Swanston, one of Ballyholme’s long time members and Chair of Irish Multihull Association, tells me that the May Weekend of Speed had to be withdrawn from…

People may not be able to go to sea at present due to the Government restrictions but dolphins and porpoises clearly can’t read and so we are seeing reports of their activity in Belfast Lough. Recent sightings include about eight…

In the ongoing closures of marinas and harbours around the North Down Coast, Bangor Harbour’s Slipway on Belfast Lough has been closed to all activity except the launching of the lifeboat. The recent Notice to Mariners issued by the Harbour…

A new TV series beginning tomorrow night (Tuesday 14 April) on BBC One Northern Ireland puts Belfast Harbour in the starring role. Today’s Belfast Telegraph features the three-part documentary, Belfast Harbour: Cruises, Cranes and Cargo, which was filmed in the…

In Belfast’s world-famous Harland and Wolff shipyard where the Titanic was built, the horn which hasn’t been sounded for more than twenty years, reverberated loud and clear across the city on Thursday night at 8 pm in appreciation of NHS…

Ballyholme Yacht Club was to have been the venue in early July for the huge Laser Radial European Championships but the Iatest news from the EurILCA team is that due to the COVID-19 situation and expected restrictions on travel during…

The yacht Aries has been sheltering in Ballyholme Bay from the strong southerly and while Bangor Marina is closed due to COVID-19. Aries is a one-off 43 ft steel ketch owned by Simon Layton, a former UKSA instructor and friend…

Betty Amstrong explores past boatbuilding ventures in Ballyholme in the seaside town of Bangor on Belfast Lough. Did you know that before Enrico Caproni built his famous ‘Palais de Dance’ in 1928 on Seacliff Road that there was a shipyard…

The clapping for carers expression of support during the COVID-19 emergency was repeated at 8 pm last night across Northern Ireland and included applause for NHS workers, as well as the frontline staff who work in the docks – hauliers,…

The 320 berth Carrickfergus Marina on Belfast Lough and smaller harbours and launching facilities on the Antrim Coast and on the River Bann owned by Mid and East Antrim Council are the latest to hit the buffers due to Covid-19…

A former boss of a Belfast Harbour based shipping company has come out of retirement and gone back to work to help out during the coronavirus pandemic. Ex-William Reid director Alan Dunlop made the decision to return after four employees…