Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

It's often talked about and rarely changes on any boat once set. But it's an important tool that needs to be changed between light and heavy airs.  Rake defines the balance (Lead) of the boat and how it sails upwind…

Using a full inventory of UK Sails and a new XD carbon mainsail, big congratulations to the McBearla crew of Ross McDonald, Aoife McDonald, Killian Collins and crew on Atara on winning the 1720 Eastern Championships at Howth Yacht Club…

UK Sailmakers Ireland congratulates Ann Kirwan and the crew of Bandit for its weekend win of the Ruffian 23 Nationals 2021 on Dublin Bay. Taking six first places and two seconds over the three-day championship, Bandit's performance speaks for itself.…

A small tear or a complete blowout to your sails? Cork-based UK Sailmakers will be on-site at this week's O'Leary Insurances Sovereign's Cup Regatta at Kinsale Yacht Club to carry out sail repairs for the 62-boats competing in the biennial regatta. …

As the racing season is underway, this new and improved IRC calculator from UK Sailmakers Ireland is just the thing you need for your season ahead. Just type in the boat name and TCC number of each boat in your…

Barry Hayes from UK Sailmakers Ireland explains which slab reefing system is best for various situations. With an eye towards optimizing the boat for the way you sail it, you can opt for different reefing options. Finding the right combinations…

There are times in your boat-owning life when you need to step back and evaluate your vessel's set-up. With an eye towards optimising the boat for the way you sail it, you can opt for different sails, winches, running rigging,…

Barry Hayes from UK Sailmakers Ireland explains which system is best for various situations There are times in your boat-owning life when you need to step back and evaluate your vessel's set-up. With an eye towards optimising the boat for…

Barry Hayes from UK Sailmakers Ireland explains which system is best for various situations There are times in your boat-owning life when you need to step back and evaluate your vessel's set-up with an eye towards optimizing the boat for…

Barry Hayes of UK Sailmakers Ireland (in conjunction with Jenny Howells of the RORC Rating Office) explains the main difference between a flying Jib and an IRC flying headsail  The main difference between a flying Jib and an IRC flying…

We would like to wish all our customer a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2021. In such a hard year, we would like to thank everyone for all the support and most of all the staff and people who helped…

Small fathead mainsails, where the roach of the sail is increased due to a considerably wider head of the sail, are starting to pop-up on the racecourse and they are proving to be a winner. Getting extra sail area on…

Long-lasting McWilliam Sailing Bags have launched a new range to go with their distinctive stripe bags. To celebrate the launch Afloat readers can avail of a special 10% discount offer at the bottom of this page. Synonymous with sailing in Ireland,…

Racing a J/109 in IRC has its compromises because you're sailing with asymmetrics, you're limited to certain angles and only so much boat speed is generated both up-wind and down. While living in Hong Kong, I raced the J/109 Whiskey…

UK Sailmakers Ireland in Cork Harbour say they remain open during the Covid-19 Level 5 restrictions as the Crosshaven sail loft is treated as a manufacturing facility and a full production loft. As they continue to repair, service and produce sails,…

What has Brexit got to do with your winter sails service this year? Barry Hayes of UK Sailmakers Ireland, explains the situation and why it’s such an urgent matter. Dear customers, I want to let you know it’s really urgent if…