The week to Saturday, 24 October 2026 — An Irish solo sailor’s Golden Globe challenge ends, a second Middle Sea Race line-honours win has an Irish connection, and autumn racing gives way to storm warnings. Here is the week’s sailing and maritime news, with links to the original reports.
From Irish sailing clubs to ports and shipping and fishing communities, there has been no shortage of developments. Here are the reports behind the headlines, and the stories to watch in the days ahead.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
A Cruel End to an Irish Golden Globe Challenge
Six weeks and 5,644 nautical miles into the Golden Globe Race, Kerry sailor Pat Lawless was lying second when a Solent stay failure forced his retirement. Afloat revisited the performance that had brought the 70-year-old within striking distance of the lead; a subsequent organisers’ update identified failed tiller-to-rudder-head fastenings as an additional problem aboard Silvermines Hydro.
Saturday’s Sailing on Saturday column by W M Nixon considers the significance of the loss and also revisits the pioneering all-women crew of the 1986 Round Ireland Race. Lawless is out of the competition, but the race itself has not become any easier.
Autumn Racing: Howth Finishes, Cork Waits
On the domestic scene, Howth Yacht Club’s Autumn League concluded after six weekends, with the Puppeteer 22 fleet again central to the story and the J/92 Insider Again among the familiar sights. In Cork Harbour, the weather was less accommodating: Monkstown Bay cancelled Saturday’s October League racing, while Royal Cork announced an 11.55am first gun for Sunday’s Autumn League finale, subject to conditions. The club has not confirmed a reason for the revised start, and a cancellation has not been independently confirmed.
Winter racing is already taking shape on Dublin Bay. The Viking Marine-sponsored DMYC Frostbites have 55 entries, including 21 ILCA 6s and nine Fireballs, ahead of the 1 November opening.
Season’s End – Howth Yacht Club’s six-week Autumn League concluded on 17 October, bringing the main autumn series to a close. Photo: Robin Blandford
Irish Success in the Middle Sea Race
Off Malta, Shane Hughes helped Black Jack 100 secure monohull line honours in the 606-nautical-mile Rolex Middle Sea Race for a second successive year. He subsequently described the maxi as an “absolute weapon”, while the overall IRC victory went to Giovanni Lombardi Stronati’s Django 7X, ahead of defending champion Balthasar.
In France, a Mistral-hit SB20 World Championship ended without further racing on Friday. The Royal Irish Yacht Club crew of Ger Dempsey, Colin Galavan and Arten Baskin finished 18th in the 66-boat fleet, with Lough Ree Yacht Club’s Ben Graf, John McGonigle and Kevin Fenton 47th. William Borghesi became the youngest SB20 world champion; the early-race report shows how his crew established its lead.
Mistral Mayhem – Heavy winds curtailed the SB20 Worlds in Hyères, where Irish crews finished 18th and 47th overall. Photo: João Saraiva Mendes
From Bermuda to Canada: Irish Sailing Connections
Royal Cork and Strangford Lough sailors shared the Bermuda Gold Cup celebrations: Dylan O’Sullivan finished eighth in the Junior Gold Cup, Ollie Gundersen was 22nd, and his father Jon sailed aboard Christian Hamilton’s winning Gold Cup crew. Elsewhere, four donated Irish Flying Fifteens are bound for Canada to support community sailing on British Columbia’s Salt Spring Island.
Wicklow naval architect Mark Mills has a new Admiral’s Cup 40 nearing completion, with January trials planned, while the Irish Multihull Association is proposing shared championships for 2027 to encourage participation and ease the demands on host clubs.
Fishing, Aquaculture and the Blue Economy
There was significant movement in aquaculture research: five Irish institutions secured €1.25 million for work on mussel fouling, seaweed products, salmon health and oyster habitats. Killybegs engineering company SeaQuest Systems was named BIM Aquatech Business of the Year at the Blue Ambition conference, while Pure Marine Biotech’s blue-whiting processing featured in the Government’s new bioeconomy strategy.
For traditional coastal livelihoods, the seaweed harvesting debate also moved forward. An Oireachtas committee called for a national sustainable seaweed policy, including protections for traditional rights and a distinct approach to large-scale commercial harvesting.
Shelling Out – Five Irish research projects will examine aquaculture challenges, including tubeworm fouling of rope-grown mussels. Photo: Eileen Henderson/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Harbours, Ferries and the People Behind Them
Closer to home, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council applied for maritime consent for a proposed ecological pontoon near the harbour’s West Pier. At Dublin Port, East Wall volunteer Willie Dwyer received the inaugural Local Community Hero Award as the port marked 25 years of its scholarship programme.
On the ferry front, the former Rosslare–Cherbourg ro-pax Cotentin was sold and renamed Nefertitti; separately, Brittany Ferries reported fuel-saving results from digital routing technology ahead of a demonstration at the Route du Rhum village.
And in a more personal register, Kasha Mleko’s tribute to her father JP Mleko remembers a resourceful sailor and Atlantic voyager whose connections reached from Poolbeg to the Caribbean. A Cruising Club of America study of 28 yacht-to-yacht rescues offered a different reminder of the responsibilities shared by sailors at sea.
STILL MAKING WAVES
Sunday’s immediate concern is marine weather. Storm Boelo has brought multiple warnings, including high-tide and coastal-flooding concerns in the west and northwest. In the South Atlantic, Golden Globe Race leader Damien Guillou is working northeast as organisers warn of a developing system with gusts forecast to reach 70 knots from Sunday.
Sunday’s Cork Harbour programme remains weather-dependent, and the West Pier pontoon consent application is another local planning matter worth following in Dun Laoghaire Harbour beyond the week’s headlines.
ON THE HORIZON
More than 110 Optimist sailors are due at Lough Ree Yacht Club from 28–31 October for IODAI National Training Week. On 1 November, the DMYC Frostbites are scheduled to start in Dún Laoghaire, while the 115-boat Route du Rhum fleet is due to leave Saint-Malo for Guadeloupe.
Further ahead, Brest is inviting Irish traditional boats and crews to its July 2027 maritime festival, Britain’s America’s Cup AC75 has reached Naples for the 2027 campaign, and 107 yachts are entered for the Sydney Hobart Race on St Stephen’s Day.
Also in The Week Afloat
Among the other stories worth a look: SailGP’s new Pensacola training base; freight fuel-surcharge pressures on the Isle of Man ferry service; the SB20 Worlds warm-up; and, for some historical context, the class’s windy Irish Nationals on Lough Ree in September.
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