Irish Cruising News. Sailing, Offshore, Ocean and Bluewater
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The extensive Solway Firth, between Scotland and England in the northeast corner of the Irish Sea, has massive tides that are continually changing the nature of the place. In times past, this worked well for coastal raiders. And none more…
![The sunny island. Galway Bay SC Cruising Group gathered recently in Inishbofin on a day which shows that the sunshine lingers on in the islands as the clouds build over the Twelve Bens The sunny island. Galway Bay SC Cruising Group gathered recently in Inishbofin on a day which shows that the sunshine lingers on in the islands as the clouds build over the Twelve Bens](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000svgHAkw13V0/s/848/I0000svgHAkw13V0.jpg)
Experienced West Coast sailors know that their Atlantic seaboard's rainy reputation is only part of the story, as the conspicuous mainland mountains tend to draw down two or three times as much rain as the less elevated offshore islands. The…
![Wave Rover II being launched at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in July 2023 Wave Rover II being launched at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in July 2023](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000X0clEwUFXvs/s/500/I0000X0clEwUFXvs.jpg)
Alan Mulholland’s Junk Rig Wave Rover II Among Smallest Boats to Cross Atlantic
7th July 2024 Cruising
A junk rig that arrived this weekend at Sherkin Island may be one of the smallest vessels to make an Atlantic crossing. Alan Mulholland’s 21-footer Wave Rover II has just completed a transatlantic route via Horta in the Azores —…
![Glandore Harbour Yacht Club's Sailing Secretary Michelle Hayes with race winner Mike Carroll, skipper of Chancer with Anthony Scannell Commodore of Kinsale Yacht Club and Hal Andrew’s, Commodore of Glandore Harbour Yacht Club Glandore Harbour Yacht Club's Sailing Secretary Michelle Hayes with race winner Mike Carroll, skipper of Chancer with Anthony Scannell Commodore of Kinsale Yacht Club and Hal Andrew’s, Commodore of Glandore Harbour Yacht Club](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000OGlo7LMvPSE/s/848/I0000OGlo7LMvPSE.jpg)
Kinsale Yacht Club Pilgrimage to Glandore, West Cork - A Day of Sailing and Celebration
6th June 2024 Kinsale
Five boats participated in the annual Kinsale Yacht Club pilgrimage to Glandore, West Cork, during the June bank holiday weekend. Sailors were welcomed by abundant sunshine and calm seas. The fleet of five starters included Chancer owned by Michael Carroll, Genesis…
![Cruising Association logo Cruising Association logo](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000ppCDRnIhgnw/s/500/I0000ppCDRnIhgnw.jpg)
The UK’s Cruising Association has welcomed a new protocol for small boats entering France from outside the European Union. As of 1 June 2024, 53 marinas in France along its Channel coast now have the right to process boats both…
![The Centenarian - Jack Wolfe is one hundred today The Centenarian - Jack Wolfe is one hundred today](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000L_6bBqhrcy4/s/848/I0000L_6bBqhrcy4.jpg)
Despite approaching its Centenary in 2029, the Irish Cruising Club has never had a Centenarian among its membership until today, Friday 31st May 2024, when the great and unique Jack Wolfe of Howth reaches the magic hundred. His life is…
![Some of the 18-boat Kinsale Yacht Club cruising fleet berthed at the Naval Services Yacht Squadron at Haulbowline for their overnight visit Some of the 18-boat Kinsale Yacht Club cruising fleet berthed at the Naval Services Yacht Squadron at Haulbowline for their overnight visit](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000BHF311RXZ9I/s/848/I0000BHF311RXZ9I.jpg)
Kinsale Yacht Club Cruising Group Enjoy BBQ and Overnight Stay at Naval Services Yacht Squadron at Haulbowline
9th May 2024 Kinsale
Members of the Kinsale Yacht Club Cruising Group had a wonderful start to the cruising season with a BBQ and overnight stay at the Naval Services Yacht Squadron in Haulbowline Naval Base in Cork Harbour. The event was organised by…
![Howth Yacht Club's Bon Rendell with Anthony Doyle and John Davis from the Oyster 565 Tír na nÓg in the Marquesas Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean Howth Yacht Club's Bon Rendell with Anthony Doyle and John Davis from the Oyster 565 Tír na nÓg in the Marquesas Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I000007sBYl9x60M/s/767/I000007sBYl9x60M.jpg)
Two Irish Oyster Yachts 'Tír na nÓg' and 'Rí-Rá' Arrive in Pacific's Marquesas Islands in Round the World Rally
13th April 2024 Cruising
Two Irish Oyster yachts, Tír na nÓg and Rí-Rá, have arrived at the Marquesas Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean as part of the Oyster Round the World rally that began in January, after an adventurous journey. Bob Rendell's Oyster 565 sailed across 3,300…
![The mighty John Alden schooner Puritan is just one chapter in Bob Fannin Jnr’s very varied history of sailing experience The mighty John Alden schooner Puritan is just one chapter in Bob Fannin Jnr’s very varied history of sailing experience](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000usBA6VpuvEk/s/767/I0000usBA6VpuvEk.jpg)
Bob Fannin Jnr feels most at home on the high seas. For as the Bristol-based writer, broadcaster and university lecturer told the members of the Cruising Group at his former club of Howth on Tuesday night, when sailing the sea,…
![Peter Haden (Irish Cruising Club, left), of Ballyvaughan on Galway Bay, becomes the inaugural awardee of the Friendship Cup from Bob Medland of the Cruising Club of America at the ICC Annual Dinner in Cork in Saturday night Peter Haden (Irish Cruising Club, left), of Ballyvaughan on Galway Bay, becomes the inaugural awardee of the Friendship Cup from Bob Medland of the Cruising Club of America at the ICC Annual Dinner in Cork in Saturday night](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00001UUWApSksSs/s/767/I00001UUWApSksSs.jpg)
Peter Haden of Ballyvaughan is First to be Awarded Cruising Clubs’ Friendship Cup
25th March 2024 Cruising
The Annual Dinner of the Irish Cruising Club in Cork on Saturday night was outstanding for many reasons, with the most important being the first awarding of the Friendship Cup. This was presented to the ICC last year at the…
![An orca interaction with a yacht on the Iberian peninsula An orca interaction with a yacht on the Iberian peninsula](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000IZO2v5UPEA8/s/767/I0000IZO2v5UPEA8.jpg)
As the cruising season arrives along the Atlantic coasts of France, Portugal, Spain, and through the Strait of Gibraltar, sailors are being urged to remain vigilant for potential orca encounters. The Cruising Association (CA) has issued a warning to sailors…
![Marking Jarlath Cunnane’s 80th birthday in Castlebar Co Mayo were (from left to right) Jean Murphy, Louis Keating, Maeve Keating Séamus Breathnach, Jarlath Cunnane and Michael Brogan Marking Jarlath Cunnane’s 80th birthday in Castlebar Co Mayo were (from left to right) Jean Murphy, Louis Keating, Maeve Keating Séamus Breathnach, Jarlath Cunnane and Michael Brogan](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000YYjJI84qysg/s/767/I0000YYjJI84qysg.jpg)
Northabout crew from the Irish yacht’s historic polar circumnavigation marked the 80th birthday of their expedition skipper Jarlath Cunnane in Mayo last weekend. The adventurer, boat builder and holder of the prestigious Blue Water Medal, was joined by fellow sailors…
![Kirsten Neuschäfer receives the 2023 Blue Water Medal from CCA Commodore Jay Gowell Kirsten Neuschäfer receives the 2023 Blue Water Medal from CCA Commodore Jay Gowell](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000iO8b.v.PGsM/s/767/I0000iO8b.v.PGsM.jpg)
Blue Water Medal Presented to Kirsten Neuschäfer as CCA Honours Top 2023 Ocean Sailors
13th March 2024 Golden Globe Race
The 2023 Cruising Club of America (CCA) awards ceremony was held at the New York Yacht Club on Friday, March 1, highlighted by the presentation of the Blue Water Medal to solo round-the-world sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer. The prestigious Medal was…
![Ashley Perrin (Antarctic Ice Pilot) and her husband Merfyn Owen, were awarded the 2023 Royal Cruising Club Trophy on Friday at the New York Yacht Club Ashley Perrin (Antarctic Ice Pilot) and her husband Merfyn Owen, were awarded the 2023 Royal Cruising Club Trophy on Friday at the New York Yacht Club](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000QWBwJGt85CU/s/767/I0000QWBwJGt85CU.jpg)
On Friday at the New York Yacht Club, Ashley Perrin and Merfyn Owen received the 2023 Royal Cruising Club Trophy from the Commodore of the CCA (Cruising Club of America). The trophy was awarded “For their extended circumnavigation and excellent…
![Man in charge – in addition to long distance cruising, Ed Wheeler has given years of service to the Irish Cruising Club and the Royal Ulster Yacht Club Man in charge – in addition to long distance cruising, Ed Wheeler has given years of service to the Irish Cruising Club and the Royal Ulster Yacht Club](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000Bm_E7dA1L3c/s/767/I0000Bm_E7dA1L3c.jpg)
Ed Wheeler of County Down is Afloat.ie “Sailor of the Month (Voyaging & Services to Sailing)” for February
1st March 2024 Sailor of the Month
Ed Wheeler’s extraordinary career in sailing has ranged from racing the first International Cadet dinghy to be seen on Belfast Lough in the early 1950s (he won Ballyholme YC’s famous Lufra Cup for the big-fleet end-of-season pursuit race) to solo…
![Double jobber…..Colin Leonard of Strangford Lough and Ballyholme won Silver at the ILCA Masters in Australia in February, and also collected an Irish Cruising Club award Double jobber…..Colin Leonard of Strangford Lough and Ballyholme won Silver at the ILCA Masters in Australia in February, and also collected an Irish Cruising Club award](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000nKBjHWSi5v0/s/767/I0000nKBjHWSi5v0.jpg)
Colin Leonard of Strangford Lough and Ballyholme is “Sailor of the Month (International & Cruising)” for February
1st March 2024 Sailor of the Month
There seem to be two Colin Leonards prominent in the sailing scene in the north, but in fact, it’s one and the same man making the best of several possibilities. Colin Leonard of Ballyholme was tops in the medal stakes…