Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

When does life really start? asks W M Nixon. Maybe it’s when the kids have grown up and left home, and you’ve the resources to buy the dream second home for the perfect holidays of your retirement. Of course, 95%…

#RNLI - Lough Derg RNLI launched to assist two adults on a 30ft cruiser with electrical failure deep in Youghal Bay off Garrykennedy yesterday afternoon, Monday 16 July. Valentia Coast Guard requested the lifeboat to launch at 2pm to the casualty…

#Cruising - Vendée Globe challenger Enda O’Coineen will be part of the Royal Galway Yacht Club’s inaugural cruise in company from Galway Docks to the new marina in Rossaveal this Sunday 8 July. BIM seafood ambassador and Figaro contender Joan…

Dave FitzGerald lived a hundred lives, and he lived them to the full. His exuberant zest in existence expressed itself in everyday life, in his notable career as a miner, and in his joy in sport - be it sailing,…

Single-handed sailor Mervyn Wheatley was taking part for the fifth time in the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) to raise funds for The Royal Marines Charity when he encountered hurricane force winds and massive 15m waves in which his boat…

Cruising sailors Fergus and Katherine Quinlan were presented with an international sailing award by the Ocean Cruising Club in April in recognition of their voyage from Galway Bay to Russia and back in one season. The couple sailed Pylades, a 12m…

Hugo Duplessis was a complete one-off, and his death at the age of 94 brings to an end a lifelong involvement with boats and cruising. Yet everything about him was in a sort of amiable contradiction. As he’d a decidedly…

There have been a number of warnings about seamanship and navigational issues in the past few weeks that are important as the sailing season draws nearer. I wonder if the boating community takes enough notice of them? Gail McAllister, who ran…

The award during February of the Irish Cruising Club’s premier trophy - the Faulkner Cup - to Maire Breathnach of Dungarvan was another highlight in a remarkable cruising career. The trophy was for the voyage she made with her husband…

#Cruising - The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) wishes to draw attention to the fact that some European Union member states require the operators of pleasure craft operating within their territorial waters to hold an International Certificate for…

Following WM Nixon's review of the launch of Paddy Barry's book So Far So Good, An Adventurous Life last September, artist and Round–the–World Sailor Pete Hogan recommends the memoir of the Irish sailor who has followed St Brendan’s wake both actually and…

The day-long Irish Sailing/Cruising Association of Ireland Annual Cruising Conference, organised with energetic enthusiasm by Irish Sailing’s Gail MacAllister, deservedly attracted a full house on Saturday to the Clayton Hotel in Leopardstown in South Dublin writes W M Nixon. A…

Irish cruising under sail and power is being celebrated and developed this weekend. Last night’s AGM of the Irish Cruising Club in the National YC in Dun Laoghaire saw this 1929-founded organisation moving its many activities forward on all fronts…

His many friends in international sailing and the global mining industry will be delighted to hear that the legendary Dave FitzGerald celebrated his 90th birthday at a very convivial gathering of family and close friends in the Royal St George…

The Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) has announced the recipients of awards that recognise achievements in blue water sailing over the past 18 months. The recipients of these awards were selected from among those nominated by OCC members. The Club’s premier award, the OCC…

The Cruising Association (CA) has just released a video highlighting the dangers of entanglement with lobster pots as part of its campaign for better marking of static fishing gear. Afloat.ie has previously highlighted the perils of unmarked pots. On March…