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Coronavirus and Boating
Swanage RNLI’s second coxswain Gavin Steeden wearing PPE
The RNLI says its volunteer crews faced an “unprecedented” summer as statistics reveal a big increase in callouts to people in distress compared to the same time last year. Based on provisional incident reports from lifeboat stations around the UK…
Sport Ireland chief executive John Treacy with Minister of State for Sport, Jack Chambers, Sport Minister Catherine Martin and Sport Ireland chairman Kieran Mulvey at the launch of the €85 million funding package for national governing bodies
Sailing in Ireland is set to benefit from an “unprecedented” €85 million funding package for the sports sector. Sport Ireland chairman Kieran Mulvey said the announcement — made today (Monday 2 November) by Sport Minister Catherine Martin and Minute of…
IRC yachts start a race on Dublin Bay, Ireland's largest sailing centre is among the many harbours where racing has been heavily curtailed by COVID-19
Four-time Olympic keelboat helmsman Mark Mansfield, a regular competitor at Irish IRC and one-design regattas and Irish agent for some well-known sailing brands, reviews how the 2020 sailing season 'happened' in pandemic and considers what could be done to keep the…
Radial Euro championship silver medalist, Anne Marie Rindom is reported to have tested positive for COVID-19
An outbreak of COVID-19 at the European Championships in Poland a fortnight ago has led organisers to contact all 300 competitors alerting them to the outbreak of the virus at the event. Sailors competing in Gdansk received an email communication…
Poole Harbour Boat Show was last held in 2019
Next year’s Poole Harbour Boat Show has already been cancelled, its organisers citing difficulties with planning around the coronavirus pandemic. Boating Business reports that the largest free-to-attend boat show in the UK, which was also called off this past summer,…
Half Ton skipper Ronan Downing from Cork Harbour is racing in the Hicks esailing league
A group of Irish sailors and ex-pats that have been esailing during lockdown are sailing online again in the second round of COVID-restrictions. Hicks VR sailing club is a group of like-minded people from all over the world that enjoy…
Laser dinghies at Strangford Sailing Club
RYA Northern Ireland is giving sailing and boating clubs across the country the opportunity to access support for club membership and development by providing 'Rediscover Sailing Days'. Following lockdown and a challenging few months, many clubs have seen increased interest…
The RYA dinghy show 2021 had been due to take place over the weekend of 27-28 February at its new venue, Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre.
The RYA Dinghy Show is to be a virtual event for 2021 due to the current escalation of Covid-19. The show had been due to take place over the weekend of 27-28 February at its new venue, Farnborough International Exhibition…
"Your Health Treatment Starts Here". Paul Tingle's Alpaca sailing in bracing conditions in the first race of the Royal Cork Yacht Club's truncated 2020 season on Thursday 9th July. Until the COVID-19 shutters came down again this week, sailors throughout Ireland had come to cherish their limited local sailing as a really positive health benefit in building up natural resistance to coronavirus
"I just want to go sailing and racing. Until we had to slam down the shutters this week, I didn't really realise just how much the ordinary club sailing programme and a special local annual series like the Autumn League…
Mac Lir, one of DBSC’s race management vessels
Dublin Bay Sailing Club’s final Saturday race of the truncated summer season remains a possibility if the capital is lifted out of Level 3 coronavirus restrictions on Friday 9 October. Earlier today (Thursday 1 October), Irish Sailing provided an update…
EU Advisory Body Calls for Recovery Measures for Boating & Nautical Tourism
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), an official advisory body of the European Union, published its opinion on Transport and Tourism in 2020 and beyond. It recommends policy measures to help the boating and nautical tourism sector in its…
Laser racing on Dublin Bay is part of a number of events cancelled in the capital
Some key end of summer Dublin sailing events have been cancelled with immediate effect this weekend as a result of the Government's level three restrictions announced this evening. The announcement led the country's largest yacht racing club, Dublin Bay Sailing Club,…
One of the tunnelled bridges of The Gobbins cliff path
Co Antrim’s famous coastal path at The Gobbins is set to reopen next week on Tuesday 1 September. months after it was closed in the initial wave of coronavirus restrictions in Northern Ireland. As RTÉ News reports, the cliff path…
Sailing at a previous Watersports Inclusion Games
This year’s Watersports Inclusion Games, which had been set for 5-6 September at Lough Derg Yacht Club, have been cancelled over continued coronavirus concerns. In a statement, Irish Sailing said that “the current trajectory of the virus spread, coupled with…
Lockdown Sees Huge Increase In Supertrawler Fishing Of UK Protected Areas
Supertrawlers spent almost twice as much time fishing in the UK’s protected waters in the first half of this year than in the whole of 2019, according to an investigation by Greenpeace. As the Guardian reports, supertrawlers spent 5,590 hours…
Mixed Household Crews Allowed For Sailing & Racing In Northern Ireland
RYANI has has issued new guidance which allows for sailing and racing for people from different households in Northern Ireland waters. The guidance has been developed within the current coronavirus legislation and follows the parameters now also in place in…

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Irish Sailing & Boating

Since restrictions began in March 2020, the Government is preparing for a 'controlled and gradual return to sport' and the 2020 sailing fixtures are being tentatively redrafted by yacht clubs, rowing clubs angling and diving clubs across Ireland as the country enters a new phase in dealing with the Coronavirus. The hope is that a COVID-19 restrictions might be eased by May 5th as Sport Ireland has asked national governing bodies for information on the challenges they face. 

Coronavirus (COVID-19) information

COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It's caused by a virus called coronavirus.

To help stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) everyone has been asked to stay at home. But some people may need to do more than this.

You may need to either:

You do these things to stop other people from getting coronavirus.

Read advice for people in at-risk groups

Read advice about cocooning.

Restricted movements

Everybody in Ireland has been asked to stay at home. You should only go out for a few reasons, such as shopping for food.

But you need to restrict your movements further if you: 

  • live with someone who has symptoms of coronavirus, but you feel well
  • are a close contact of a confirmed case of coronavirus
  • have returned to Ireland from another country

You need to restrict your movements for at least 14 days.

But if the person you live with has had a test and it is negative, you don't need to wait 14 days. You should still follow the advice for everyone - stay at home as much as possible.

Close contact

This is only a guide but close contact can mean:

  • spending more than 15 minutes of face-to-face contact within 2 metres of an infected person
  • living in the same house or shared accommodation as an infected person

How to restrict your movements 

Follow the advice for everybody - stay at home.