Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Many people have dropped by the Old Cornstore on the riverside at Oldcourt in West Cork to see work progressing on the restoration of the 1926 Conor O’Brien ketch Ilen writes WM Nixon. And naturally they’ll have the impression that…

A Paddy Barry book launch is like no other writes W M Nixon. In fact, as with just about everything to do with this extraordinary man of the sea and the hills, a Paddy Barry book launch is unique unto…

With the hull of the 56ft 1926-built ketch Ilen fully restored in Oldcourt near Baltimore, attention has been turning to detailed items of equipment such as the steering system and the stern gear writes W M Nixon. And the “offering…

#WWIcargoshipsCeremony - To mark the centenary of the sinking of two merchant cargo steamships in the Irish Sea and loss of life, an unveiling of plaques are to take place this Saturday in Dublin, writes Jehan Ashmore.    Family descendents…

With the hull of the 56ft 1926-built Conor O’Brien ketch Ilen now restored and painted in the building shed in Oldcourt near Baltimore, attention shifts increasingly to the long list of detail work that is needed to complete the project…

These days, it’s reckoned that chainplates – those vital fittings that attach a sailing boat’s standing rigging to her hull – should be wellnigh invisible writes W M Nixon. Indeed, when you look at some of the latest products of…

#Lectures - Derry City and Strabane District Council’s lunchtime lecture series Island Voices returns to the Tower Museum this autumn to explore the ancient genetic, cultural and linguistic links which exist between Ireland and Scandinavia. ‘Northern Confluence: Where Celtic and…

#SpanishArmada - A Sligo-based group dedicated to promoting the northwest coastal area’s links with the historic Spanish Armada has been honoured by the King of Spain in a special ceremony this week, as RTÉ News reports. The Plate of the…

In his poem Sailing to Byzantium (1928), William Butler Yeats immortalised the vision of Ireland as “no country for old men”. Expressed so well, the idea took hold and has been re-used internationally in novels and films, even if in Ireland…

“For many people yacht ownership is enough. They buy a boat and they keep it in a marina and they don’t go sailing very often and they go there for picnics and so on, but for some people you can…

Alan Henry & Simon Revill made it “three in a row” in the picturesque waters of Galway Bay on 17/19th of August, winning the IDRA 14 National Championship for their third consecutive year. 18 boats gathered in GBSC on the…

Buckler’s Hard visitors will be able to take tours on board HMS Medusa – which took a starring role in the recently released Dunkirk movie – while it is moored at the attraction on Friday September 29th close to Cowes and…

Lough Erne Heritage is an organisation formed over two years ago to promote and preserve the history of the traditional boats of Lough Erne and in particular their uses in supporting the local population writes Fred Ternan. Many boats were…

Colie Hernon and his family were setting the competitive pace over the weekend at the Crinniu na mBad in Kinvara, with the man himself winning the leath bad race with the 2012-built Croi an Cladaig, while his son Colie og…

The third annual event in recent years, representing the revival of Ireland's first international class of dinghy, the International 12 and DBSC 12, will be held at the Royal St. George Yacht Club on September 10th 2017. Designed in 1912–despite…

The IDRA14 Class Association held their National Championships at Galway Bay Sailing Club from Thursday through Saturday. The 1946-founded class of both wooden and fibreglass clinker-built boats is now made up mainly of sailors based in the Dublin Bay clubs,…