Historic Boats

Cudmore to Skipper Cork Harbour One Design Jap on Return to Saint Tropez's Centenary Trophy Regatta
21st September 2021 Historic Boats
Royal Cork Yacht Club Olympic helmsman Harold Cudmore will be on the tiller of the oldest and the smallest yacht at the classic yacht Centenary Trophy fleet in Saint Tropez later this month. Cudmore is skippering RCYC's restored Cork Harbour One…

The artists’ exhibition of 21 currachs used as canvases which ran over the summer on the Aran island of Inis Oírr transfers into NUI Galway for Culture Night. Irish international sculptor John Behan RHA, Tuam-based visual artist Jennifer Cunningham, Mayo-based…

Second Outing for the Restored Snipe Dinghy Ranger on Lough Erne
10th September 2021 Northern Ireland Waters
In late August, the Snipe dinghy Ranger, restored by Fred and George Ternan after sixty years lying abandoned on the Crom Estate, County Fermanagh, had her second outing on Upper Lough Erne at Crom. Ranger was one of two Snipes…

Meitheal Mara's Traditional Currachs Make Welcome Return in Ocean to City Youth Event
5th September 2021 Cork Harbour
The river Lee was bustling with young people in traditional currachs as Meitheal Mara hosted their first physical event in Cork Harbour almost two years. Some 50 participants in over 20 boats took part in the Ocean to City Youth…

100-Year-Old 'Cora' Wins Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championship at Royal St. George Yacht Club
30th August 2021 RStGYC
Despite Covid restrictions, The Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championship took place in Dun Laoghaire Harbour in both 2020 and 2021. This year the entry numbers were reduced due to one dinghy being trapped in Mayo with a broken trailer, and…

Bray Droleen Class Celebrate First Ever Irish Championships at Royal St. George Yacht Club
30th August 2021 RStGYC
This was the first-ever Irish Championships for the Bray Droleen Class, despite the 12-foot catboats being designed by William Ogilvy in 1896. How was this the case? The nine boat fleet raced regularly between 1897 and 1902, and thereafter the…

Ciarán Oliver's family history goes back over a hundred years to what was then known as the fishing village of the Claddagh in Galway. His great-great-uncle, Máirtín, was the last 'King of the Claddagh'. The 'Loveen' doesn't go back quite…

The 30ft gaff-rigged Lady Min - designed and built for his own use by Maurice O’Keeffe of Schull in 1902 - was re-launched for his descendant Simon O’Keeffe at the weekend by restorer Tiernan Roe of Ballydehob, and a flotilla…

Return of the Bray 'Droleen' Dinghies to Royal St George Yacht Club for 'Irish Times Challenge Cup'
14th August 2021 Historic Boats
At the end of 1896, Bray Sailing Club decided to hold a competition among its members to design a new one-design sailing dinghy suitable for the challenging marine conditions prevailing off Bray, Co. Wicklow. The winner of the competition was…

John B Kearney's Mavis – Built Ringsend 1925 - Gets Podium Place in Maine in Her First Race Since Restoration
9th August 2021 Historic Boats
The noted Irish yacht designer and builder John B Kearney (1879-1968) was a real grafter. His day job was as shipwright and later superintendent of the workshops of the Dublin Port & Docks board. But when he decided to build…

Restored Dublin Bay 21s Arrive Home to Dun Laoghaire Harbour - Photo Gallery
30th July 2021 Dublin Bay 21
Photographer Michael Chester documented the arrival home of the first three restored Dublin Bay 21’s Number 3 Estelle, 4 Garavogue and 6 Naneen that sailed from Arklow yesterday (Friday 30th) July arriving at Dun Laoghaire at 17.00 where they were met by…

The Dublin Bay Twenty-Ones Are Coming Home: 30 July 2021, Dun Laoghaire Harbour 1700hrs
30th July 2021 Dublin Bay 21
The Dublin Bay 21 Footers are the oldest class of racing yachts of their kind in the world - the World’s Oldest Cruiser Racer Class. Designed in 1902 by the leading yacht designer, Alfred Mylne of Glasgow, for Dublin Bay…

The MGRS 34 Twenty Twenty, originally owned by Bangor man, Jimmy Mackey, lay unused in the river Liffey at Poolbeg, Dublin for about seven years and now, like another Humphrey's design, Juno, will have a new lease of life. Rex…

Currachs Provide Canvas for Inis Oirr Arts Centre Anniversary - One of Two Aran Island Art Displays
26th July 2021 Historic Boats
The symbiotic relationship between the Aran Islands and the centuries-old fishing currach is explored in a new installation at the country’s westernmost arts centre, Áras Éanna on Inis Oírr. The commissioned artists include John Behan RHA, one of Ireland’s most…

Harpist Laoise Kelly Sets Sail on Galway Hooker MacDuach for Island Musical Tour
21st July 2021 Galway Hookers
Award-winning harpist Laoise Kelly has embarked on a concert tour to five west coast islands on a Galway hooker. As The Times Ireland reports, Kelly aims to reconnect island communities with music, storytelling and song. Kelly, a TG4 musician of…

Cora to Celebrate Her 100th Birthday at the Irish 12 foot Dinghy Nationals at Dun Laoghaire
20th July 2021 RStGYC
In 1955, Irish Olympian Dr Alf Delany bought an International 12-foot dinghy called Cora. She is now owned by his daughter Margaret Delany and Cora is again racing. Gerry Murray, who races her with Margaret has been looking into Cora's…