Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Cork Harbour’s traditional boat fleet got a new gaff rig arrival this season when Crosshaven trawler skipper Gus O’Donovan launched his refurbished 1998 pilot cutter. Gus bought the reproduction cutter on the east coast last year and was busy over…

Irish boats come, Irish boats go. And while some will always be remembered, others leave barely a twirl of wake in the communal memory. The best-remembered has to be Conor O’Brien’s world-girdling Saoirse. Yet it could reasonably be claimed that…

Much of the rest of the sailing world may be whirling in coronavirus confusion, but in serene and elegant Glandore in West Cork. the strong local division of classic and modern International Dragons went smoothly into their 14-race Dragon Derby…

This class was designed in 1913 by George Cockshott as the British Racing Association ‘A’ Class. The class was adopted by the International Yacht Racing Union on 1st. January 1920 and thus it became the International 12 Foot Class. The…

A World War One naval heritage vessel HMS Caroline - the only surviving ship from the Battle of Jutland and one of Belfast’s leading visitor attractions - will remain closed until 2021 due to funding pressures. The National Museum of…

We think of the venerable Dublin Bay Water Wags as being the quintessential Dun Laoghaire Harbour class. But when the results of their first race of the delayed 2020 season yesterday (Wednesday) evening were analysed, it was noted that the…

In Cork at the recently reopened Crawford Art Gallery is where a new exhibition features the maritime traditions of the port in the south of Ireland. Statio Bene draws together over 40 artworks describing the traditions and historic views of…

Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association invites you to join their next Zoom session on Historic Dublin Bay Gaff Rigged Vessels from Maritime Paintings and Photographs, which will be given by Cormac Lowth on Thursday 16th July. Dublin’s leading maritime historian…

In the current wave of revulsion against slavery and its appalling history, no European nation has totally clean hands. For although we might like to think that the huge Caribbean sugar plantations worked by African slaves in the 1800s brought…

It is a truth not universally acknowledged that the steady pint-drinking communities of Cork city and south Munster contributed substantially to the resourcing of the newly-formed Ulster Volunteer Force’s uprising against the proposed introduction of Home Rule for Ireland in…

Focusing her attention to the transport heritage on “God’s Side of the peninsula”, Rosie Moulden, Manager of the Inishowen Maritime Museum in Greencastle, revealed the first recorded steamer trip on Lough Foyle took place in 1816. Speaking to Derry Now,…

The complex project of restoring the Alfred Mylne-designed Dublin Bay 21 class – which first raced in 1903 and ceased racing in 1986 – has been in hiatus during the Lockdown. But now Hal Sisk and Fionan de Barra have…

Across the Irish Sea the National Historic Ships UK which advises the Department of Culture, Media & Sport on grant giving organisations for ship conservation has in response to the impact of Covid-19 on the maritime heritage sector, made a…

Twelve-year-old Cathal McDonagh might be forgiven for skipping his homework this one time as he chanced upon the remains of an ancient boat that could date to the Bronze Age. As the Irish Independent reports, young Cathal made the remarkable…

The Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association invites traditional boat enthusiasts and all sailing fans to join their next Zoom session on The First Rescue of the Morning Star, which will be given by former DBOGA President Dennis Aylmer of Dun…

Some boats just come and go, leaving little trace in the Irish sailing community’s consciousness. But others quickly become an integral part of our enduring mental and physical furniture, and our story at the weekend about the 1966-vintage Sparkman &…