Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

The Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival 2017 from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th May will feature a remarkable selection of old, restored and new craft - traditional and classic alike - all reflecting the many aspects of the arts and crafts…

#Currach - The first of four new community-built currachs launches from Inishbofin this afternoon (Sunday 30 April), as Galway Bay FM reports. Young people from the Connemara island have been heavily involved in the traditional boat-building project, funded via the…

Some boats are Classics from birth, others acquire Classic status over time, and there are others beyond that again which have had imaginative things done to them in order to confer a new Classic status writes W M Nixon. Back…

#SaveShip! - Time is running out to save iconic Naomh Eanna, a former Aran Islands ferry and freight ship, writes Galway Independent. A voluntary group which hoped to return the ship to Galway into a maritime attraction at the Long…

#Laurentic - History lovers on Thursday 6 April will get a closer view of some of the fascinating artefacts recovered from the tragic sinking of SS Laurentic in Lough Swilly as part of a unique workshop. The artefacts from the…

#NaomhEanna - The Minister for Transport is being urged to back a campaign to bring Naomh Eanna back to Galway, writes The Connacht Tribune. The ship once carried passengers (and freight) between the city and Aran Islands, before being withdrawn…

The 43ft 1937 Tyrrell of Arklow-built gaff ketch Maybird has become a familiar sight in Irish waters in recent years writes W M Nixon. Bought in New Zealand in 2002 by Darryl Hughes (who hailed originally from Wales, but carved…

The new Larch hull of the ketch Ilen nearing completion in West Cork has had its first coat of primer, only after much plugging, filling and sanding. Preparation, as all painters know, is the difference between a good job and…

Cruising is the side of sailing which sometimes finds it difficult to make its voice heard. Its essence is in the quiet enjoyment of seafaring and the peace of secluded anchorages. Unlike the absolute clarity of racing results, which create…

The latest photos of the restoration work on Ireland's only remaining Sail–Trader Ilen reveal wonderful new Larch planked bulwarks are begining to embrace the 56–ft sailing ketch. They will be expected to shoulder many an Atlantic sea, according to Gary MacMahon, of…

Glandore Classic Boat Regatta celebrates its 25th anniversary this July with a Parade of Sail that will feature the fully restored AK Ilen, Ireland's sole surviving Sail Trader. There will be four days of first class racing, with eight different…

#Laurentic - Last Wednesday (25 January) saw Donegal commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the SS Laurentic off Lough Swilly by German mines during the First World War. Just 121 of the 475 people on board survived the tragedy,…

#HistoricBoats- A rare example of an Irish built ship dating more than a century and listed on the UK Historic Ships Registry, is to undergo a major refit for ‘sailing’ excursions in Scotland, writes Jehan Ashmore. The historic ship Arctic…

#HMScaroline - For the first time in 32 years, HMS Caroline departed from its moorings in Belfast Harbour. The Belfast Telegraph reports that the last remaining vessel from the World War One Battle of Jutland gently eased from its Alexandra…

When you’re among friends at a major anniversary celebratory dinner for a dinghy class of national historic significance, it’s something of a gamble to allow a roving microphone to be taken into the midst of the gathering at the height…

The restoration of the 57–ft traditional multi-cargo ketch Ilen, built in Baltimore in 1926, has taken a significant step forward through the formal closing of her deck with the ceremonial fastening home of the final plank at Liam Hegarty’s boatyard…