Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Portaferry RNLI’s inshore lifeboat launched yesterday evening (Monday 2 August) to the aid of a woman who had fallen onboard a yacht. The volunteer lifeboat crew’s pagers sounded just after 7.30pm and they launched amid good conditions to assess the…

Ballycastle Coastguard joined officials from Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in responding to reports of dolphins being potentially harassed by personal water craft and other leisure vessels. The teams launched on Sunday afternoon (25 July)…

Research led by Queen’s University Belfast has shown that invasive species, such as the grey squirrel, European rabbit and Japanese knotweed, have cost the UK economy over £5 billion over the past 40-50 years, making the cost one of the…

For those who were unable to make the first Flying Fifteen "away" regatta since the summer season of 2019, you missed glorious sunshine, great hospitality, fickle winds, and challenging tides! The venue was Portaferry on the northern shores of the…

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…

14 Flying Fifteens enjoyed glorious sunshine and light winds just inside the narrows of Strangford Lough for their Northern Championships on Day 1. Race Officer John McAlea had his hands full with fickle winds and a strong tide but still…

Yesterday (23rd July) Lough Neagh lifeboats were paged in the mid-afternoon by Belfast Coastguard to reports of a Personal Locator Beacon being activated. Lifeboats launched quickly and a search area within the Antrim Bay at the north end of the…

Portaferry RNLI launched to the aid of two people early yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 21 July) after their leisure boat broke down and was left adrift at the Narrows on Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. The volunteer lifeboat crew’s pagers sounded…

There was non-stop activity at Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough at the weekend (July 17th/18th) for the Regatta which enjoyed day-long hot sunny weather. Though lacking any decent breeze on a Saturday morning for the Cadet racing, just enough…

Wins in the second and third races in the Squib Southern Championships at Kinsale Yacht Club this afternoon has handed the overnight lead to Northern Ireland's Peter Wallace and Fiona Ward. The Wallace and Ward partnership from Royal North of Ireland…

The 1.2 km Ballycastle Beach is a popular tourist destination on the Causeway Coast Route on the Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland. It was the scene shortly before midday yesterday (15th July) of a serious incident, when as reported by…

The long-established Narrows Regatta held in that fast-flowing stretch of water between the towns of Portaferry on the east side and Strangford on the west side of Strangford Lough in County Down brought together last weekend over 140 boats for…

A multi-agency response was launched last night (Monday 12 July) to battle a fire on board a Stena Line ferry in Belfast Lough. As BBC News reports, the fire broke out in the engine room of the Superfast VIII around…

Several rescue teams went to the aid of a man trapped in mud near Holywood on the south coast of Belfast Lough this morning. (13th July). The tide was flooding, and Mud Rescue Technicians worked rapidly to free the man,…

The 18-foot Waverley open racing yacht has for many years been a Ballyholme Yacht Club class, and those which are still sailing have been berthed in Bangor Marina, which from when it was opened in 1989 proved to be something…

A year and a half ago, Afloat reported on a famous GP14 called Ventura, which had been saved from destruction and was being restored by Derek McCune of Newtownards Sailing Club.  Now Ventura, no 796 built in 1955 and once…