Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Portaferry RNLI launched twice in three days to reports of broken down boats in the same area of Strangford Lough. Portaferry’s volunteer crew launched initially on Thursday evening (25 June) at 9.50pm to assist a five-metre cabin cruiser at the…

Bangor Town Regatta on Belfast Lough was a casualty of COVID-19 this year, (in fact the regatta would have been on the water last week), but a 2021 date has now been set for Thursday 24th till Sunday 27th June.…

Kevin Baird, Harbour Master and Marina Manager in Bangor, has posted a substantial update to the state of harbour and marina opening dates in the North of Ireland and beyond. The situation continues to be fluid. Among the notable changes…

Ballyholme Yacht Club is planning to form a Sub Committee to ensure members who are interested in Standup Paddleboarding, Sea Swimming, Kayaking and Windsurfing have a voice. Before the Lockdown the club had plans in place for a new Social…

A Belfast Lough Maritime Consortium led by Artemis Technologies has won a £33 million UK Government innovation grant to develop zero emissions ferries in the city, that will revolutionise the future of maritime transport. With further investment from consortium partners,…

This morning Newcastle RNLI were tasked along with their colleagues from Newcastle and Kilkeel Coastguard to assist a casualty who had trapped his foot under the vehicle with an incoming tide while in the process of trying to launch their…

Donaghdee RNLI volunteer crew launched their all-weather lifeboat this afternoon at the request of UK Coastguard after reports of a person in the water following a jetski incident at Millisle, Co. Down. At 1.45 pm UK Coastguard requested Donaghadee RNLI…

A volunteer with Coleraine Coastguard returned home from a callout to a masked gang who dragged him out of his car before tying him up and burgling his home, as BBC News reports. HM Coastguard confirmed the incident in the…

Three months of improvement works at Strabane Canal and The Gribben have begun this week. William Doherty Construction Ltd is contracted to carry out the works, which commenced on Monday 22 June and entail extensive resurfacing of the 1.2km of…

Women on Water became Women online for a festival which should have been held at Carrickfergus Sailing Club but had to be redesigned due to COVID 19. The festival brought together like-minded women who have been involved in sailing from…

As Father’s Day (Sunday 21 June) wound down, Portaferry RNLI’s lifeboat volunteers were paged following reports of an upturned boat off Ardglass in Co Down, Northern Ireland. The crew launched promptly at 9.17pm in cloudy but good visibility conditions and…

Answering what was the Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team’s third shout of the day yesterday (Sat 20th), after a telephone call from former Lifeboat Operations Manager Kevin Byers, a volunteer RNLI crew was tasked with rescuing three kayakers in Ballyholme Bay…

Both Portrush RNLI lifeboats were requested to launch by HM Coastguard yesterday afternoon (Saturday 20 June) to reports of person on an inflatable paddleboard in difficulty in the sea just off Portstewart on Northern Ireland’s North Coast. The inshore lifeboat…

Members of the Larne club will welcome its General Committee’s decision to make the most of the lockdown easing, for hot on the heels of RYA NI advice that Step 2 of the Northern Ireland Executive’s Pathway to Recovery has…

On 15th June the Northern Ireland Executive announced further relaxations to the Coronavirus Regulations and subsequently Bangor Marina updated its information yesterday on Northern Ireland Marinas and Harbours. These developments make some changes to the information here. From 26th June,…

Many sailors are slowly returning to the water as the lockdown eases, but they have kept in touch by taking part in RYA Northern Ireland’s virtual forums, learning more about support, opportunities for funding and other important updates. The club…