Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Brian Black, the multi-media communicator, Arctic sailor, and environmentalist, died today (Tuesday) after a tragic accident at noon when his car plunged off the pier at his home village of Strangford in County Down. Originally best-known as a presenter with…

 Ballyholme Yacht Club‘s ‘Regatta’ last weekend went a long way in these ‘new normal’ times, to fulfil the usual criteria for a standard regatta, but minus the visitors and the usual socialising and tea and buns afterwards. It was a…

Portrush RNLI’s inshore lifeboat launched to the rescue of a 50-year-old woman who fell into the water while with a coasteering group at Dunseverick near the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland yesterday afternoon (Saturday 1 August). The volunteer crew applied…

Recently the Brompton inflatable goose featured in a story about open sea swimmers near Bangor on Belfast Lough. Now round the corner from Brompton, the Helen’s Baywatch swimmers have a real ‘Goose’ to swim with! The reddish-brown female eider duck…

Young sailors and windsurfers in Northern Ireland could follow in the wake of Donaghadee’s Charlie O’Malley by applying for a junior pathway boat or board in the final year of the RYA’s partnership with the John Merricks Sailing Trust. Brand…

Royal Ulster Yacht Club members John and Sally McKee played a crucial part in their motor cruiser in a dramatic incident on the Shannon waterway last Saturday. A private cruiser from Limerick was making a passage northwards on Lough Ree…

Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough has taken a big step and will hold a two-day club regatta this weekend, (1st and 2nd August), for members only, but it will be an adapted ‘regatta’, run to the new normal within…

Cork Harbour Boat manufacturer Safehaven Marine undertook an 800nm four-day cruise in Thunder Child II to Scotland, living off the boat to visit a place called the Gulf of Corryvreckan. A pretty wild yet beautiful place writes Thunderchild's skipper, Frank…

It’s not often a record-breaker visits Bangor but Safehaven Marine’s Managing Director Frank Kowalski, who set the Round Ireland and Rockall Record in the original 17 metre XSV 17 demonstrator Thunder Child in 2017, brought his striking yellow hulled Thunder…

Belfast Lough Sailability was due to host the President’s Cup in August but sadly, due to COVID 19, this event has had to be postponed. This interprovincial regatta was Inaugurated by Paralympian John Twomey, promoted by Sailability Ireland and provides…

Carlingford Lough YC hasn’t been idle during the lockdown as members have enjoyed a Virtual Regatta, starting in early April, thanks to the RYA who arranged for sailing clubs to have a free subscription. To date, the club has had…

The Cadets at Ballyholme Yacht Club in Bangor Co Down on Belfast Lough are split into two sections; the beginners called Dolphins and those who have completed Stage 3 – Sharks. In order to reduce the numbers on the slipway…

After a great deal of work in conjunction with RYA Cymru Wales, and the Royal Dee Yacht Club, the IRC Welsh Championships will go ahead in a “stripped down” fashion but still provide challenging racing. As Afloat previously reported here,…

Stand up Paddleboarding in the mountains? Lough Shannagh (or the Lough of the Fox), is a corrie lake on the southern side of the Mournes in County Down and lies at 390m at the foot of Carn Mountain. It is…

Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough in County Down welcomes visitors from far and wide, but this Mediterranean gull must be one of the most interesting, having travelled from Poland, Spain, and France before flying into Bangor. Berth holder, wildlife expert…

The RNLI lifeboat crew in Newcastle, Co Down rescued three people over two callouts in the space of 24 hours earlier this week. The all-weather lifeboat first launched on Monday morning (13 July) to aid a boat with two people…