Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Strangford Lough in East County Down is the largest sea lough in the British Isles, and last week the lough's bottlenose dolphins were joined by a Scottish visitor called Squiggle, previously known as Tyler from Moray Firth. The dolphin with…

Lifeguards from the RNLI return to beaches in Northern Ireland this week as the charity, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and National Trust prepare and get ready for another busy season. From this Good Friday (7 April) through to…

Two more Northern Ireland yachts have joined the 50-strong fleet for Scotland's West Highland Yachting Week, which celebrates 75 years in 2023 and runs from 29th July till 4th August. East Antrim Boat Club's Hydrology and Artemis from Larne Lough…

Ten Topper sailors from five clubs in Northern Ireland recently made the long journey to Dromineer in County Tipperary for the Topper Winter Championships at Lough Derg Yacht Club. They all competed in the 5.3 fleets. Three Belfast Lough competitors…

Time was, many years ago when the inlet known as the Long Hole beside Seacliff Road in Bangor on Belfast Lough was used as a harbour for small boats – those small enough, mostly fishing craft, to lie in the…

It’s one thing moving a start line because of say, a wind shift. But at the Cape Town start for Leg 3 of the The Ocean Race on 26 February, principal race officer Bill O’Hara was forced to work around…

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council has established a new tourism partnership which will work to enhance and strengthen local tourism through the delivery of the Visitor Experience Development Plan (VEDP) for Fermanagh Lakelands, Omagh and the Sperrins. The partnership met…

Racing resumed in the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club’s GP14 Spring Series on Sunday 26 March after a brief break for Mother’s Day the previous weekend, writes Joe Devitt. The forecast was good, the sun shining and apart from…

The old minesweeper HMS Enterprise has all but submerged in Kilkeel Harbour in Northern Ireland, as Afloat.ie reader Lee Maginnis has shared with his. His recent images of the vessel show a significant degradation from the last update in autumn…

For less than the price of a modest Dublin home, you might get to own your very own private island on Lough Erne, as BelfastLive reports. Long Island — which lies just minutes by boat from Lough Erne Yacht Club…

The North West Angling Fair will host to some of the world’s finest fly casters at this year’s event, taking place at the Melvin Sport Complex in Strabane, Co Tyrone on the weekend of 1-2 April with free admission. Names…

A pilot scheme on Strangford Lough, which is trying to stimulate seagrass growth on the seabed by testing alternative mooring systems, has been reported by BBC News NI. Last April, Afloat highlighted a project initiated by the Strangford and Lecale…

Four sailors have been inducted into RYA Northern Ireland’s Hall of Fame at a special gathering in Belfast. Sailors, club members, and sports representatives from right across NI joined together in Belfast for its first-ever Hall of Fame and the launch of…

The sport of sailing in County Antrim is in fine form, with two sailors winning awards at the Sportsperson of the Year event run by the Mid and East Antrim Council. Calum Pollard from County Antrim Yacht Club in Whitehead…

Leading high-performance maritime design and applied technologies company, Artemis Technologies, has been named among the winners at the prestigious 2023 Maritime UK Awards.   Beating stiff competition from UK counterparts, the Belfast-based company received the Innovation award in front of 400 people at a ceremony…

Four Short Stories is Tom Jobling’s latest book. In it, he has moved a little way from his usual nautical fiction but still delivers a character-driven book of cringe-worthy humour balanced by tales perhaps too close to be comfortable. From…