Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

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…

Megayacht, superyacht – certainly bigger than any craft in Bangor Marina. Lying alongside the Eisenhower Pier in Bangor Harbour on the North Down coast on a recent visit, after a passage from the Clyde, the 39.62 m motor yacht, Liquid…

Despite a smaller than usual turnout at Larne last weekend for the East Antrim Boat Club Regatta, racing was keen, and on Saturday, the fleet enjoyed perfect conditions, with the breeze picking up for the second race on the Sunday.…

Donaghadee Sailing Club on the north County Down coast heard the first gun fired in the Topper Northern Championships on Saturday 3rd July with a sense of relief and excitement. Race Officer Aidan Pounder, Commodore of Ballyholme YC, assisted by…

Royal Ulster's 'man on a mission' John Minnis lived up to his pre-championship word and delivered a perfect scoreline to win the Beneteau 31.7 Irish National Championships 2021 at the National Yacht Club this afternoon with five straight wins.  The Gareth…

Ardboe Point south of Ballyronan on the west side of Lough Neagh was the Lough Neagh Rescue team's call on Friday (2nd July). A speed boat had broken down about two miles off the Point with five people on board,…

The only competitor in the nine-strong fleet from the Northern waters and the only Beneteau 31.7 from outside Dun Laoghaire, John Minnis's Final Call, has made the long haul south for the National Championships at the National Yacht Club this weekend.…

The 56 strong fleet of Laser sailors competing for the Ulster Championships was greeted last weekend with steady northerly winds of 12-18 knots on Saturday and 18-25 knots and sunshine on Sunday, for the first The ILCA (Laser) regional event…

Shortly before 9 am yesterday, HM Coastguard received a call from a concerned member of the public who had seen a submerged speed boat with potential casualties in the water in Castor Bay in the south east corner of Lough…

Come summer and Lough Neagh Rescue is busy on Northern Ireland waters. The lifeboat was paged yesterday evening (Saturday 26th June) to a 30ft-cruiser with ten people aboard, six adults and four children, which had broken down near Rams Island.…

In the early evening of last Sunday (20th June) Lough Neagh rescue was tasked to a broken down motorboat with two children, three adults and a dog on board. The vessel had been making its way from Battery Harbour on…