Irish Offshore Sailing News. Training Courses, Lessons, & Race Results

More Young Sailors Going Offshore is an Encouraging Trend - SCORA's Daragh Connolly
22nd February 2021 Cork Harbour
More young sailors are interested in racing offshore, an encouraging trend that should be fostered. It can help to bridge the problems that have been encountered in sailing where younger sailors have been lost to the sport in bridging the…

Boaters Reminded to Brush Up on ‘Rules of the Road’ for Seafarers Following Disputed MCIB Report
2nd February 2021 MCIB
A collision involving a yacht and a tanker in August 2019 has prompted a reminder for boaters to brush up on the “rules of the road” for seafarers in the Department of Transport’s latest Marine Notice. The 38ft yacht Medi…

This year’s OSTAR and TWOSTAR races are going ahead as planned, the Royal Western Yacht Club of England has confirmed. Organisers say that after consultation with finishing hosts Newport Yacht Club in Rhode Island, they are “confident that we can…

Rolex China Sea Race 2021 Cancelled Amid Pandemic Concerns
13th January 2021 Coronavirus and Boating
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club has cited “continued uncertainty regarding international border openings” amid the coronavirus pandemic in its decision to cancel the 2021 Rolex China Sea Race, which had been due to start on 31 March. In a statement,…

Second Jules Verne Trophy Record Attempt By Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is Underway
10th January 2021 Offshore
With clockwork precision, it was at 01 hours 33 minutes and 46 seconds UTC that the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild set sail this Sunday 10 January on a fresh attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy record. As regular Afloat readers…

Ireland's former Round the World race Green Dragon will start as favourite in this weekend's 2021 RORC Transatlantic Race. Run in association with the International Maxi Association, the race is scheduled to start from Puerto Calero, Lanzarote on January 9th, 2021.…

Royal Irish Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Offshore Champion 'Mermaid' To Defend Title
5th January 2021 Royal Irish Yacht Club
The defending Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta offshore champion is among the first six entries into that division for July’s regatta, a class that looks set to become one of the biggest fleets of the biennial event again. As regular Afloat…

Claims That Would-Be Round-the-World Record-Setter’s Yacht Left to Rot by Maritime Museum
20th December 2020 Offshore
Mail Online is reporting that the yacht used by would-be round-the-world record-setter Jessica Watson has been left to rot outside the maritime museum where it has resided for almost a decade. In 2009, then 16-year-old Watson, from Australia, sailed her…

Thomas Colville's Jules Verne Trophy Bid on Giant Trimaran Sodebo Ends After Rudder Damage
13th December 2020 Offshore
Thomas Coville and his crew aboard Sodebo have been forced to abandon their attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy after suffering damage to the starboard rudder. After 16 days at a blistering pace that has taken them to the bottom…

Offshore Chief Expresses Disappointment Over World Sailing's 'Possible Loss' of Keelboat for Paris Olympics
10th December 2020 Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing
A leading offshore sailor and former Admiral of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) in London says because of the 'possible loss' of the new offshore keelboat at the Olympics he questions whether it is worth sustaining the connection of…

Global circumnavigator Bill King of Oranmore Castle in Galway had lived to be 102 when he died – still very fit – in 2012. Yet he’d led such an extraordinary life of adventure and danger ashore and afloat and under…

Giant Trimaran Gitana Returns to Port as Sobedo Chases 40-Day Jules Verne Trophy Record
29th November 2020 Offshore
After three days at sea on their first round the world record attempt, Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelierhave taken the decision to 'interrupt' their record bid and return to their port of registry. The announcement comes as a result of…

Plans have emerged for a new round-the-world event for ocean racing yachts which could set off from the starting line next October. As Yacht Racing Life reports, a provisional Notice of Race has been published for what’s being called the…

Latest IMOCA Technology Advances Expected to Deliver New Vendée Globe Record Time
5th November 2020 Offshore
The Vendée Globe will likely see a new record time set in the edition which starts this Sunday 8 November, with Hugo Boss skipper Alex Thomson suggesting a finish “between 59 and 70 days depending on the weather”. Such a…

Sydney Hobart Race New Two-handed Division Not Eligible for Overall Win
3rd November 2020 Mixed Offshore Keelboat
This year's Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, the 76th running of the Australian race, welcomes a new division of boats and sailors to the world-renowned racecourse with the Two-Handed division included for the first time. After witnessing the worldwide increase in…

Marcus Hutchinson of Kinsale & Howth in the Thick of it in Vendee Globe Management
31st October 2020 Vendee Globe
Marcus Hutchinson has been having a good Autumn in his role as a sort of benign marine Svengali with an Irish flavour, operating largely behind the scenes at the sharp end of the French big-time offshore racing scene. But it…