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Irish Offshore Sailing News. Training Courses, Lessons, & Race Results
Author Alan McMahon, painted the boat name on the harbour wall in Porto Santo, his entrance point to the Atlantic
Dublin sailor Alan McMahon has published a book on his solo sailing adventures aboard a Hallberg Rassy 352 which he sailed across the Atlantic and back in 2018/19.  'Sailing Away' is an autobiographical account of one man's 13-month adventure, sailing…
Appropriately named Elusive is the first yacht in 40 years for a boat to repeat success in consecutive years in the Middle Sea Race
1700 CEST: It is the year that just keeps on giving. By midnight on Wednesday, 15 of the 50-boat fleet had completed the course. Ten of those were competing under IRC for the overall Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy and…
Elusive 2 arrives into port after winning the 2020 Middle Sea Race
At 15:00 CEST today (Thursday, 22 October 2020) the winner of the 41st edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race was announced as the Maltese First 45 Elusive 2, skippered by Aaron, Christoph and Maya Podesta. As Afloat reported earlier,…
The Podesta family's First 45 looks set to make it two in a row in the annual Rolex Middle Sea Race
A strengthening breeze from the southeast has brought the key middle group of top handicap win contenders in the 41st Rolex Middle Sea Race from Lampedusa through the night and the early hours of this morning to the finish at…
The First 45 Elusive 2 (left) and the xP44 Expresso dicing for it shortly after the start of the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Their fates could not have been more different – Expresso was an early retiral with a broken forestay, while the Podesta family's Elusive 2 has just taken over the overall IRC lead at the Lampedusa turn
After an excellent Pantellaria to Lampedusa leg, Middle Sea Race defending champion Elusive 2 (Podesta family, Royal Malta YC) has just corrected into the overall lead, and up ahead the Volvo 70 I Love Poland (Konrad Lipski) has finally made…
I Love Poland (POL), skippered by Grzegorz Baranowski
I Love Poland (POL), skippered by Grzegorz Baranowski crossed the finish line of the 2020 Rolex Middle Sea Race at the Royal Malta Yacht Club to take Monohull Line Honours at 11:58:05 CEST today (Wednesday 21st October) in an elapsed…
Mana (ITA), owned by Riccardo Pavoncelli
Bangor's Mikey Ferguson has come a long way since he learned to sail at a young age in Ballyholme on Belfast Lough. Racing with the MOD70 experts, Brian Thompson and Peter Cummings on board the Riccardo Pavoncelli owned MOD70 Mana…
Middle Sea Race multihull handicap winner Mana (foreground) hanging in with the slightly higher-rated Maserati. Maserati's narrow win on the water converted into a handicap win for Mana by just 4 minutes and 23 seconds
If you know it's going to be a light airs Middle Sea offshore race, you'd reckon a stripped out and race-proven TP52 would be a good all-round bet, with her ability to comfortably outsail anything smaller, yet with an uncanny…
Giovanni Soldini's Multi70 Maserati
Maserati Multi70 (ITA), skippered by Giovanni Soldini, crossed the finish line of the 2020 Rolex Middle Sea Race at the Royal Malta Yacht Club to take Multihull Line Honours at 20:41:31 CEST on Monday 19th October in an elapsed time…
Tacks-free zone……the R-P/Marteen 72 Aragon leads the Rolex Middle Sea Race start out of Valetta Harbour with Nin O'Leary on the helm in an exemplary tacking-free exit
Nice one, Nin. With a sailing rockstar recruited into your crew, it's reasonable to expect a 22-carat gold rockstar introduction to the on-stage performance. And Crosshaven super-helm Nin O'Leary certainly came up with the goods at the start of the…
Handsome is as handsome does – the uncompromising Lombard 45 Pata Negra – used for several Howth YC successes – has been chartered by ISORA's Andrew Hall of Pwllheli for today's (Saturday) 41st Rolex Middle Sea Race from Malta
People have been unobtrusively getting on with sailing in many places during the pandemic, determinedly maintaining social distance afloat and ashore, reducing their interaction with outsiders to such a minimum it's almost non-existent, and doing it all thoughtfully, with properly-located…
The position at 2100. See live tracker below
Female Two-handed Round Ireland Record Day Four 2100hrs: The situation became transformed. It was like the clicking of a switch. Or so it seemed to those on the edge of their seats ashore, as they watched on screen as the Figaro…
As merry as grigs – Cat Hunt and Pam Lee in cheerful mood early this morning as their Figaro 3 Iarracht Maigeanta rides on the flood tide with a good breeze past Rathlin Island, with Islay distant on the horizon
Female Two-handed Round Ireland Record Day Four 1500hrs:  The North Channel is one very unforgiving bit of water to go sailing on. It only gives you the gift of a fair tide for just long enough to begin to think that…
41st Middle Sea Offshore Race is Ready to Roll
Famed for its magnificent offshore race course and revered for the scale of the challenge it presents, the Rolex Middle Sea Race is one of the most prominent events on the international yachting calendar. The 41st edition of the race…
When the going was good - Iarracht Maigeanta seen crossing Donegal Bay in steady style yesterday morning
Female Two-handed Round Ireland Record Day Four 0900hrs: When Pam Lee and Cat Hunt entered Day 3 of their Magenta Project Round Ireland Challenge at 0745 hrs this morning (Friday), they were nearer the Scottish coast than they were to…
Magenta Project with Pamela Lee on the helm enjoying, the kind of sailing that has brought the Team of Two to North Donegal from Dublin Bay in record time
Female Two-handed Round Ireland Record Day Three 2000hrs: When the going is good, the good get going - and they get going fast. This has been the mantra of Pam Lee and Cat Hunt, who brought their Beneteau Figaro 3 in…