Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

The National Yacht Club’s Topper winter training programme got under way with its first session today (Sunday 10 October) at the Dun Laoghaire waterfront club. Training continues every Sunday until the end of November, with sessions for beginner (9.30am-12.30pm), intermediate…

That's the thing about an unstable weather system – testing conditions in Belfast Lough, which threatened the race programme for the Irish Topper Championships this weekend. Hosted by Carrickfergus Sailing Club on the north shore of Belfast Lough over three…

It was worth the wait for Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough to stage a full-on Topper Northern Ireland Championships over the past weekend. Sixty-nine young sailors came from the length and breadth of Ireland; from Royal Cork and Waterford…

Royal Cork Yacht Club congratulated the rescheduled Astra Construction Topper 'Winter' Championships winner at Crosshaven yesterday evening after two full days of competition on the Curlane Bank in Cork Harbour. As Afloat reported earlier, after four races sailed on Saturday, the host…

Royal Cork Yacht Club may have had to cancel its planned Topper World Championships scheduled for next month due to COVID but the Astra Construction Topper 'Winter' Championships at the Crosshaven club is just the ticket for 76 Topper youth…

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…

Ballyholme Yacht Club would have relished hosting the Topper Nationals in August, but sadly this event has suffered the same as the Worlds in Cork and been cancelled. The joint Organising Authority for the 2021 Topper National Championships has been…

At one stage last Autumn, it looked for a week or two as though Irish venues might be hosting no less than five World Championships for dinghy classes during the three week period between the July 24th and August 14th…

Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough will host the British Topper Nationals, scheduled for early August next year, a few days after the World Championships in Cork Harbour. With the Irish Nationals in Northern Ireland at Strangford Lough Yacht Club in…

Thirty young sailors managed a final outing at Ballyholme yesterday (December 22nd) before Covid 19 restrictions would put paid to their activities at the Club for six weeks. And the event was blessed with a bright sunny day, albeit with…

Saturday 12th December saw an early Christmas present for Ballyholme Yacht Club junior sailors as racing returned for the first time since the end of the summer. A steady 10-12 knots from the West allowed a windward-leeward course to be…

Talented youth sailor Jude Armstrong (13) is from High Wycombe and has family in Co. Down including grandparents Rob and Betty Armstrong, Afloat's Northern Ireland correspondent. Jude is one of ten youngsters from across the UK who have been handed…

The 2021 International Topper World Championships will be hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, Ireland, from the 24th to 30th July. As Afloat reported previously, the event will attract up to 200 young sailors from around the world and…

As a result of the new NI Executive Covid restrictions announced on 14th October, East Antrim Boat Club at Larne has cancelled the Topper Northern championship event scheduled for 24th and 25th October. The EABC Covid team said, "The organising…

In what is understood to be the first open event in Northern Ireland this year, 41 Toppers including two from Dublin Bay, raced at Ballyholme YC on Belfast Lough yesterday (22nd August) for what turned out to be a lively…

The 2021 International Topper World Championships come to Cork Harbour next year when they’re hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club from 24-30 July 2021. With over 200 sailors from around the world expected, organisers say it will be a…