Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Fred Espey of Dun Laoghaire, who has died aged 85, was best-known in sailing as Commodore of the Royal Irish Yacht Club from 2001 to 2004, the culmination of many years of service to the club in a variety of…

Peter Kennedy made waves on Lough Ree when the current SB20 national champion took the Helmsman’s Cup at the weekend. However, a special mention must go to Water Wag pair Guy Kilroy and Adam Winkelmann for their ‘catch of the day’ as…

On 22 August, Division 1A Water Wags raced the second match for The Newsom Memorial Trophy, while division 1B raced for The Hilpotsteiner Tankard and Division 2 raced for The Phyllis Cup. It was a warm evening in Dun Laoghaire,…

People often ask which is the most competitive fleet in Dublin Bay? You will be given twenty different answers, depending on who you ask. However, despite its venerable status, the Water Wag class is experiencing a boost in popularity, because…

The Water Wag club has a long tradition of single-handed races as is shown by this picture above. Ideally, the weather for a single-handed race should be an evening with not too much wind, and not too many waves. On…

There’s an informal international network of wooden boat adherents - both classic and traditional - which has found in Ireland an increasingly useful source of recognised designs of intriguing boat types to provide many building challenges for skilled craftsmen and…

15 years of dedicated voluntary work by the Boyne Navigation Branch, part of Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, will be celebrated at the Irish Maritime Festival in Drogheda next week. For many years the Boyne Canal had been closed to…

With a history going back to 1887, some sixty-eight double-ended Water Wags were built between 1887 and 1900. All but one of these has fallen by the wayside and its location is no longer known. That one surviving Water Wag…

In looking at the numbers of one design dinghies at National championships in Ireland, there are few enough adult classes which can muster a fleet of 25 competitors. However, the Water Wag Club in Dun Laoghaire does not hold a…

What a shame! The Water Wags, the largest one-design fleet in Dun Laoghaire on Dublin Bay have lost three out of their last five races, due to inclement weather. On 23 May the problem was, that the valiant Race Officers could…

In contrast with many one design classes, the Water Wags hold regular handicap races during the sailing season. On 16th May the first handicap race was held with 24 boats competing. The plan for the evening was for Division 2…

The Water Wag season Started in Dun Laoghaire Harbour with a bang on Wednesday last, with a fleet of 22 Water Wags coming to the start line, making it the strongest dinghy class within Dublin Bay Sailing Club. The wind…

The Water Wag training weekend which was based out of Quigley’s Marina in Glasson, Co Westmeath last weekend was a huge success. As Afloat.ie reported earlier, the class had 15 Water Wags with a nearly perfect gender balance of 14/14!…

You’re never too old to learn, and at 131 years old the Dublin Bay Water Wags (founded 1887, though current boats date from 1900) seemed determined to prove this by having a two-day Coaching Session last weekend at Killinure on…

Dublin Bay Sailing Club has saluted its largest one design keelboat and dinghy fleets on the eve of the 2018 season.  Boat entries everywhere are a perennial problem for organisers but that's not the case for either the Water Wag or…

It’s big, it’s unique, and it’s the focal point of recreational interaction with the sea for one of the more affluent areas of population in Europe writes W M Nixon. But anyone visiting Dun Laoghaire Harbour for the first time,…