Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

With a turnout of 24 boats keen to enjoy the benefit of sunshine at sea while the mist gloomed over the land, the Dublin Bay Water Wags continued to push the truncated 2020 season to its limits on Wednesday evening.…

The 1906-built Dublin Bay Water Wag Pansy has been in the ownership of the Delany family since 1939. But while she has won many trophies, the absence of medals as prizes in local One Design racing has meant that winning…

When the Dublin Bay Water Wags started racing 133 years ago in 1887, every boat had a Spinnaker Guy, and a vital role he played too in dealing with the eternal contest with Tidal Eddy. So far, however, there’s no…

We think of the venerable Dublin Bay Water Wags as being the quintessential Dun Laoghaire Harbour class. But when the results of their first race of the delayed 2020 season yesterday (Wednesday) evening were analysed, it was noted that the…

Although West Cork is home to several clusters of classic boats and the boatyards of the master-craftsmen who build and maintain them, they’re at scattered locations. Thus it can take quite a bit of encouragement and persuasion, plus much pre-planning…

Sunshine in December imparts a surreal look to everything it illuminates with its vivid low-angled delineation. And for anyone who happened to be on the Shannon Estuary between Kilrush and Scattery Island on Monday afternoon this week, the sense of…

After a full lap of the course, racing was very tight for the Water Wags on Monday 26th August for the Single-Handed race as they rounded the leeward mark in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Our photo above shows No.3 Pansy (Delany)…

The theme of this week's National Heritage Week for 2019 is ‘Pastimes'. In recognition of this, the 113-year-old Water Wag dinghy‘Pansy,’ will be put on public display on the East Pier, Dun Laoghaire on Dublin Bay on Tuesday 20th August…

On 17th July the wind was in an unusual direction for the Water Wag Race in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, blowing from the south-south-east at about 6 knots with occasional stronger gusts. Henry Leonard the RO set the start line for…

Martin Byrne, noted International Dragon sailor and former Commodore of the Royal St George YC in Dun Laoghaire, has happy memories of family sailing going back more than fifty years, when his parents decided that it was a sport which…

The Water Wag dinghy fleet in Dun Laoghaire competed in the second race of their 132nd season of one design racing on Wednesday 1st May. Three prizes were on offer, division 1A raced the second of three legs for the…

The sad death of Owen McNally a few days before Christmas deprived the Dun Laoghaire sailing community of one of its most active and devoted participants, an enthusiast who put even more into our sport than he took from it…

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…