Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

July 2022 will be remembered as the ultra-crowded month in which sailing in Ireland really did leap back to pre-pandemic levels, something that has been reflected in it recording an unprecedented number of Afloat.ie “Sailors of the Month” in six…

It seems like only yesterday that Rocco Wright (15) of Howth was a World star in the unmistakably junior Optimists. Yet in what seems like less than a year, he has established himself as a force to be reckoned with…

Volvo Cork Week 2022 was July’s regatta highlight, and with the Royal Cork YC’s Tricentenary cancelled in 2020, the Tri-Centenary +Two had much to celebrate, not least the remarkable revival of the 30-year-old 1720 Sportsboat Class, which in 2022 is…

As we emerge from the pandemic and gradually become accustomed to unfettered sailing, it is right and proper that we should salute those who guided our sport through the various regulations and restriction of the last two years and more.…

The complexities of Volvo Cork Week 2022 may have obscured some of the important National Championships taking place within it and its many classes. But aboard the more serious boats, the “hidden target” was the ICRA Nationals 2022, and the…

For most of their hundred years, the unique 18-foot Shannon One Designs have kept themselves to themselves in their secret world of Ireland’s great lakes. But in July 2022, they went unprecedently public with their Centenary celebrated in two special…

Sailing is often promoted as a family sport for all ages. But if anyone doubts that this can be happily achieved with racing success thrown in, then they only have to consider the Kelly clan of Rush SC with their…

June saw the staging of a truly vintage SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race from Wicklow. But for those who think that success in events like this 704-mile marathon is only for seasoned sailors with many comparable races logged, the top…

The Howth Wave Regatta created some sort of record for the mixture of weather it packed into its three-day format, and how anyone found the energy for the legendary Saturday night party suggests superhuman stamina. With a rugged Lambay Race…

Ireland's most westerly Atlantic outcrop, the Blasket Islands, are so imbued with mythology and an almost supernatural ruggedness that no-one had previously thought of using the group’s lighthouse island, Inishtearaght, as the turning point for a 240-mile offshore race. But…

The transition from junior to senior sailing is difficult at the best of times, and the Irish “Sailor of the Year 2021” Eve McMahon of Howth has found that the arbitrary dictates of personal birth dates means that she has…

When Hal Sisk of Dun Laoghaire was awarded the International “Classic Boater Of The Year” Award in London on April 12th, the brief outline of his major achievements in preserving maritime heritage may have high-lighted his current project - with…

A rose is still a rose by any other name, but though Cork Institute of Technology is now Munster Technological University, its team keelboat sailing skipper is still Harry Durcan of Crosshaven. And at the weekend he showed he’d lost…

If you’re seeking an able, experienced and notably successful crewman in a wide variety of top-level craft, then seasoned international campaigner Shane Diviney of Howth is your man. Whether it’s the special skills needed to handle a large classic gaff-rigged…

In rowing solo and completely unaccompanied across the Atlantic, Dr Karen Weekes (54) - of Kinvara on Galway Bay - achieved so many “firsts” when she reached Barbados from the Canaries on Thursday, February 24th that it’s difficult to tabulate…

A very complete double of a successful Covid Project, followed by an adventurous Covid Breakout Achievement, came to fruition in January when Jim Schofield (57) of Blessington returned home to West Wicklow. His Covid Project was completed in the cramped…