Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

The Optimist Worlds currently getting into their stride on Lake Garda (they conclude on July 10th) find Howth's Rocco Wright to be the target helm, as his countdown to the big one has been wellnigh perfect. In mid-June he took…

When the Irish J/109s hunt as a pack – as nine of them did at the Sovereigns Cup in Kinsale – there's blood in the air and anyone racing a brand new J/99 against such a mob will naturally feel…

Laser ace Sean Craig has been on top form in June. In addition to his usual input into racing and sailing administration, he's in the frame in both the two Laser local weekly series currently being staged by DBSC. Meanwhile…

Time was - when a victorious Royal Cork YC vessel returned after "success abroad" - that she received a nine-gun salute on arrival from the Club battery. Even though we live in more noise-conscious times, the RCYC can still wheel…

We can only hope that next week's up-grading of our sailing from training events to official racing will hold up through a steadily developing season, despite the many challenges to continuing emergence from the pandemic. If it does, then when…

Jimmy Murray, Director of the Irish Nautical Trust in Dublin, is our "Sailor of the Month" for April in the Environmental category for the key role he played in the commissioning of the purpose-built Liffey Sweeper, which appropriately made its…

There are several organisations in Ireland's varied maritime life that don't need a high profile to do good and useful work by stealth, and you'll find Jack O'Keeffe of Carrigaline in Cork is involved with several of them. But his…

It says everything about the quality of the Dickson-Waddilove team's securing of the Tokyo Olympics 49er place, that it not only sent the spirits of the Irish sailing community soaring skywards, but in these difficult times, it helped to raise the…

The pandemic lockdowns divided the sailing world into those who complained constantly about all restrictions and did little or nothing, and those who made the best of what was permissible. Maire Breathnach and her husband Andrew Wilkes, with their challenging…

When the New Year was ushered in, the announcement that Bill O'Hara of Bangor had been awarded the OBE for Services to Sailing was a cause of special pleasure in the sailing community, not just in Ireland but worldwide. Our…

The retirement of Kieran Cotter, after 45 years of distinguished service with the Baltimore RNLI Lifeboat, puts the focus on a remarkable individual who combines a busy life afloat with solid community and commercial activity ashore in playing a key…

Who gets your vote as Afloat Sailor of the Year 2020? Afloat Sailors of the Month 2020 kept our sport going through adversity is the view of Winkie Nixon in his review of a line up of 26 individual sailors and pairings who…

Peter Ryan of Dun Laoghaire is a dedicated sailing enthusiast – particularly for offshore racing – whose affable exterior camouflages the fact that his brain is busily whirring with ideas for improving the sport. Thus when the challenges of pandemic…

Don Street of Glandore and the Caribbean is the Afloat.ie "Sailor of the Month (International)" for December in celebration of his continuing and inspirational joy in sailing at the age of 90, and in honour of the remarkable contribution he…

The election of Marcus Spillane – originally of Cork – to a Vice Presidency of World Sailing in November is the latest step in an extraordinary involvement in sailing which has seen him compete in many world championships – most…

Anyone who writes the history at the Centenary of one of his long-affiliated sailing clubs in 1984, and then writes the history of his other club at its 150th (Sesquicentennial) some 36 years later in 2020, is clearly someone profoundly…