Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

The 2024 Fireball Munster Championships were held on April 20th/21st at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club (MBSC) in stunning weather conditions writes the club's Chris Bateman It had seemed like a long time coming, but alas, the wait was finally over,…

Day three of the December Fireball Frostbite League was held on Saturday, the 23rd, on Monkstown Bay in Cork Harbour in glorious winter sailing conditions. A beautiful sunrise set the tone for the morning's racing. The bay was awash with golden light…

On November 11th Saturday last, the Fireball resurgence continued in Cork as a Frostbite league raced on the waters of Monkstown Bay. With the class continuing to blossom in Cork, Six competing Fireballs arrived for the second day of a…

Monkstown Bay Sailing Club’s Tuesday night racing league continued with another spectacular evening’s racing in Cork Harbour last night. The weekly league is a great event to get away from it all after the bustle of work, and last night…

Reigning all Ireland Junior sailing champion Chris Bateman swapped his local waters of Cork Harbour for Lough Ree Yacht Club's 'Double Ree' double-handed dinghy regatta last weekend and provides this report for Afloat On the last weekend of August 2020, Lough…

Wednesday, April 1st marked the day that the Cork Harbour National 18 fleet would begin their April League. This league is traditionally marked as the beginning of their racing season. As was predicted, the crewed-by-three 18 footers had their league cancelled.…

On Saturday 8th of February, a handful of Cork sailing fanatics converged on the Sandquay, to race the fourth day of the 2020 Monkstown Laser Frostbite league in Cork Harbour. The morning dawned with a black, rainy sky blanketing the…

It was February 1st, and the hardy band of Cork Harbour Laser sailors regrouped for day three of the Monkstown Laser Frostbite League, in beautiful racing conditions.  A low sun arose over Cork Harbour in the early hours of the…

On Saturday 25th of January, the Monkstown Bay Laser Frostbite league rolled around for day two of the month-long Cork Harbour series. A mixed bag of weather conditions was in store for the competitors, with a dull sky and black…

Saturday, January 18th marked the first day of the 2020 Monkstown Laser Frostbite League, with a fleet of Laser sailors gathering to race on the waters of Cork Harbour. A misty-eyed winters morning dawned. The sun shone low in a…

As the RS400 fleet comes together on Belfast Lough this weekend, the newly crowned RS200 champion Chris Bateman reviews the recent RS gathering at Galway Bay Sailing Club that provided a weekend of racing in tight competition.  As Afloat previously…

National 18 sailors converged in usual strong spirit at the Royal Findhorn Yacht Club, to compete in their annual UK and Ireland Championships that were held last week writes Chris Bateman With the event officially kicking off on Sunday (28th…

Youth sailors from the Irish 29er fleet travelled to Gdynia, Poland to compete in the Zhik 29er World championships held last week, from Friday 26th to Saturday 3rd August writes Chris Bateman (17), a member of the Irish contingent that…

Saturday, February 16th saw the Laser sailors of Cork gather for the final day of the Monkstown Laser Frostbite League, sponsored by CH Marine writes Chris Bateman. The morning began with a mixed sky over the bay. Patches of blue were…

Cork Laser sailors converged in Monkstown on Saturday, February 9th for the fifth day of the Monkstown Laser Frostbite league sponsored by CH Marine. A cold morning dawned with cloudless blue skies and a light breeze blowing down the bay…

Saturday, February 2nd saw laser sailors competing on Monkstown Bay in Cork Harbour for the fourth day of the Monkstown Laser Frostbite League, sponsored by CH Marine writes Chris Bateman. The morning began with a golden sunrise overlooking the eastern end…

Saturday, January 26th saw tough conditions on Monkstown Bay for day three of the Monkstown Laser Frostbite League sponsored by CH Marine. The third day of the Monkstown Laser league was a story worth telling. The skies appeared at daybreak…

Laser sailors gathered on Monkstown Bay for Day Two of the Monkstown Bay Sailing Club Laser Frostbite League, sponsored by CH Marine writes Chris Bateman. The morning dawned with a thick dreary fog laying over every inch of Cork Harbour. A…

Saturday, January 12 was the kick off of the Monkstown Laser Frostbite League organised by the Laser sailors of Monkstown Bay Sailing Club in Cork Harbour writes Chris Bateman. The morning was promising with patches of blue sky and a cool breeze…