Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Four of Ireland’s top Optimists sailors will be getting ready to sail in the Junior Champions Cup to be held in Schull, West Cork, on September 23rd and 24th. Harry Dunne (HYC), Gemma Brady (NYC/LDYC), Max O’Hare (RStGYC) were nominated based…

Over the weekend, the RYA Northern Ireland Youth Sailing Championships took place at Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough, attracting over 130 sailors from throughout Northern Ireland and beyond. The sailing event marked the start of the competitive season for…

The last week has been light, very light, and Ireland enjoyed a week of late summer. The conditions were too light for any races at the National Yacht Club Junior September Series in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, so the tally remained…

Any sailing competition for young people that began in 2008 and is still going strong must have an attractive format. The Strangford Lough Youth Series is still drawing sizeable turnouts, and maybe it’s because the timing, on the day after,…

The five-day International 29er Europeans at the 1830-founded Royal Swedish YC’s base at Sandhamn near Stockholm was a global sailing highlight for 2023, as it attracted 173 teams from 24 countries for a week of racing very typical of the…

The International 29er is one of the most demanding boats on the global junior sailing scene. Yet the sister-and-brother crew of Clementine & Nathan Van Steenberge have carved their way through its international heights with style, speed and success. Their…

In progressing through each phase of a sailing career, the received wisdom is that you should tick off each staging post while you’re ahead. Harry Dunne of Howth was registered with a Departure Lounge “Optimist Age” of 15 going into…

There were 173 teams from 24 countries competing at the International 29er Europeans in Sweden in August, but the five crews sent from Ireland punched way above their weight in a challenging and complex boat, which isn’t for the faint-hearted.…

Challenging winds kept sailors and race management on their toes on day one of the Elmo team racing Trophy at the Royal St. George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Some of the early racing at the Elmo team racing Trophy…

The eighth Elmo Trophy is set to take place this weekend in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. This exciting youth team racing competition has grown significantly since its inception in 2015, with 32 teams set to participate this year, compared to the original…

National Yacht Club dinghy sailors are still high-fiving in Dun Laoghaire after clubmates achieved significant wins on the international stage this month.  NYC Commodore Peter Sherry will lead homecoming celebrations this Saturday for ILCA 7 Laser ace Finn Lynch, who…

On Monday, as the international squads arrived at Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough in Northern Ireland, the IODAI Development Squad - who are the newest sailors in the Main Fleet - took to the water with Head Coach Adam…

In an outstanding month for Irish youth sailing achievement, two Cork-Dublin pairings have won more gold medals in the International 29er class to follow the World title win of a fortnight ago.  Ireland won two gold medals at the 29er…

Ireland's recently crowned 29er World Champions, Clementine and Nathan Van Steenberge have an eye on the double this week when they compete at the 2023 European Championships in Sweden against another massive fleet. As regular Afloat readers will recall, the National…

Two Ballyholme Yacht Club Cadets have been praised for their quick action in helping a kayaker in trouble in Ballyholme Bay on Belfast Lough in Northern Ireland last Tuesday. Hunter Reddy and Joseph Robinson could see on the Club webcam…

The U21 ILCA ILCA Europeans sailing competition has kicked off in Stavanger, Norway, with 230 sailors from over 36 nations competing for top honours. 155 ILCA 7 sailors and 75 ILCA 6 female sailors will participate in the event, with…