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Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

A Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: AfloatA Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

Sailing in Ireland. Sailors, Yachting, Clubs, Regattas
Cork Chases Leaders
On Day 12 of the Clipper Round the World race Cork, Ireland, is in second place, chasing down the leaders, Team Finland. Skipper, Richie Fearon, says, “We've had a good night sailing and finally getting the double figure speeds we…
Nicholas O'Leary Named Sailor of the Month
Nicholas ‘Nin’ O’Leary of Crosshaven is the Irish Independent/Afloat.ie Sailor of the Month for September after retaining the all-Ireland Helmsman’s Championship in demanding light wind conditions in Cork last weekend. Racing in the Irish Sailing Association’s flotilla of J80s, O’Leary…
Above: the crew of Cork at the beginning of the Clipper Race 2009  Lough Swilly Yacht Club Lough Swilly Yacht Club is based in Fahan Creek on the shores of Lough Swilly, Co Donegal, three miles from Buncrana and ten…
Cork keeping fifth place in Clipper
Retaining their fifth place, Cork are doing their utmost to stay in the top five, and it's working, it seems. Although skipper, Richie Fearon, says "We have just got some wind after a frustrating couple of nights and day of…
Sunseeker Australia Cup returns to Perth
After a hiatus of eight years, the Sunseeker Australia Cup has returned to Perth attracting the world’s most elite skippers and their crew from around the world to contest the hottest invitation only event from 26 – 29 November 2009.…
More wind, same good conditions for HYC Race 3
The half-way stage of this year’s Howth Yacht Club Autumn League was reached in stronger westerly winds than were originally forecast although the conditions certainly met with the competitors’ approval for the third successive Sunday. A light force 2 breeze…
Clipper Cork entry lying fifth on day 10
Unpredictable winds and light airs continue to hamper the teams this morning (Thursday 1st October 2009) as the fleet struggles to clear the Canary Islands. Cork skipper Richie Fearon and his crew are fighting hard and spirts are high, according…
Left: The HSBB Clubhouse Howth Sailing and Boating Club Howth Sailing & Boating Club is situated on the East Pier of Howth Harbour in Dublin Ireland. You can find us on google earth by searching for 'Howth Sailing and Boating…
Garrykennedy Sailing Club Garrykennedy Sailing Club was founded in The Barge Inn, Garrykennedy (now Larkins) in the first week of September 1985. The subscription was set at £5 and twenty people became members. Willie McGrath was the first Commodore. The…

Foynes Yacht Club

1st October 2009 Clubs
Foynes Yacht Club Foynes Yacht Club was founded in 1962, it has a modern club house with good facilities, bar, showers, changing rooms, kitchen and dance floor. Floating pontoons and deep water moorings allow ease of access to boats at…
Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club Dungarvan has always been noted for its sailors and its great sea-faring families and the tradition of the bygone days of the coastal schooners is reflected there today in the strong active sailing club which was…
Cumann Seoltóireachta An Spidéil Providing sailing to the children and adults of the area since 2003. Hosts an Annual CSS Dinghy Regatta left: Early morning at Spiddal pier Páirc báid ag Sean Céibh an Spidéil. Seoladh gach deire eachtain agus…

Cullaun Sailing Club

30th September 2009 Clubs
Cullaun Sailing Club Cullaun Sailing Club is located on the shore of the Lough Cullaunyheeda (Cullaun Lake), in the heart of east Clare. Cullaun Sailing Club is a very active dinghy sailing club, with a fleet comprising mainly of Enterprise,…

Buccaneer Powerboat Club

30th September 2009 Clubs
Buccaneer Powerboat Club Buccaneer Powerboat Club, c/o Stephen Taylor, Albatross, Kinsealy Lane, Malahide, Co. Dublin. Tel: 087 239 3054, email: [email protected]   Have we got your club details? Click here to get involved

Boru Dive Unit

30th September 2009 Clubs
Boru Dive Unit The principal activities of the club include diving, search and rescue and powerboating. Boru Dive Unit, c/o Jason Kenny, Shanley, Inchdrinagh, Ballina/Killaloe. Email: [email protected] Have we got your club details? Click here to get involved
Bellacragher Bay Boat Club Bellacragher Bay Boat Club was formed in 2003 by Seamus Butler, Claggan and Brian Masterson Owenduff, in response to interest from people in Achill, Mulranny and Ballycroy. In choosing a name, they picked the Bay that…

How to sail, sailing clubs and sailing boats plus news on the wide range of sailing events on Irish waters forms the backbone of Afloat's sailing coverage.

We aim to encompass the widest range of activities undertaken on Irish lakes, rivers and coastal waters. This page describes those sailing activites in more detail and provides links and breakdowns of what you can expect from our sailing pages. We aim to bring jargon free reports separated in to popular categories to promote the sport of sailing in Ireland.

The packed 2013 sailing season sees the usual regular summer leagues and there are regular weekly race reports from Dublin Bay Sailing Club, Howth and Cork Harbour on Afloat.ie. This season and last also featured an array of top class events coming to these shores. Each year there is ICRA's Cruiser Nationals starts and every other year the Round Ireland Yacht Race starts and ends in Wicklow and all this action before July. Crosshaven's Cork Week kicks off on in early July every other year. in 2012 Ireland hosted some big international events too,  the ISAF Youth Worlds in Dun Laoghaire and in August the Tall Ships Race sailed into Dublin on its final leg. In that year the Dragon Gold Cup set sail in Kinsale in too.

2013 is also packed with Kinsale hosting the IFDS diabled world sailing championships in Kinsale and the same port is also hosting the Sovereign's Cup. The action moves to the east coast in July with the staging of the country's biggest regatta, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta from July 11.

Our coverage though is not restricted to the Republic of Ireland but encompasses Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Irish Sea area too. In this section you'll find information on the Irish Sailing Association and Irish sailors. There's sailing reports on regattas, racing, training, cruising, dinghies and keelboat classes, windsurfers, disabled sailing, sailing cruisers, Olympic sailing and Tall Ships sections plus youth sailing, match racing and team racing coverage too.

Sailing Club News

There is a network of over 70 sailing clubs in Ireland and we invite all clubs to submit details of their activities for inclusion in our daily website updates. There are dedicated sections given over to the big Irish clubs such as  the waterfront clubs in Dun Laoghaire; Dublin Bay Sailing Club, the Royal Saint George Yacht Club,  the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club. In Munster we regularly feature the work of Kinsale Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.  Abroad Irish sailors compete in Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) racing in the UK and this club is covered too. Click here for Afloat's full list of sailing club information. We are keen to increase our coverage on the network of clubs from around the coast so if you would like to send us news and views of a local interest please let us have it by sending an email to [email protected]

Sailing Boats and Classes

Over 20 active dinghy and one design classes race in Irish waters and fleet sizes range from just a dozen or so right up to over 100 boats in the case of some of the biggest classes such as the Laser or Optimist dinghies for national and regional championships. Afloat has dedicated pages for each class: Dragons, Etchells, Fireball, Flying Fifteen, GP14, J24's, J80's, Laser, Sigma 33, RS Sailing, Star, Squibs, TopperMirror, Mermaids, National 18, Optimist, Puppeteers, SB3's, and Wayfarers. For more resources on Irish classes go to our dedicated sailing classes page.

The big boat scene represents up to 60% of the sail boat racing in these waters and Afloat carries updates from the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA), the body responsible for administering cruiser racing in Ireland and the popular annual ICRA National Championships. In 2010 an Irish team won the RORC Commodore's Cup putting Irish cruiser racing at an all time high. Popular cruiser fleets in Ireland are raced right around the coast but naturally the biggest fleets are in the biggest sailing centres in Cork Harbour and Dublin Bay. Cruisers race from a modest 20 feet or so right up to 50'. Racing is typically divided in to Cruisers Zero, Cruisers One, Cruisers Two, Cruisers Three and Cruisers Four. A current trend over the past few seasons has been the introduction of a White Sail division that is attracting big fleets.

Traditionally sailing in northern Europe and Ireland used to occur only in some months but now thanks to the advent of a network of marinas around the coast (and some would say milder winters) there are a number of popular winter leagues running right over the Christmas and winter periods.

Sailing Events

Punching well above its weight Irish sailing has staged some of the world's top events including the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover, Tall Ships visits as well as dozens of class world and European Championships including the Laser Worlds, the Fireball Worlds in both Dun Laoghaire and Sligo.

Some of these events are no longer pure sailing regattas and have become major public maritime festivals some are the biggest of all public staged events. In the past few seasons Ireland has hosted events such as La Solitaire du Figaro and the ISAF Dublin Bay 2012 Youth Worlds.

There is a lively domestic racing scene for both inshore and offshore sailing. A national sailing calendar of summer fixtures is published annually and it includes old favorites such as Sovereign's Cup, Calves Week, Dun Laoghaire to Dingle, All Ireland Sailing Championships as well as new events with international appeal such as the Round Britain and Ireland Race and the Clipper Round the World Race, both of which have visited Ireland.

The bulk of the work on running events though is carried out by the network of sailing clubs around the coast and this is mostly a voluntary effort by people committed to the sport of sailing. For example Wicklow Sailing Club's Round Ireland yacht race run in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been operating for over 30 years. Similarly the international Cork Week regatta has attracted over 500 boats in past editions and has also been running for over 30 years.  In recent years Dublin Bay has revived its own regatta called Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and can claim to be the country's biggest event with over 550 boats entered in 2009.

On the international stage Afloat carries news of Irish and UK interest on Olympics 2012, Sydney to Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race.

We're always aiming to build on our sailing content. We're keen to build on areas such as online guides on learning to sail in Irish sailing schools, navigation and sailing holidays. If you have ideas for our pages we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]