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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
The white Moonduster of 1965 vintage getting under way in Dartmouth in Devon in July 1971 in classic Denis Doyle style, under sail only
Our header image this weekend may look like an ordinary enough photo of a handsome boat of a certain era getting skilfully underway using sail only. And some of those not of the cognoscenti may think it’s a slightly frantic…
GP14s may see gate starts at this weekend's GP14 Leinster Championships at Howth Yacht Club
This weekend, the GP14 Leinster Championship fleet comes to Howth Yacht Club. This is the third event of the season and the first on the sea, with both the Munsters and the O'Tiarnaigh Challenge held on Lough Derg and Owel,…
An overhead drone shot of the new Melges 15s being loaded out at Howth Yacht Club
The wait is finally over as Howth Yacht Club welcomes its new fleet of Melges 15 dinghies, which arrived from Wisconsin last week. Growing from a single boat purchased last year by Cormac Farrelly to a baker’s dozen, the fleet…
National Yacht Club logo
The National Yacht Club has announced its success in securing a significant grant under the latest round of the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP). Minister Catherine Martin revealed on 9 May that over €26 million has been allocated to…
IDEC SPORT is returned to the water after months of painstaking work in the Multiplast yard
Ireland’s Joan Mulloy and Pamela Lee were on hand alongside their teammates in The Famous Project to see the launch of their Maxi trimaran IDEC SPORT in front of the Multiplast shipyard in Vannes, France on Friday (31 May). After…
DBSC Flying Fifteens had their first breezy Thursday DBSC race of 2024
On the first blustery night of the 2024 DBSC Thursday night series, there appeared to be some reticence about going on the water and that was to be expected in a week in which the dinghies didn’t get out on…
Women sailors embrace at Enoshima Yacht Harbour, the host venue of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition
World Sailing has announced the launch of Steering the Course, what it touts as “a pioneering plan” to encourage more women to participate in every part of the sport. The federation says the plan reaffirms its global commitment to fostering…
Jura Scottish Series 2024 RC35 Class Winner Mocking-J skippered by Ben Shelley crew celebrate in Tarbert
The 2024 JURA Scottish Series, hosted by the Clyde Cruising Club, brought excitement and innovation back to Loch Fyne. Over four days, 13 competitors battled fiercely in nine races in IRC1 incorporating the RC35 Class, all displaying exceptional skill and…
Kerry Charity Cycle this July, in aid of Focus Ireland
Annalise Murphy, Olympic silver medallist sailor, participates in the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle this July to support homeless and housing charity Focus Ireland. The National Yacht Club ace is encouraging others to join her and choose Focus Ireland when…
Watersports Inclusion Games 2024 are launched (from left to right) John Wilson, Ramor Watersports Centre; Dean McElroy, Cavan Sports Partnership; Cormac Collins, Irish Wakeboarding & Waterski Federation; Tim Bourke, Irish Sailing; John Twomey, President, Irish Sailing, Moira Aston, Canoeing Ireland, Fiona Bolger, Spinal Injuries Ireland
The 2024 Watersports Inclusion Games were launched on Thursday (30 May) at Ramor Watersports Club in Co. Cavan by eleven-time Paralympian and President of Irish Sailing, John Twomey. The event, set to take place on Lough Ramor in Virginia Co.…
The Centenarian - Jack Wolfe is one hundred today
Despite approaching its Centenary in 2029, the Irish Cruising Club has never had a Centenarian among its membership until today, Friday 31st May 2024, when the great and unique Jack Wolfe of Howth reaches the magic hundred. His life is…
Johnny Treanor's National Yacht Club J112e Valentina made its 2024 Thursday night debut on the Bay and took third place in IRC Zero in race six
Paul O'Higgins's ISORA champion JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI, which missed last weekend's cross-channel race, was on form in a blustery northwesterly on Dublin Bay last night, winning Dublin Bay Sailing Club's sixth AIB-sponsored Thursday evening race of the season. The Royal…
The Nacra 17, 49er, and FX championships will coincide with the annual Sardinia Sailing Cup from October 7-12, 2025, as the town regains international sailing prominence thanks to the Luna Rossa America’s Cup team
As Olympic sailing teams already begin to eye up Los Angeles 2028 prospects, Cagliari, one of Italy's top sailing venues, has been announced as host of the 2025 World Championship for three doublehanded Olympic Events. The 2025 World Championship of…
Joy and delight for Jacob Ziemkiewicz (standing) from Poland as Bibi floats after launching his Mini yacht in Cork Harbour for testing in advance of the Mini Globe Race
Jacob Ziemkiewicz from Poland, who says he was “born to sail,” and whose plan to build his own boat of plywood construction to compete in the Mini Globe Race we reported on Afloat.ie last June, has launched and is sea-trialling…
Dubin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Water Wag racing is cancelled at Dun Laoghaire Harbour
Dubin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Water Wag racing for the second Wednesday in a row tonight (May 29) is cancelled due to gusty offshore winds inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour. The 30-boat dinghy class was due to race its 2024 Women…
Howth's Daragh Sheridan on a fast downwind at the UK Masters RS Aero at Felpham Sailing Club with Noel Butler (4539) of the National Yacht Club in pursuit
Howth Yacht Club’s Daragh Sheridan won the UK RS Aero 6 Masters Nationals event at a blustery Felpham Sailing Club on the South coast of England last weekend. Sheridan and Noel Butler of the National Yacht Club travelled to the…

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]