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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
Carina rounding the Rock during the Fastnet Race of 2011
Our header photo really says it all. It was 2011 when Rives Potts' now four times Bermuda Race winner Carina rounded the Fastnet Rock in conditions a whole world away from the murky early morning eleven hours earlier, when George…
Ben and Jono Shelley's J109 Mocking J, from Fairlie YC in Scotland are lying third in IRC 2 at 2024 Bangor Regatta on Belfast Lough
Never mind what's going on elsewhere In Ireland this weekend; with Shania Twain in Belfast's Ormeau Park, Taylor Swift at the Aviva, the All-Ireland Quarter GAA Finals in Croke Park and the Foyle Maritime Festival in Derry, there was plenty…
The highly-revered Rankin dinghy class is based in Cobh and was revived in 2016
The Rankin dinghy 'Worlds' will be sailed out of the Royal Cork Yacht Club at Crosshaven this weekend. The highly reverered class based across Cork Harbour in Cobh was revived in 2016 and is moving to the world's oldest yacht…
Team Wildcard from Royal Cork Yacht Club comprises Harry Twomey, Neil Hegarty, Rosario Travascio, Dara O’Shea and William Twomey at the Italian J/70 Cup event at Riva del Garda
The Italian J/70 Cup Event starts today in Riva del Garda. Team Wildcard, the only Irish entry for this year's highly competitive event, will fly the flag for Ireland. Team Wildcard from Royal Cork Yacht Club comprises Harry Twomey, Neil…
Fireball dinghy racing at the 2024 Munster Championships hosted by Monkstown Bay Sailing Club in Cork Harbour. This Saturday, the club will hold its annual 'At Home' Regatta
Monkstown Bay Sailing Club's weekly evening leagues have big numbers on the water in Cork Harbour. Twenty-six dinghies have registered to race Class 1 in the June League. After seven races, the club’s Laser ‘veteran, David O’Connell, took over the…
Antrim Boat Club's 'Cat's Cradle Race' with Gem 18,   Corinthian 126T and RS Elite Skaddy
June at Antrim Boat Club on the north shore of Lough Neagh has been a busy month with the conclusion of the Rolo's Summer Series, the annual regatta and the Interclub event The Cat's Cradle. Unfortunately, the scheduled Races 5…
The 53rd running of the biennial Newport Bermuda Race
INSS ‘graduates’ Luke Galvin and Eoin McKeon recorded strong performances in the 53rd running of the biennial Newport Bermuda Race which finished earlier this week. Bowman on OC86, a Maxz86, Luke was second across the finish line in the early…
Bangor RNLI's Jessie Hillyard and Ruby Robinson alongside each other
A new Atlantic 85 class inshore lifeboat has officially gone on service at Bangor RNLI in Northern Ireland. The Ruby Robinson arrived at the Co Down station on Tuesday afternoon (25 June) and replaces the Jessie Hillyard, which has been…
The Co Down lifeguard team who will provide a daily patrol on Tyrella, Murlough and Cranfield beaches
RNLI lifeguards are returning to their full-time regime patrolling a total of 11 Northern Ireland beaches along the Causeway Coast and in Co Down. The charity along with the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, the National Trust and Newry,…
Irish Offshore Sailing's vintage boat 'Desert Star' and her crew taking third overall on IRC in the 2024 Round Ireland Race is one of the hot topics in Wicklow
Friday (Day 6) 08:15 hrs: Wicklow SC and the pierhead finish line for the Round Ireland were buzzing with activity yesterday (Thursday) evening, with strong to fresh southwest winds bringing in a steady stream of finishers. High point of the…
Three Irish boats competed in a fleet of 16 at the 20th Anniversary Quarter Ton Cup in Cowes on the Isle of Wight
Strangford Lough's Stuart Cranston in the Bolero prototype Purple Haze was the top Irish performer in this week's Quarter Ton Cup in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Sam Laidlaw's Aguila won the seven-race event with four wins on 7.5 points from…
Following a £285,000 (€338,000) investment, the east jetty at Devenish Island has been extended by 60 metres, increasing mooring capacity from six to 12 vessels
Waterways Ireland has officially opens the extension of Devenish Island’s east jetty, increasing mooring capacity to facilitate growth in visitor numbers to the island, one of Lough Erne’s premier tourist attractions. Following a £285,000 (€338,000) investment, Devenish Island’s east jetty…
A file photo of the Rush Sailing Club Storm that is on form on day one of 2024 Bangor Regatta on Belfast Lough
The same strong winds that brought home many of the SSE Renewables Round Ireland fleet at pace down the Irish Sea to Wicklow arrived on time for the first day of the Bangor Regatta. (Thurs 27th June). Predicted by this magazine's…
Andrew Hall and his crew closed in on the finish right along the long Wicklow beach in smooth water to have a strong finish to the Round Ireland Race 2024
Thursday (Day 5) 17:00 hrs: When the bright brown arrows start marching across the XCW forecast screen, it means hard work for sailors. Squally weather, with almost continuous adjustment of sail areas. At 17:00 hrs today (Thursday) the southwest to…
Dublin Bay Sailing Club's (DBSC) Thursday evening racing was cancelled tonight due to strong westerly winds. 'Violent gusts' meant the tenth Thursday race of the 2024 AIB summer season was scrubbed in all classes at Dun Laoghaire. Yacht racing continues…
Thursday (Day 5) 12:30 hrs: With a further shuffling of the pack accelerated by the prospect and subsequent arrival of strong Atlantic winds laid on by the now diminishing go-through of Storm Jimmy, Steady Eddy performers are moving up through…

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]