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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
Kiwi Makes Top Start at Laser Worlds
The strong tidal current and light and at times very shifty breeze proved to be the principal challenges on the first day of the Laser World Championships off Hayling Island. It left Irish Olympic campaigner James Espey in 52nd, the…
Fitzpatrick and McDonald Win Inaugural Liffey Skiffy
The first ever Liffey Skiffy 49er event launched on Friday afternoon to the spectacular backdrop of Dublin city centre providing colour, excitement and a view of high performance racing to the punters of our capital city. A four race series…
Artemis Ocean Racing II Breaks Round Britain and Ireland Race IMOCA 60' record
Having crossed the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race finish line Monday at 00h32' 27'' after 6 days 10 hours 32 minutes and 27 seconds at sea, Artemis Ocean Racing II managed to break the IMOCA 60' course record at…
Investwise SB3 Nationals at Howth
A fleet of up to 50 boats from 10 clubs is a strong possibility for the Investwise SB3 Irish National Championships at Howth YC on September 3rd-5th, with 'McCready Sailboats' (Gareth Flannigan, Ballyhome) and 'Sharkbait' (Ben Duncan of the host…
Wallace, Murphy and Flynn Take Laser Titles on Belfast Lough
The Laser National Championships run by Ballyholme YC on Belfast Lough over the last four days (Thursday 26th - Sunday 29th August) saw a mix of wind conditions with the final day, like the Feva Nationals on Dublin Bay, being…
Lynch Finishes Fourth at Topper Worlds
In spite of a final race win overall victory escaped Carlow's Finn Lynch at the Topper World Championships on Lake Garda. At the halfway stage of the event the Blessington sailor was lying joint second but the next nine races…
Royal Cork Pair Win Feva Irish Title
Strong winds cut short the RS Feva Irish Nationals and Open Championship on Dublin Bay today but before the north-westerly breeze took charge a 58 boat fleet was given a display of top class Feva saiing by visiting Royal Cork…
Green Dragon Attracts New Sponsors
Almost a quarter of the 12 million Euro required for Green Dragon, the Irish entry into the 2012 Volvo Ocean Race has already been pledged according to a report into today's Sunday Business Post. The report says that the Lets…
Cammas Sets New Round Britain and Ireland Record
Volvo Open 70, Groupama, crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron Line today at 11.26.55 (BST) to claim line honours in the 2010 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race and take both the race and course records. Groupama completed the 1802 mile…
BERTRAND WRAPS UP ETCHELLS WORLD TITLE
Australian sailing legend John Bertrand and his crew Andrew Palfry and Tom Slingsby wrapped up the 2010 Etchells World Championship title in some style at Howth (Saturday 28th) with his fifth bullet in eight races and without even needing to…
Calypso Wins Dublin Bay's White Sail Race
DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 28 AUGUST 2010 CRUISERS 3 ˆ ECHO 1. Asterix (J.Counihan/F.Meredith), 2. Jammie Dodger (J.H & D.O'Neill), 3. Jabiru (M & S Renwick) CRUISERS 3 - 1. Asterix (J.Counihan/F.Meredith), 2. Jabiru (M &…
Heading Home in Round Britain and Ireland Race
By sunset tonight all of the competitors racing in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race will have rounded Muckle Flugga. For many of them it has been a long hard slog up the North Sea writes Louay Habib. The…
Abandonment helps Bertrand hold Etchells lead
Australia's John Bertrand retained his grip on the World Etchells Championship title at Howth but he needed the abandonment of the eighth race in the series due to lack of wind to maintain that position with a day to go.…
MGM DBSC Challenge Kicks Off Tonight
The weekend sailnig on Dublin Bay kicks off tonight event at 5pm with the MGM Boats Dublin Bay Sailing Club Cruiser Challenge.  There will be a fixed mark course around Dublin Bay racing marks, with windward/leeward courses planned for tomorrow…
Fifty Boats Expected for SB3 Nationals
A fleet of up to 50 boats from 10 clubs is a strong possibility for the Investwise SB3 Irish National Championships at Howth YC on September 3rd-5th, with 'McCready Sailboats' (Gareth Flannigan, Ballyhome) and 'Sharkbait' (Ben Duncan of the host…
Beneteau 31.7 'Magic' Wins Last DBSC Thursday Race
DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 26 AUGUST 2010 BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Magic (D.O'Sullivan/D.Espey), 2. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 3. Thirty Something (Gerry Jones et al) BENETEAU 31.7 Echo- 1. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 2. Magic (D.O'Sullivan/D.Espey), 3. Fiddly…

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]