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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
History in the making – Melges 15s outnumbering IDRA 14s at Howth
With Howth YC's 43rd Autumn League for six Saturdays over-lapping with the four weekend multi-race Claremont League Dinghy Series, Howth Yacht Club has total boat numbers racing each weekend pushing towards the hundred mark. Yet despite the Club's success in…
Plenty of crews will have their eye on the main Rolex Middle Sea trophy, not least those that have won it before. The most recent past winner is Andrea Recordati’s Bullitt, the 28.3m Judel & Vrolijk designed Wally Yacht, which claimed overall victory by 24 seconds from the much smaller Red Ruby last year
The 45th Rolex Middle Sea Race, which starts on 19th October 2024, has amassed a fleet of 110 yachts. The entrants so far represent 29 countries: from Australia in the south to Finland in the north, and from the United…
Pete Smyth's Ker 46 Searcher will compete in both of this weekend's ISORA fixtures on Dublin Bay
Last Saturday's Race 15 of the ISORA calendar was the year's final cross-channel race, but the results from this weekend's final two Viking Marine Irish coastal races will decide the overall Wolf's Head Trophy. Already, the series' biggest contenders have announced they will be…
The annual wreath-laying at the recovered anchor of the RMS Leinster in October 2022
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in association with the National Maritime Institute of Ireland and the RMS Leinster Memorial Committee will mark the 106th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Leinster on Thursday 10 October with a wreath-laying ceremony beside…
Eleven Water Wags competed in twelve races on Lough Key, showcasing their prowess in a variety of formats, including downwind river races
Over the weekend of 21-22 September, the waters of Lough Key in County Roscommon played host to a remarkable event as the Water Wags from Dublin Bay descended upon the lake for their annual regatta. The historic significance of Lough…
The final TP52 event sees 13 boats competing, representing nine nations, the biggest and most international end of season fleet in the history of the circuit
After winning the last two regattas, including the Rolex TP52 World Championship title in Newport in July, Tony Langley's Gladiator crew head into the final event of the season carrying an eight point lead as they bid to secure the…
Pawel Trojanowski and Sean Dorenbosch SSBC on F18 535 win and take the title of IMA Eastern Champions 2024
Swords Sailing and Boating Club (SSBC) hosted the Irish Multihull Association (IMA) Eastern Championships 2024 last weekend (21st and 22nd September) With wind forecasted at 12 knots, gusting up to 18 ENE each day, it promised to be an exciting…
The superbly re-built Dublin Bay 24 Zephyra sailing in Maine
The approach of the final Dublin Bay Sailing Club "routine Saturday" race this weekend (Saturday 28th September) is a reminder that, in their heyday from 1947 to 2000, the best way to see and experience the classic Dublin Bay 24s…
National Yacht Club Commodore Peter Sherry presents Shane MacCarthy (L) and Hugh McNally (R) with the winners' trophies and prizes for the East Coast Flying Fifteen Championships
Shane MacCarthy and Hugh McNally recorded a perfect score of five race wins to take the penultimate regatta of the Irish Flying Fifteen season, the East Coast Championships, hosted by the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire this past weekend.…
The tight finish of the final race of the 2024 Irish SB20 National Championships, as seen by Race Officer Barry O'Neill, shows overall winners Ted (Michael O'Connor, Ted Davy Taylor, and Ed Cook) first, Sean Donnelly's Leviathan second and Golddigger of Mel Collins, Aidan McSweeney and Harry Pritchard in third
With six wins from nine races sailed, defending champions Ted, Michael O'Connor, Ted Davy Taylor, and Ed Cook retained their national title on home water on Sunday at the Royal St. George Yacht Club hosted 2024 SB20 National Championships.  The Royal Cork and Lough…
The Galway Docklands Festival programme includes Galway Hooker workshop visits, where guests can explore the rich history of the traditional craft and see one under restoration
The annual Galway Docklands Festival will mark the RNLI’s 200 years of lifeboat service during its event next weekend. Galway Hooker Sailing Club and the Galway RNLI lifeboat station are hosting the festival on Saturday, September 28th, from 12 noon…
Cora McNaughton from Blessington Sailing Club and Isha Duggan from Royal Cork Yacht Club are the 2024 Junior Champion of Champions
Cora McNaughton from Blessington Sailing Club and Isha Duggan from Royal Cork Yacht Club have been crowned the 2024 Junior Champion of Champions. The duo, nominated from the 420 class, clinched the title at the Fastnet Marine Outdoor & Education…
National Champions Shane MacCarthy and Hugh McNally (4116) cross the finish line in one of five race wins to take the Flying Fifteen East Coast Championships on Dublin Bay with ease
Five wins from five races easily gave Shane MacCarthy and Hugh McNally the Flying Fifteen East Coast Championships title at the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay on Sunday. The National Champions stormed into the lead on Saturday with three wins…
Ronan Twomey's First 40.7 Rosmarina racing in the 2024 Royal Cork Yacht Club annual Naval Race in Cork Harbour
The Royal Cork Yacht Club held its annual Naval Race in moderate north easterlies in Cork Harbour, bringing together a fleet of 15 boats, racing under IHS, IRC and ECHO handicaps. The race started on 'Grassy' with the Cage buoy as the line's pin…
Peter Dunlop and Victoria Cox's Class Zero J122 Mojito from Pwllheli Sailing Club continues to lead overall in the Musto Offshore Series 2024 after Saturday's final cross-channel race of the year
Peter Dunlop and Victoria Cox's Class Zero J122 Mojito from Pwllheli Sailing Club won Saturday's 80-mile Dun Laoghaire to Pwllheli race. The Class Two J109 Ruth (Shanahan family), the archrival for ISORA's overall Wolf's Head Trophy for 2024, finished third in…
National 18 South Coast Champions, Peaky Blinders, sailed by Nick Walsh, Rob Brownlow, and Ed Rice of Royal Cork Yacht Club
It may have been a smaller fleet, but it was no less competitive at the top of the National 18 dinghy South Coast Championships, which was won on Saturday by this season's standout performer, Peaky Blinders, sailed by Nick Walsh,…

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]