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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
On the 8th of June, Ocean to City - An Rás Mór, as part of the Cork Harbour festival will see hundreds of rowers and paddlers compete in a challenging 28km race through Cork harbour
The much-anticipated Cork Harbour Festival is returning this June for 10 days of maritime fun, running from the 1st to the 10th. The festival showcases Cork's stunning natural assets, including Cork Harbour and the River Lee, and promises a diverse…
Just one step from becoming a ghost ship. The very unused classic 1981-vintage Frers 51 Moonduster seen recently languishing in Trondheim in Norway
In the Spring of 1981, Dens Doyle’s Frers 51 Moonduster was launched at Crosshaven into a glittering 20-year partnership in which she and her very special owner-skipper became a much-admired feature of the European offshore racing scene. It was a…
The Vendée Globe's ‘little American sister', the New York Vendée Les Sables d'Olonne Race will set sail in 15 days time, on 29 May
With six months to go before the start of its 10th edition, the Vendée Globe is making an American aside! The last qualifying and selection race for the solo round the world race, the New York Vendée Les Sables d'Olonne,…
Fiona Young’s North Star has reigned supreme in Spinnakers IRC Thursday night Royal Cork Yacht Club racing
"The largest number of boats racing on a Summer Series Friday night in over 10 years, a remarkable achievement,” says Royal Cork Yacht Club Rear Admiral Keelboats, Rob Foster, after the second week of the club’s May League. Between the…
2024 ILCA 6 Masters National Champion Sean Craig  of the Royal St. George Yacht Club (left) is congratulated by Howth Yacht Club Commodore Neil Murphy
The ILCA Masters National Championships proved that the ILCA is a boat for all ages. The masters travelled to Howth Yacht Club to race in the sunshine and a steady south-easterly breeze ranging from 8 to 14 knots. Under the…
Restorative work on the Rankin dinghy R£ ahead of the 'Worlds' at Royal Cork this June
For the first time in five years the Rankin dinghy ‘Worlds’ will be held again this season. The Rankins are a revered Cork Harbour class that was revived, beginning in 2016, by dedicated enthusiasts in Cobh and is now thriving…
The revived Cork Harbour Cruiser Racing League, open to Whitesail and Spinnaker racing, will run for four Fridays in June
After a break since the impact of Covid, the Cork Harbour Combined Cruiser League is to be held again. It will start on Friday, June 5, and be jointly organised by the Royal Cork YC and Cove SC. It is…
Gabby Hogan's Grand Soleil 45 Growler (IRL 7578) passes Copper Point Light at Long Island in the first 2024 summer sailing season at Schull Harbour Sailing Club
The opening race of the 2024 summer sailing season at Schull Harbour Sailing Club in West Cork was staged on Saturday in near-idyllic weather as the mixed cruiser fleet competed for the Rossbrin Boatyard Trophy. After starting in the inner…
Dublin Bay 21s Number 3 Naneen (blue) and Number 6 Estelle (yellow) in close company in the Dublin Bay Sailing Club Saturday, 11th May race
Dublin Bay on Saturday, 11th May, presented perfect sailing conditions with sunshine, easterly F3/ F4 winds, and a reasonably flat sea state. A full turnout for the Dublin Bay Twentyones with a couple of newcomers to the fleet taking their…
Shaun Douglas’s Beneteau 40.7 (Royal Ulster and Cockle Island BC) pictured here racing on Dublin Bay will compete in the 2024 Jura Scottish Series this month
Of the 86 current entries for the Jura Scottish Series which runs from 24th -27th May in Loch Fyne, nine are from Northern Ireland, with most coming from Belfast Lough. Competing in the eight-strong Sigma 33 OOD class will be…
Magic mysterious moments - the Northern Light and the Stella Maris sculpture at Howth Harbour evoked an infinite universe and photographer Conor Turvey also captured the stars as part of the show
The weekend's almost freakish display of the Northern Lights were better seen in some places than others. Howth on its peninsula avoided the later thundery rain which affected other parts of the country, some with flooding. The HYC Photography Fellowship…
Duncan and Maura Sclare's local cutter Little Egret (left) heads out to meet AK Ilen in Clew Bay, County Mayo
The historic Irish ketch, Ilen, has docked at Westport, County Mayo to deliver a unique addiction recovery programme. The boat, which was built in the 1920s and underwent a full restoration in 2018, is now part of the award-winning charity…
An anchor at the RMS Tayleur Memorial in Rush, Co. Dublin
Edward J. Bourke will give a talk on the 'Sinking of the Sailing Ship Tayleur, 1854' at Rush Library this Thursday, 16th May at 6.30 pm. To attend the talk, booking is available through Fingal Libraries (see details below). The…
Six Dragons contested the O’Leary Life Keelboat Regatta at Kinsale Yacht Club
A tie-break decided the six-boat Dragon Class season opener at Kinsale Yacht Club's O’Leary Keelboat Regatta on May 12th. With close racing over two days, James Matthews, David Good, and Fergal O’Hanlon on TBD took the trophy after six intense races. Ghost,…
Eight teams competed in Elliott 6m sportsboats at the  2024 Irish Match Racing National Championships organised by the Irish Match Racing Association at the National Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire Harbour
Royal St. George Yacht Club trio Tom, Henry and Jack Higgins were crowned 2024 Irish Match Racing Champions after eight teams competed over two days in the National Yacht Club's Elliott 6m sportsboat fleet in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Waterford Harbour match racer…
The inaugural 44 Cup in Baiona, Spain, drew some of the best crews in the world, including Irish sailors Oisin McClelland and Cian Guilfoyle on board Aleph Racing (above), Simon Johnson on the Black Star Racing Team, and Grattan Roberts, who joins Team Ceeref Vaider for the 2024 season
Artemis Racing emerged victorious at the 44Cup Baiona, held at the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona (MRCYB) in Galicia, after winning five out of nine races. The second event of the 2024 44Cup concluded on Sunday, after a…

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]