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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
Dublin Bay classic and traditional boats will gather on the River Liffey this weekend for a two-day boat rally at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club
So many boat events are scheduled in Ireland for this weekend that the powers-that-be should maybe take notice, and make it into the Bank Holiday that everyone seems to think it is. The official one at the beginning of May…
RYANI chief Greg Yarnall with PSNI officers announcing the forthcoming marine flare disposal day for Northern Ireland boaters
RYA Northern Ireland has been working closely with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Stephen Dunne, MLA for North Down to arrange a marine flare disposal day for Northern Ireland boaters. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, marine flares…
Current ICRA “Boat of the Year” Swuzzlebubble (James Dwyer, Royal Cork YC) will be going head-to-head with long-lost multi-club-representing sister Two Farr at Howth’s three-day Wave Regatta, starting Friday
Those who are unaware of some of the more offbeat aspects of Irish maritime history can be forgiven for wondering how it is that Rogerstown, Rush and Skerries – all in the heart of heavily horticultural North Fingal - between…
Eve McMahon, pictured here racing in 2022, was named Sportsperson of the Year at the UCD Athletic Union Council Sports Awards on Thursday 16 May
Howth Yacht Club’s Eve McMahon is UCD’s 2024 Sportsperson of the Year, as announced at the UCD Athletic Union Council Sports Awards last Thursday (16 May). The BComm International student and ILCA 6 sailor receives the award for her phenomenal…
Kinsale Yacht Club Marina in County Cork is one of nine Irish marinas to retain Blue Flag status in 2024
Ten Irish marinas were awarded a Blue Flag in Ireland in 2023, nine of these have retained Blue Flag status for the coming season. The Blue Flag awarded to Greencastle Marina in 2023 was withdrawn by Donegal County Council in…
The fourth Irish RS Aero National Championships will be held at Howth Yacht Club on the 15th & 16th of June
Two US-based sailors will add an international flavour to the fourth Irish RS Aero National Championships on the 15th & 16th of June at Howth Yacht Club. Paul McMahon of the host club is the defending champion and will be…
Dedicated Carrickfergus Sailing Club member Terry Windsor (left) with club Commodore Graham Skelton
For Terry Windsor of Carrickfergus Sailing Club on the north shore of Belfast Lough, awards come in twos. Last year, he received an award from East Antrim Borough Council for Services to Sport in recognition of 28 years of service…
Some of the 34 boats from the four competing sportsboat classes wait for wind on day two of the Royal Irish Yacht Club hosted Dun Laoghaire Cup on Dublin Bay where a visiting American Lines cruise-ship is moored
Despite multiple attempts by the Royal Irish Yacht Club Race Committee to commence the remaining schedule on Sunday, the light northerly winds on Dublin Bay did not cooperate for the second day of racing at the 2024 Dun Laoghaire Cup…
Regata dei Tre Golfi winner for a second time - Guiseppe Puttini's well-sailed, immaculate Swan 65 ketch Shirlaf
The Regata dei Tre Golfi which started from Naples on Friday, saw the upper half of the 25-boat maxi fleet suffer from repeated hold-ups, calms and transitions. Behind, the smaller slower entries enjoyed more continuous breeze. As a result, Class…
Victorious Team Ireland with at the Royal St. George Yacht Club prizegiving from left to right: Ronan Murphy, Alistair Kissane, John O Connor, Neil Hegarty, holding the Cannonball Trophy, John O Driscoll, Tim Pearson and Peter Bowring
Dublin Bay was once again the venue for the Cannonball Trophy. Travelling Dragon keelboat sailors from the South Coast of the UK and the Netherlands came together to sail against The Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire. A misty bay…
Irish Fireball dinghies taking part in a day-long coaching session with Thomas Chaix at Dun Laoghaire Harbour
Eight Fireballs took part in a day-long coaching session with Thomas Chaix at the DMYC in Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Sunday (May 19th). With extremely light winds forecast the fleet were pleasantly surprised by a decent 8 knots of breeze…
13 1720s are competing for East Coast Honours as part of the Royal Irish Yacht Club's Dun Laoghaire Cup with reigning European Champion Rope Dock Atara from Howth Yacht Club leading after day one of two
Homeport sportsboats led in three of the competing classes after the first day of racing on Saturday (May 18) at the Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC), which hosted the Dun Laoghaire Cup 2024 on Dublin Bay. Three East Coast and…
Royal St. George Yacht Club's Lindsay Casey was the IRC 2 DBSC Saturday Race winner in the  J97 Windjammer
Dublin Bay Sailing Club's fourth AIB Saturday race of the 2024 season was sailed on May 18th in sub-ten knot northerly winds on a hazy Dublin Bay. In a nine-boat turnout, J109s took the top three places in IRC One…
Fireball sailors Ewen Barry and Sandy Rimmington were the Monkstown Bay Sailing Club Dash for Cash Trophy winners in Cork Harbour
Host club sailors Ewen Barry and Sandy Rimmington defended their Monkstown Bay Sailing Club Dash for Cash Trophy on Saturday (May 18), picking up the €300 prize after a tight finish in Monkstown Creek against two single-handed ILCAs. The duo…
The Transgender Participation Policy will apply to all World Sailing events – including World Sailing Championships, the Youth Sailing World Championships, and the world or continental championships of the Olympic Classes – and the Olympic Games, including qualifying competitions, and will come into effect from January 1st, 2025
World Sailing Council has voted to adopt new eligibility rules for transgender athletes at the federation’s 2024 Mid Year Meeting. The Transgender Participation Policy will apply to all World Sailing events – including World Sailing Championships, the Youth Sailing World…
Light airs for Friday's Royal Cork Yacht Club May IHS cruiser-racer league in Cork Harbour led by Louise O'Keeffe's Dufour 30, Labous Gwen
Friday's Royal Cork Yacht Club May IHS cruiser-racer league in Cork Harbour was won by Louise O'Keeffe's Dufour 30, Labous Gwen in a corrected time of 1 hour 16 minutes and 16 seconds. Fiona Young's Albin Express, North Star was second…

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]