Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

One of the things I have done in my life is an iceberg watch on the bow of an offshore yacht racing in the Atlantic during the dark hours of night, keeping an eye out for ‘growlers’. These are small…

Four hundred and fifty participants have registered for the Watersports Inclusion Games according to Dave O’Sullivan, Commodore of Kinsale Yacht Club where a Disability Awareness Training Day this Saturday is a prelude to the hosting of the Games on the…

There are 15 Community Rescue Boats around Ireland. These are a nationwide group of independent, voluntary rescue boats, which reflect the concern of local communities for water safety in their areas and which were generally established following local drowning tragedies.…

The families of the 50 victims of the Betelgeuse oil tanker tragedy at Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay have decided to take legal action against the State. The French-Irish Association of Relatives and Friends of the Betelgeuse are applying to…

The combined clubs Cork Harbour league concluded on Saturday, run by Monkstown Bay Sailing Club’s Cruiser Class and with nine yachts racing writes Tom MacSweeney The race started at No.9 buoy with a beat to No.5, then swinging on a…

In recent podcasts I’ve reported on the Cork Harbour T Boats, a Class now extinct apart from the restored original boat, which I highlighted last week here; the successful revival of the Rankins; the restoration underway of the gaff-cutter Lady…

There is satisfaction in being associated with a good news story about sailing, so the latest step in the Rankin dinghy development, which we have followed for four years on the Afloat website is the announcement that the revived, restored…

How many coats of varnish would you put on a wooden dinghy? “Ten if I had the chance,” so Owen O’Connell answered when he told me the story of the Cork Harbour ‘T’ Boats. “And there’s ten years. in time,…

On what type of boat did the original settlers of Ireland arrive? They probably came over 10,000 years ago and began populating the coastal regions. Could they have come on some type of sailing currach? The Currach Association of Ireland…

While the Sovereigns Cup is the focus at Kinsale Yacht Club this week, there is another aspect of the club which is very impressive - its commitment to inclusiveness in sailing. "People of different abilities can sail a boat. Sailability…

Sailing has its ‘ups-and-downs’ and a hundred years brings many changes as the years roll by, both good times and those that are more difficult. Sailing in the Cork Harbour town of Cobh has experienced this, an experience which underlines…

“You need to be mentally strong for this type of sailing. You have to make tough decisions when you’re tired.” “Being by yourself, sailing solo, depends very much on the person and how you use your own resources,” The first…

Currachs are important to preserving the maritime history and culture of an island nation a seminar about these iconic boats was told in Cork Harbour today reports Tom MacSweeney. The seminar on the antiquity and sustainability of currachs was part…

“We’ll keep the tradition going. That’s the idea. We’ll carry on and keep traditional sailing going in Cork Harbour.” So said Rory Allen who, with his son Gearoid, is the proud new owner of a much-travelled dinghy, the French” boat…

I met two wonderful sailors this week who, sailing around the world, have come to two conclusions about yachting. One is: “There is a significant amount of horse manure that abounds in the yachting world; it would be a great…

According to the Government, as directed by the Dáil, Ireland is now in a climate emergency…added to which are biodiversity and marine eco problems… That crisis was declared within the parliamentary portals to which 158 TDs are elected to represent…

The Ilen will be setting course for Dublin this weekend for a high profile launch at Dun Laoghaire on Friday of next week. She arrived at Kinsale this Wednesday night after what was described as a “bouncy bouncy run from…

I like the direct approach of Irish Sailing President Jack Roy. He makes his points clearly, such as telling me that the sport is under pressure from other sports and needs more young people to become involved and ‘yes’ it…

Over the years, rowing has had its highs and lows in Cork Harbour, where the history of the sport on Leeside as the River Lee wends its way from the city towards the harbour mouth, can be traced to the…

I remember when I first saw the Puffin seabirds. It was my first time sailing along the Kerry coastline and it was off Portmagee, on the appropriately named Puffin Island. We had closed the small Island south of Valentia which…