WM Nixon
William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.
American AC Challengers Give Master-Class in Use of Foils & Breaking of Champagne Bottles
16th September 2019 America's Cup
The New York Yacht Club have been having a busy time of it up at their Newport, Rhode Island summer base, what with running the intense International Invitational Series in which Ireland’s Anthony O’Leary took Bronze for Royal Cork, and…
Beshoff Motors Autumn League in Howth Finally Brings Proper Summer to the East Coast
15th September 2019 Howth YC
Bright sunshine, a good but warm sailing breeze, and summer temperatures which lasted well into the evening made Saturday’s opening of the 38th annual Autumn League at Howth Yacht Club – partnered this year by specialist car importers Beshoff Motors…
Howth Yacht Club has a fresh buzz to it these days, an electrical charge which - if they could somehow package, market and sell it at its true value - would surely provide a handy addition to club revenues. But…
Limerick Ketch Ilen’s 'Salmon's Wake' Voyage to Greenland Provided Research from High Latitudes
12th September 2019 Ilen
This past summer’s successful Salmon’s Wake voyage by Limerick’s 56t traditional ketch Ilen to Greenland worked productively in many ways in high mountains, on the sea, and in ports where the crew interacted with Greenlanders on several cultural programmes. But…
Drascombes Disappear into Ireland’s Most Meandering Inland Waterway
11th September 2019 Inland Waterways
What is the most meandering bit of waterway in all Ireland? Obviously it would be a river. And surely it would have to be a river trying to get across a very large area of flat country where, over the…
New Irish-Designed Boat in Use as Royal Cork & New York Go Together like Baby & Stork……
10th September 2019 Royal Cork YC
Although the New York Yacht Club was founded as “recently” as 1844, it’s regarded in the senior yacht club in the USA, as is the Royal Cork in Ireland - and the world too, come to that, with the RCYC’s…
Grace O’Malley was Busy when She Voyaged from Clew Bay to the Thames for Parlay with Queen Elizabeth
9th September 2019 Offshore
When the great sea warrior queen Granuaile of Mayo voyaged from Clew Bay to parlay with the then all-powerful Queen Elizabeth I in London, there was even more to it than was hinted at by Clew Bay Figaro sailor Joan…
Dun Laoghaire Town & Its Harbour Users: Must it Be a Continuing State of Mutual Incomprehension?
6th September 2019 W M Nixon
Mark Twain used to say that you should never get into a row with anyone who buys ink by the barrel. But last weekend The Irish Times, our national Paper of Record, ran a Weekend Review feature about the problematical…
This week’s attempt by the Monaco-based Malizia II to set up a Transatlantic west-east record time for a fully-crewed IMOCA 60 with two Irish – Shane Diviney and Brian Carlin – in the crew of five, has been knocked off…
The Limerick ketch Ilen returned safely from Greenland to berth at an Irish quayside for the first time in more than two months when, at 0400hrs this morning, skipper Paddy Barry and his crew brought the 56ft 1926-built “little ship”…
Limerick Ketch Ilen Passing Skelligs – She's Due in Kinsale at 0400 Hrs Tomorrow (Wednesday)
3rd September 2019 Ilen
When Conor O’Brien returned from his round the world voyage in Saoirse to Dun Laoghaire in 1925, it was all carefully choreographed so that he arrived in the middle of a Saturday afternoon, and the DBSC fleet, having abandoned their…
Irish Sailors Shane Diviney & Brian Carlin Aboard for Transatlantic Record Challenge by IMOCA 60 Malizia II
2nd September 2019 Offshore
The IMOCA 60 Malizia II is one busy boat these days writes W M Nixon. She hit the global headlines by conveying climate activist Greta Thunberg across the Atlantic to New York in a carbon-neutral way courtesy of skipper Pierre…
Ilen Voyage Promotes Transatlantic Learning Links for School Kids in Ireland & Greenland
1st September 2019 Ilen
There’ll be opportunities in Limerick and Greenland for young people to learn more of what the two Transatlantic voyages – outward and return - of the 56ft traditional ketch Ilen have discovered and explained, with schools now resumed after the…
Make Sailing Simple Again – Some Committee Boat Starts Can Work Against Racing Enjoyment
30th August 2019 W M Nixon
Our header photo this week may not be the greatest in terms of clarity and technical brilliance, let alone jaw-dropping drama writes W M Nixon. But it tells us much about our peculiar sport of racing under sail, that two…
Limerick Ketch Ilen is Now Halfway Home to Ireland from Greenland & Headed for Kinsale
30th August 2019 Ilen
The 56ft traditional ketch Ilen under the command of Paddy Barry has been making excellent progress since departing Greenland on Sunday evening, and is already halfway home to Ireland along the 1200 mile passage from Prince Christian Sund writes W…
The world of sailing in Ireland and internationally is much diminished by the sad passing of Douglas “Dougie” Deane of Crosshaven at the age of 82, after a very fully-lived life in which he contributed much to the sports with…
Belgian solo sailor Caroline Adriens has departed southwards from Galway after spending nearly a year in the popular west coast port with her 30ft Albin Ballad. She had arrived in Galway in September 2018 from Tromsø in Norway via Shetland,…
With all eyes on the pre-Olympics and the Rugby World Cup in Japan, Quest Howth has recently proven a big hit in the Land of the Rising Sun. While the focus in recent days may have been on the Olympic…
After so much promise with sun-filled races towards Greystones on Saturday, as a local observer has wrily remarked, Sunday was more Factor 6 than Force 6…….Perhaps in other places, local coastal anomalies and neighbourhood weakness in tidal streams made events…
Historic Ketch Ilen Takes her Departure from Greenland, Bound for Ireland & Limerick
26th August 2019 Ilen
Limerick’s restored 56ft Conor O’Brien-designed 1926-built traditionally-rigged trading ketch Ilen emerged yesteray evening (Sunday) from the eastern end of Prince Christian Sound to start her passage back to Ireland writes W M Nixon. The magnificent Sound - noted for its dramatic…
