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.
The enchanting port of Roskilde – where the 100ft Irish-originating Viking longship Sea Stallion now makes her home – is the very soul of the best of Denmark’s Viking traditions. And those who would denigrate everything the Vikings did in…
The sense of land and sea interacting dynamically always seems much stronger around Cork Harbour than in most other places in Ireland, and never more so than in Cork Week with the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven. There, the…
It’s Regatta Time in Ireland, with Competing, Haggling and Selling at Retail
27th June 2026 Royal Irish Yacht Club
It’s currently Regatta Time in a big way in Ireland at the Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire and the Bangor clubs on Belfast Lough, with high stakes in terms of appropriate weather and the provision of good sailing. As…
Friday 15:30hrs – An entire week’s wind and a southerly, and all of it crammed into one Friday afternoon. That’s how it has felt as the bulk of the fleet slugged their way towards the finish of the Round Ireland…
Friday 07:30hrs – The 43 boats in the open IRC division of the Round Ireland Race 2026 from Wicklow now find themselves in four groups. The tail-enders are in the North Channel, about 15 boats in total, extending all the…
Round Ireland 26: Khumbu May Have Won, But Courrier’s Performance Is Sensational
25th June 2026 Round Ireland
Thursday 19:30hrs – Superficially, Gery Trentesaux’s Pogo RC Courrier Pogo may seem like one of the smaller boats in the Round Ireland Race 2026 from Wicklow. Yet her IRC rating of 1.082 (as against, for instance, the 1.002 of the…
This Scowling Is Different - Successful Scow Show In Round Ireland Race
25th June 2026 Round Ireland
Thursday 13:30 hrs - More than a clear day after Guy Gillon’s Botin 56 Khumbu swept in to the Round Ireland finish line at 12 knots yesterday (Wednesday), there’s been action again down Wicklow way with the very scow-bowed Class40…
The fishing industry link between Brixham and Ringsend thrived between 1815 and 1919, so much so that in time the largest of the highly-regarded Brixham-style sailing trawlers was the St Patrick - built, fished and managed by the Murphy family of…
Thursday 07:30 hrs – Veteran French skipper Gery Trentesaux on his newly-acquired Pogo RC Courrier Pogo, with his crew including Ireland’s Figaro-winning Tom Dolan, has had a real night on the tiles in the 2026 Round Ireland Race, zapping through…
Wednesday 19:30 hrs – With the on-water leader, the Botin 56 Khumbu, long since across the finish line in Wicklow, a fixed target is now set for the prowling Round Ireland fleet to aim for, and perhaps dream a little.…
Wednesday 13:30hrs - Guy Gillon’s Botin 56 Khumbu took line honours at Wicklow in the 2026 Round Ireland Race with extraordinary precision at 09:26 hrs, extraordinary” as our 07:30 update had reported that she was right on target with 23…
Wednesday 07:30hrs – The new Botin 56 Khumbu (Guy Gillon) is on track to finish the Round Ireland Race at Wicklow this morning, coming in from the northeast, and currently making 12 knots on track to the line with 23…
Tuesday 19:30 hrs – Although Guy Gillon’s Botin 56 Khumbu is now past Rathlin and seemingly on a different planet to the rest of the fleet - where the front-runners are closing in on passing Tory Island at the other…
Tuesday 15:15hrs - There’s been sparkling sailing off Ireland’s northwest coast tiday to brighten life up for a fleet shaking off the ill-effects of prolonged calm. But unfortunately the current stream of extremely humid air may mean that fog will…
Tuesday 08:00: France’s offshore racing veteran legend Gery Trentesaux and Ireland’s Figaro winner Tom Dolan are proving to be a potent mix aboard the scow-bowed Courrier Pogo, as they picked up best as an overnight sou’west airstream spread slowly east…
Monday 20:30hrs - Back in the days of sail, the guidance for shipmasters trying to get unwieldy old square riggers safely out of the stormy west end of the English Channel bluntly stated: “Ushant Should Not Be Sighted”. In other…
Monday 14:30hrs – The strategic essence of the Round Ireland Race for a speedy high-rated boat like Guy Gillon’s Botin 56 Khumbu is to get yourself far enough ahead to be nibbling at a different weather system from the rest…
Monday 07:30hrs - When the Round Ireland leader on the water, the Botin 56 Khumbu, came past the Fastnet Rock at 2100 hrs last (Sunday) night, her crew were encouraged by the broadly easterly breeze holding up sufficiently to give…
Sunday: 1930 hrs - In a reasonably lively Round Ireland Race from Wicklow, we’d be thinking in terms of the leaders on the water getting to the neighbourhood of the Fastnet Rock maybe 24 hours after the start. But not…
1400 hrs Sunday: The Botin 56 Khumbu continues to lead the Round Ireland fleet in east to north-east winds and is past Cork Harbour, with debates about the benefits (or not) of a sea breeze effect providing a bit of…
