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.
In 1926, the newly-built 56ft trading ketch Ilen was for six months part of the fleet of the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Built in Baltimore in West Cork under the inspiration of pioneering global circumnavigator Conor O’Brien of Limerick to…
Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race 2019: The “Little Big One” With Everything
18th May 2019 W M Nixon
You’ll seldom if ever hear anyone who has actually done the biennial Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race dismissing it in an offhand way as some sort of Round Ireland Lite writes W M Nixon. It may only be 280…
The 19ft–Squib keelboat is quite often raced with ferocious competitiveness which is almost frightening for those of us who bought them many years ago as handy little boats which worked as an ideal family day-sailer while providing some club One-Design racing…
Superb New Dublin Bay Water Wag Celebrates Family’s Shared Pleasure in Sailing
13th May 2019 Water Wag
Martin Byrne, noted International Dragon sailor and former Commodore of the Royal St George YC in Dun Laoghaire, has happy memories of family sailing going back more than fifty years, when his parents decided that it was a sport which…
At a time when we’re constantly being warned in public life that we have to mark the current “Era of Centenaries” in a sensitive manner, it’s probably insensitive to respond by pointing out that the Irish sailing community is having…
Galway-Lorient Cruise-in-Company in July to Strengthen Bonds Between Atlantic Ports
8th May 2019 Cruising
Lorient in Brittany was the first city to sign up as a twin to the proud citizens of Galway as far back as 1975. It was a statement of friendship and a commitment to exchange cultural experiences between the people…
Howth Yacht Club’s Mitsubishi Motors “Club of the Year” Award Honours a Very Special Organisation
4th May 2019 W M Nixon
Environmental awareness and sailing success to top international level were dynamically intertwined at this week’s official presentation of the Mitsubishi Motors “Sailing Club of the Year 2019” award to Howth Yacht Club writes W M Nixon The announcement that Howth…
An event which was once a major highlight of the Belfast Lough programme in times past found a new and very active lease of life when Bangor Town Regatta was re-introduced as a major biennial event in July 2018. The…
The Golden Globe Race: Re-enactments of Great Sailing Achievements & Should The Past Be Left in Peace?
27th April 2019 W M Nixon
For those of us who find historical re-enactments to be slightly spooky, following the twists and turns of the Golden Globe Golden Jubilee Race through the latter half of 2018 and into the early months of 2019 has been -…
Kinsale in the summertime…..If you set out to create the dream harbour as the perfect location for a regatta which captures the essence of the many pleasures of sailing and racing on Ireland’s south coast, then you’d end up with…
Limerick’s Ketch Ilen to Be Put in Focus With “Salmons Wake” Voyage to Greenland
19th April 2019 W M Nixon
The historic ketch Ilen of Limerick puts to sea again from her home port this weekend at the beginning of a complex 2019 sailing programme which will see the restored ship voyage in July towards southwest Greenland writes W M…
Irish GP14s to Start National Season at Mullingar Sailing Club in Last Weekend of April
18th April 2019 GP14
The keenly-run GP14 Ireland Association starts its national season in the final weekend of April (27th & 28th) in the central location of Lough Owel at Mullingar Sailing Club with the prestigious O’Tiarnaigh Trophy championship writes W M Nixon. The…
The heartfelt sympathies of all those with extensive interests in the culture and history of the maritime world are with Cormac Lowth of Dublin and his sons on the sad loss of his wife and their mother Barbara, writes W…
The miraculous years of 2016 and 2017 provided a magic time in Irish sailing writes W M Nixon. Annalise won her Olympic Silver Medal. Shane McCarthy won the GP14 Worlds. And the most glamorous Round Ireland Race ever staged saw…
Smurfit Kappa, the new Figaro 3 being raced in the current Sardinha Cup series in France by Tom Dolan and Damian Foxall, has been comfortably in the top ten since the start of the 320-mile Leg 3 off St Gillles…
The start of the Sardinha Cup Stage 3 for the new Beneteau Figaro 3 fleet has now been reset for 1330hrs local time tomorrow, Thursday, April 11th off St Gilles Croix de Ville, following a massive effort by the shore…
After the heavy going experienced for much of the first two stages of the Sardinha Cup for the brand new Figaro 3 boats, a significant part of the fleet had sustained such serious rig problems that the long-distance Leg 3…
Reassuring News for Dun Laoghaire Harbour’s Future as VDLR 2019 is Launched in Style
5th April 2019 W M Nixon
In the years to come, Thursday, April 4th 2019 will be remembered as a pivotal date in the development of Dun Laoghaire Harbour as a maritime, recreational and community amenity, a key moment in the significant growth of a shared…
Kinsale’s James Dwyer Matthews Wins British Optimist Spring Opens from 155 Boats, While Howth’s Luke Turvey is third
1st April 2019 Optimist
James Dwyer Matthews (15) of Kinsale and Luke Turvey (13) of Howth have led the charge for Ireland in the 155-boat International Optimist British Spring Opens at Lymington, with both on the podium at the finish yesterday evening – Matthews…
The annual selection trials for the Irish team for the Student Yachting Worlds in France this Autumn has seen two days of superb racing over the weekend in Howth, with no complaints of lack of wind for the Howth YC…
