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.
We'll put aside for the moment the fact that Bono's father, the late Bob Hewson, lived out his days in Howth, a place he adored. We'll let it go for now that U2 drummer Larry Mullins lives in an elegantly-restrained…
Transatlantic Voyage Concluding at Malahide for German-Irish Family on 45-footer Saoirse
24th May 2020 Cruising When your name is Wolfgang Bee and your boat is a top-of-the-line Hanse 455, the smart money would say you’re German. But when your wife is a Fenix from a family with roots in Tippperary and a couple of other…
How many other front-line sailing administrators anywhere in the world would have noted the February announcement of the postponement of the new James Bond movie’s global premiere in London from early March 2020 away back until November, and immediately realised…
Howth Yacht Club to Test the Sailing Waters in Emerging From Covid-19 this Weekend
22nd May 2020 Howth YC Howth Yacht Club will be testing sailing options this weekend within parameters outlined by Commodore Ian Byrne in a missive direct to members and on the club website, issued late Thursday night. After more than two months of total Covid-19…
Titanic’s Belfast & Dublin Links Remembered With Retrieval of Sunken Ship's Marconi Radio
20th May 2020 Titanic An ambitious project to retrieve the most famous marine radio in the world from 2.5 miles down in the Atlantic has finally secured legal approval. The saving of the Marconi radio which sent out the distress signals from the sinking…
The restored Limerick trading ketch Ilen may have already voyaged to Greenland in 2019, but this year the distinctive vessel – or at least a model of her – has also been seen sailing on the Rhine in Germany. For…
Ocean Cruising Club’s “Get-You-Home” Nerve Centre on Clew Bay Recalls Club’s Irish Links
20th May 2020 Cruising At Port Aleria on Clew Bay in Mayo, Alex and Daria Blackwell can see their Bowman 57 ketch Aleria when she’s on her moorings off their house. But at the moment, their minds are often elsewhere, as Daria is Vice…
Whales, dolphins and porpoises hold a very special place in people’s hearts and minds. It may be a very long time since our shared mammalian ancestors went their respective ways, but when we get anywhere near “the cousins” in their…
Irish Sailors Need Flexible Thinking & Tolerance in Their Emergence From Covid-19
16th May 2020 W M Nixon You would expect the sailing community to be more understanding than most others of the difficulties inherent in setting out any sort of comprehensible and feasible plan for the resumption of life in all its forms as the Covid-19 pandemic…
Daria Blackwell on the Shores of Clew Bay is Helping Covid-19-Restricted Galway Family Crew to Sail Back to Europe Before Hurricanes Arrive in Caribbean
14th May 2020 Cruising Today, all being well, a flotilla of eight boats will be leaving Antigua, bound Transatlantic for Europe in the hope of being well clear of the Caribbean before the hurricane season sets in. Included in the group will be the…
Cancellation of Traditional Boats’ Cruinnui na mBad in Kinvara in August is Evidence of Continuing Covid-19 Threat
13th May 2020 Historic Boats The annual Cruinnui na mBad (the Gathering of the Boats) at the very hospitable port of Kinvara in the southeast corner of Galway Bay is one of the most popular events in the western sailing programme, and it was hoped…
Renowned hospitality specialist John Brennan of Dromquinna Manor and the Park Hotel in Kenmare in County Kerry is best known for his entertaining and informative “At Your Service” double act on television with his brother Francis. In it, the brothers…
Dingle Dolphin Concerns are a Reminder that Baltimore Pioneered the Special Dolphin Concept
13th May 2020 Marine Wildlife There’s concern in West Kerry and worldwide among his fans and friends that Fungie the Dingle Dolphin is becoming depressed. He is being made gloomy by the lack of company and an audience for his usual summer season starring role,…
Not every sailing class in Ireland gets a monthly update from its President which opens with a quote from Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. But then, it’s not every Class President who can so readily re-organise his busy working week that he’s…
Heroic Solo Sailor Gregor McGuckin Revives Memory of Rod Stephens in Howth Fifty Years Ago
8th May 2020 W M Nixon In Ireland, these days, the name of Rod Stephens is most readily associated with an international award - the Cruising Club of America’s Rod Stephens Trophy for Outstanding Seamanship - for the very good reason that during the past six…
The death of Bruce Lyster of Dun Laoghaire at the age of 78 is the sad loss to the Irish sailing community - and our maritime world generally - of a multi-talented figure who combined exceptional abilities in the financial…
Galway Bay’s Transatlantic Cruising Family Headed for Home from Caribbean this Weekend
6th May 2020 Cruising The family crew of the 13 metre Bruce Roberts steel ketch Danu from Galway Bay hope to start their long Transatlantic voyage home from Antigua this weekend. The oceanic circuit cruise started nearly eleven months ago when Marine Institute scientist…
Back then, we didn’t know we were living. “Back then” was the first eight or so years of the 21st Century - not forever ago at all. Yet now it feels like not so much a foreign country as more…
If you’re not having unusually colourful dreams in these weird times, then you’re the exception. Everyone else is. I woke up the other morning totally exhausted, and little wonder. For as the foggy mind came into focus, all recollections were…
Our story last week, about how Gary Mac Mahon of the restored trading ketch Ilen of Limerick has launched a unique ship’s model-making competition to express the Ilen spirit, has rung a bell in Ballinasloe in County Galway, at the…
