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.
When long-distance American sailor Nick Kats – now 62 - arrived into Clifden in far west Connemara nearly ten years ago with his 39ft steel Bermudan ketch Teddy, it started a fascinating new chapter in an already interesting life. For…
At times of sadness, we are helped by ceremonial. For sure, no-one would dream of comparing the enormous grief visited upon those who have been and will be bereaved by COVID-19 with the quiet sense of loss caused the absolutely…
Cormac Lowth Zooms in on Historic Dublin Bay Gaff Rigged Vessels from Maritime Paintings & Photographs
12th July 2020 Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association invites you to join their next Zoom session on Historic Dublin Bay Gaff Rigged Vessels from Maritime Paintings and Photographs, which will be given by Cormac Lowth on Thursday 16th July. Dublin’s leading maritime historian…
Royal Cork Yacht Club’s Home Membership Keep Tricentenary Celebrations Going
11th July 2020 W M Nixon
There are three Royal Cork Yacht Clubs. One is the globally-recognised historic institution which is directly descended from the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork founded three hundred years ago, the oldest yacht club in the world. The second…
Darren Wright of Howth Puts Famous Pata Negra On to Boil in the Round Ireland Yacht Race
9th July 2020 Round Ireland
When the then-new Lombard 45 Pata Negra was racing with a Dutch charter crew in the 2017 Rolex Fastnet Race and carving her way through the fleet with style and winning speed, Howth YC’s offshore team manager Kieran Jameson was…
Howth’s 2020 Yacht Racing Programme Continues to Build Despite Weather Frustration
8th July 2020 Howth YC
The delayed 2020 racing programme at Howth Yacht Club had a boost last weekend with a 20-boat fleet for Saturday’s inaugural race for the Fingal Cruiser Challenge, while the Puppeteer 22s, Squibs and Howth 17s mustered viable turnouts for their…
Belfast Superyacht was Leader in Sea Battle Against Slavery off West Africa
7th July 2020 Belfast Lough
In the current wave of revulsion against slavery and its appalling history, no European nation has totally clean hands. For although we might like to think that the huge Caribbean sugar plantations worked by African slaves in the 1800s brought…
Senior sailor and noted offshore veteran Frank Larkin of Limerick claims he only got his latest Laser a year or so ago as a present for himself for his 73rd birthday, and for “just the occasional sail to keep in…
Irish Traditional Boat Naomh Cronan Goes West Amidst New Government Structures
4th July 2020 W M Nixon
If you’re having trouble processing the full implications of the fascinating new portmanteau ministry which has emerged this week from the formation of our latest government, not to worry. You’d be on your own if you weren’t a little bit…
Garry Crothers, the indomitable 64-year-old one-armed solo sailor from Lough Swilly Yacht Club, hopes to get back to his Lough Foyle berth in Derry on Saturday after completing his Coronavirus Lockdown-enforced 3,500 mile marathon from the Caribbean in his Ovni…
There were by no means full fleet affairs, but the 2020 racing season has definitely got underway at Howth where the One Designs raced in a good breeze on Tuesday evening, while last night (Wednesday) the cruisers found themselves battling…
Dr John Killeen of Galway, noted engineer, businessman, national administrator and sailing enthusiast, has been elected as Chairman of Irish Lifeboats in succession to David Delamer of Howth, with the Galwayman also continuing in his role as a member of…
One-Armed Irish Solo Sailor Nears Home in 3,500 Mile Transatlantic Challenge
30th June 2020 Cruising
Garry Crothers (64), of Lough Swilly Yacht Club and Foyle Sailability, was making good progress this (Monday) morning, with a speed of 6.6 knots in the right direction on his Ovni 435 Kind of Blue, taking steady chunks out of…
Lockdown Lifting: Club Yacht Racing Can Start from Next Tuesday, June 30
26th June 2020 Coronavirus and Boating
Following the Commodore’s Conference on Zoom yesterday (Thursday) evening to analyse the lifting of COVID-19 Lockdown restrictions, the basic reality is that club racing is allowed to resume from next Tuesday (June 30th) provided that crews comply with much-relaxed social…
It is a truth not universally acknowledged that the steady pint-drinking communities of Cork city and south Munster contributed substantially to the resourcing of the newly-formed Ulster Volunteer Force’s uprising against the proposed introduction of Home Rule for Ireland in…
Howth’s July 18th Two-Handed Challenge Ideal For These Lockdown-lifting Days
24th June 2020 Howth YC
If you’re having trouble deciphering what you can do and can’t do as Lockdown lifts, well, welcome aboard. But at least Howth Yacht Club have realised that their annual Aqua Two-Handed Challenge may simplify things for locals and visitors alike,…
Galway Yacht Danu & Portugal’s Azores Islands Lead Europe Out of COVID-19 Lockdown
22nd June 2020 Cruising
The autonomous Azores islands, administratively linked to Portugal and 800 miles westward of Lisbon in the midst of the Atlantic, have become European pace-setters in controlling and eradicating COVID-19. And in doing so, they have been able to provide a…
If this year had gone anything like according to plan, today (Saturday) would be seeing the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race from Wicklow getting going, with Afloat.ie providing a list of riders and runners in this column today, while getting…
Garry Crothers of Lough Swilly YC, who has refused to let life-changing injuries from a horrific motorcycle accident prevent him from fulfilling his dream of sailing the oceans, is now better than halfway home across the Atlantic in his Ovni…
Some offshore racing enthusiasts may have been hoping that the historic re-enactment of the “Kingstown to Queenstown" Race of 1860 – the first proper offshore event in Irish and British waters – might still have been staged in some very…
