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.
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…
BJ Marine 'Taste of Greystones' Regatta This Weekend Celebrates a Unique Town & Harbour
23rd August 2019 W M Nixon The problem with Greystones is that it faces the sea writes W M Nixon. Or at the very least, there isn’t a part of the north Wicklow town in which you aren’t very aware that the sea is nearby. The…
It’s exactly a hundred years to the day from the establishment of the thriving Treardur Bay Sailing Club at its rocky cove in west Anglesey in North Wales on August 23rd 1919 writes W M Nixon. Back then, the world…
Limerick Ketch Ilen Continues Homeward Along Desirable Greenland ‘Real Estate’
22nd August 2019 Ilen The traditional restored 56ft trading ketch Ilen of Limerick, under the command of Paddy Barry, is serenely continuing her progress homewards along Greenland’s southwest coast despite that rugged and sparsely-populated coastline suddenly becoming global news, thanks to the revelation that…
Historic Yawl Iolaire May be Gone, But Former Owner Don Street Sails on
20th August 2019 Historic Boats They say bad news travels fast. But the news that the 48ft 1905-built yawl Iolaire has been lost, after an inadvertent gybe in heavy weather drove her onto rocks – fortunately without loss of life or injury - off Ibiza…
The 1926-built restored 56ft Limerick trading ketch Ilen has completed the varied shoreside and coastal aspects of her research voyage to Greenland writes W M Nixon. This took her as far north as Ilulissat beyond the Arctic Circle to give…
Naval Services' Role in Fastnet Rescues of 1979 Recalled at Final 2019 Commemoration Service on Cape Clear
19th August 2019 Fastnet The significant role played by the Irish Naval Service in the 1979 Fastnet Race Disaster has sometimes been overlooked in the dramatic images of helicopters and lifeboats in direct action writes W Nixon. But in fact the LE Deirdre under…
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Douglas Deane of Crosshaven, for many years one of Cork Harbour’s best-known sailing figures afloat and ashore. His funeral will take place tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11.30am in St Brigid’s…
RS Classes Move From Galway Bay To RS400 Ireland & UK Nats on Belfast Lough & Dinghyfest
18th August 2019 RS Sailing Ireland’s expanding RS Classes are in acceleration mode as they build towards the Irish & UK RS 400 Nats at Royal North of Ireland YC at Cultra on Belfast Lough from 25th to 29th August, and the all-classes RS Southerns…
It is ironic that the internationally-recognised abbreviated sail number identification on Irish racing boats should be IRL writes W M Nixon. For in global tech-speak, IRL is the acronym of “In Real Life”. If the rather intriguing way of existence…
Fastnet Storm 1979: Today is the Most Poignant in Remembering the Sequence of the Tragedy
15th August 2019 Fastnet It was the 15th August 1979 by the time the full horror of the effects of the Fastnet Race storm had become apparent writes W M Nixon, and today is the most quietly poignant in 2019’s sequence of recollection and…
When Howth Yacht Club hosted the 1981 Optimist Worlds, it was while the harbour was in the midst of a major redevelopment project writes W M Nixon. Yet young sailors from 26 nations provided a fleet of 130 boats, and…
When the late Tony Moylan cajoled the notion of Cruinnui na mBad at Kinvara into being in 1979, times were different writes W M Nixon. The idea was to celebrate the Gathering of the Boats in the old days, when…
The classic Howth Seventeens have not survived and thrived since 1898 through having a narrow perception of themselves writes W M Nixon. When they decided some years ago to add an annual two-day championship to their already busy 60-race season…
After a week of thinking maybe too much about modern and ultra-modern boats contesting the Fastnet Race and Calves Week at Schull, it’s a comforting relaxation to settle gently into contemplation of this weekend’s annual Crunniu na mBad (The Gathering…
