The penultimate day of the Volvo Musto Optimist Nationals provided plenty of thrills, and that wasn't just restricted to the water!! Ireland's sailors fought hard to stay in contention, with Peter McCann retaining sixth place in the senior gold fleet and Daire Cournane staying in the medals in the junior gold fleet, in third place going into the last day.Double Olympic gold med...

A major study published today in the journal Nature suggests that the marine food chain could be in danger of collapse due to declining levels of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are the bottom rung of the food chain on which all sea life depends.  Phytoplankon levels have dropped of by  about 40 percent since 1950, and the Candadian scientists who authored the report l...

A day of consistent results for Irish teams at Carnac yesterday saw the top six split evenly between British and Irish crews at the RS Feva Worlds.  Vicky Cudmore and Amy Harrington leapfrogged into third place, taking full advantage of the strong sea breezes which reached 20 knots during racing yesterday.  Top Irish boat overnight, Brendan Lyden and Marc Cudmore im...

The final day of the OK Dinghy European championships will be a fight between youth and experience. After two more races on Thursday, the gap at the top has narrowed though the young Bartosz Rakocy (POL) still maintains a 13 point advantage over Greg Wilcox (NZL). Both races on Thursday were won by Tim Goodbody (IRL).   Race seven was sailed in a very patchy 8-12 knots of br...

One of the most popular sports cruisers in the country, Jeanneau's Merry Fisher 695 has just been added to Afloat's boats for sale site.  This boat has been lightly used and is in excellent condition for a 2001 model. There are 176 hours on the clock and all the details including photos and asking price are HERE....

People are being advised to mind their pets on South Lough Ree as a toxic algae is present in the water. Westmeath Co Co is putting up warning signs in the area after a recent occurrence of a toxic algae bloom poisoned a dog.Westmeath County Council is warning people about the dangers of the algae for animals which forms during spells of dry weather with little or no wind....

DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 29 JULY 2010 BENETEAU 31.7 ˆ ECHO 1. Levante (B.Leyden/M.Leahy), 2. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 3. Fiddly Bits (Kevin Byrne et al) BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 2. Levante (B.Leyden/M.Leahy), 3. Fiddly Bits (Kevin Byrne et al) CRUISERS 0 - ECHO 1. Lively Lady (Derek Martin), 2. WOW (George Sisk), 3. Tsunami (Vin...

Pictures of Dolphins jumping off Roches Point in Cork harbour have been captured for youtube viewers courtesy of a Cork fishing trip this week. The three harbour dolphins jump clean out of the water in the clip below from about 2:20 on the timeline.  A Lovely sight on a summers evening! ...

Royal Cork sailor Peter McCann had a tough day in the Gold Fleet of the UK Optimist Nationals yesterday, along with many of the top ten who posted results in the low teens, twenties and beyond in Weymouth. The black flag was on display, and with the winds hovering around 14 knots, McCann posted a 20th and 24th, while the leader, Spaniard Silvia Mas Despares notched up two race...

With over 60 confirmed entries at present, the 2010 Calves Week in Schull, is hoped to top the 80 boat mark for the annual West Cork festival of sailing.  This year’s event will feature racing for eight cruiser classes, together with the growing West Cork 1720 fleet of sportsboats. The week long sailing event is once again supported by the local business community togeth...