Sailing on Saturday with WM Nixon
With a Golden Jubilee Regatta being planned for New Zealand in 2015 to celebrate the glory years of the One Ton Cup from 1965 to 1983, W M Nixon ponders on the requirements for a genuine classic yacht or traditional…
The Peel Traditional Boat Weekend at the hospitable port on the west coast of the Isle of Man has been developing steadily since its inception in 1991. Located in the middle of the Irish Sea, the Peel gathering has become…
Mallaig Scottish Fishing & Ferry Port Fights It Out Over the Ablutions Block
29th November 2013 W M Nixon
A little fishing and ferry port with a small marina on a remote part of Scotland's west coast has recently been grabbing headlines in national newspapers. And it's basically all to do with the row provoked by the need for…
With a good selection of excellent sailing weather once the summer had finally set in, 2013 defied economic recession to produce a memorable season in Ireland, with a strong emphasis on World Championships and other high profile events. W M…
In this Irish Sailing review of 2013, W M Nixon looks back on a year of the unexpected. There were reversals of fortune where some top sailors had seemed set for success, but new stars emerged to provide hope for…
America's Cup Insights From Bob Fisher Spice Royal St. George 175th Birthday
8th November 2013 W M Nixon
Bob Fisher, leading sailing writer and the supreme authority on the America's Cup, brought an inspiring vision of the highest peaks of the sport to the Royal St George YC's 175th Anniversary Champions Celebration last weekend. W M Nixon delves…
#safetyonthewater –Can it really be true that lifeboat call-outs in Ireland in 2013 – most of them for recreational boating of some sort - showed a staggering increase of 43% over 2012? W M Nixon discusses the disturbing figures, and…
ICRA's Sailing Spirit Reasserts Itself as Cruiser Racer Fortunes Improve
26th October 2013 W M Nixon
#icra – The Irish Cruiser Racing Association has come through challenging times recently, but Commodore Nobby Reilly sees strengthening light at the end of the tunnel. W M Nixon takes a look at ICRA and its upcoming Annual Conference in…
#buyingaboat –Thinking of buying a second-hand boat? W M Nixon outlines the options, relates some experiences, discusses the role of the broker, and looks at boats on the second-hand market. "Fools build boats for wise men to buy". That's the…
#americascup – If the 36th America's Cup is staged at Hamilton Island, it will continue a long story, started from the Isle of Wight in 1851. W M Nixon introduces this exotic venue, then ponders the ultimate seaworthiness of multihulls. We…
#boatyards – The interface between sea and land is infinite in its variety, and attractive to modern man as somewhere interesting to live. So if you set up a little coastal boatyard almost anywhere, very soon you'll be told that…
#americascup – The America's Cup is still sailing's sacred monster. More so than ever, in fact. And it is still something of which we can honestly say: "This is the peak of world sailing – alas". But after the fantastic…
#rsgyc – The word on the grapevine is that the Royal St George Yacht Club, currently the Mitsubishi Motors "Sailing Club of the Year", is planning a special festive event to celebrate its 175th birthday. The whisper is that it…
#onedesignsailing – Pop-up shops, pop-up restaurants – they're everywhere. Or if they're not exactly everywhere, at least we've seen enough of them to know that the idea has a certain appeal when traditional ways of doing business have suffered in…
#americascup – Today, the monster in its fully finished form finally emerges from its cave. For sure, we have a pretty good idea of what it will look like. Yet the convoluted preliminaries for 34th America's Cup have gone on for…
#hyc – Howth is an odd old place, and those of us who live on this rugged peninsula on the north side of Dublin Bay readily accept that view. Peninsular folk anywhere are invariably odd, so that's Proposition One settled…
