Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#CHMarine - The latest range of Garmin Echomap chart plotters is available from CH Marine both in store and online. Prices range from €359 (£312.33) for the Echomap 45CV to the top-of-the-line Echomap 95SV at €995 (£865.65) — all waterproof…

#Ports&Shipping - The final newbuild of 10 short-sea traders commissioned for Arklow Shipping, the Arklow Villa was launched at a Dutch shipyard this morning, writes Jehan Ashmore. Yard no. 730 Arklow Villa is singledecker built at Royal Bodewes shipyard in…

#Flugtag - The long-awaited return of the Red Bull Flugtag to Dun Laoghaire Harbour is just two days away. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the event this Sunday 20 May will see over 50 teams attempt to push the limits…

#Rowing: Sanita Puspure and Paul O’Donovan were impressive winners of the single sculls tests at the Ireland trial at the National Rowing Centre today. Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan won their pairs race, but only by 2.8 seconds from the…

#ClipperRace - One of the closest races so far in the 2017-18 Clipper Race ended in a surprise win for Dare To Lead, after the team pulled off an eleventh-hour victory in Race 10: The Garmin American Challenge from Seattle,…

#InlandWaterways - The scale of the New Ross bypass project for the layperson is as dizzying as its bridge over the River Barrow is going to be high. For starters, the Killkenny People writes the scheme is 26 years in…

#FerryNews - Scottish M.P. for Dunfermline and West Fife, Douglas Chapman has held "positive" talks about a new passenger and freight ferry service between Rosyth and Belgium. As the Dunfermline Express writes the M.P. believes Brexit could actually enhance the…

#Kayaking - The Irish Times has a preview of Ireland’s largest junior kayaking race — and one of the biggest events in some time for Canoeing Ireland — which takes place on the River Liffey tomorrow (Saturday 19 May). The…

Cruiser 0 IRC: 1. D-Tox, 2. Wow, 3. Lively Lady Cruiser 0 ECHO: 1. D-Tox, 2. Wow, 3. Lively Lady Cruiser 1 IRC: 1. Juggerknot, 2. Bon Exemple, 3. White Mischief Cruiser 1 ECHO: 1. Boomerang, 2. Platinum Blond, 3.…

#FerryNews - In south-west Scotland, the Arran Ferry Committee has urged the powers that be to keep the ferry travelling to Ardrossan during the planned upgrades at the Harbour. The committee met on Monday, May 14 and numerous groups, businesses…

Swords Sailing Club (SSC) hosted Australian multihull sailor Mitch Booth who competed at no less then four Olympics in the Tornado class, medaling twice. Here Patrick Wodhams of SSC describes the training weekend with the sailor who has competed in 64…

#MaritimeFestivals - Sea cadets have navigated as the first of the Tall Ships to dock in Belfast Harbour ahead of the annual Maritime Festival (19-20 May) which gets underway on Saturday and Sunday.  With the wind in its sails, ITV…

Cruising sailors Fergus and Katherine Quinlan were presented with an international sailing award by the Ocean Cruising Club in April in recognition of their voyage from Galway Bay to Russia and back in one season. The couple sailed Pylades, a 12m…

Irish Sailing has announced plans for a new €300k 'Performance Headquarters', funded entirely by the Irish Sailing Foundation and located on the grounds of the Commissioners of Irish Lights, Dun Laoghaire. As reported in this morning's Irish Times Sailing Column here,…

In contrast with many one design classes, the Water Wags hold regular handicap races during the sailing season. On 16th May the first handicap race was held with 24 boats competing. The plan for the evening was for Division 2…

#FerryNews - The first ever direct Ireland-mainland continental Europe ferry service began on this date 50 years ago when on 17 May, 1968, M.V. Leopard made a historic crossing from Rosslare to Le Havre, France, writes Jehan Ashmore. The pioneering…

#CoastalNotes - Seven beaches in Dublin and Galway have failed to meet the EU’s minimum standards for bathing water quality. That’s according to the latest Bathing Water Quality in Ireland report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which identifies Sandymount…

If you’re refreshing your boat for the summer sailing and cruising season, look no further than Viking Marine and their new range of paints, varnish and antifoul treatments. AkzoNobel’s International Cruise 250 is a polishing antifouling gloss paint providing quality…

Excitement is building for the first regional event of the season for the ever popular Flying Fifteen class. With good numbers turning out at club level in Dublin and Strangford Lough in particular they now take to the road and…

The Irish GP14 dinghy fleet returned to Donaghadee in County Down, Northern Ireland for the 2018 Ulster Championships on a sunny Saturday afternoon last weekend. The OOD Ruan O’Tiarnaigh got the first race off at 12pm in a moderate breeze. Ger…