Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Arklow and Wicklow RNLI were involved in the rescue of three fishermen yesterday evening after their 14m trawler caught fire and subsequently sank off the Wicklow coast. Volunteer lifeboat crew at Arklow and Wicklow RNLI were requested to launch their all-weather…

Angel shark are in such a perilous state of decline in Irish waters that a group of marine environmentalists has appealed for urgent action by Minister for Fisheries Michael Creed writes Lorna Siggins Sharks, rays and skates are the most threatened…

The Water Wag dinghy fleet in Dun Laoghaire competed in the second race of their 132nd season of one design racing on Wednesday 1st May. Three prizes were on offer, division 1A raced the second of three legs for the…

#ports&shipping - A towage firm in the UK which includes operations in Belfast, has expanded its fleet with a new tug making a recent arrival onto the Humber estuary that leads to the North Sea, writes Jehan Ashmore. The new…

The Irish Ocean Literacy Network (IOLN) has issued its final call for a workshop in Dublin next Tuesday 6 May on how to design and develop an environmental awareness campaign. The IOLN Design Workshop under the theme ‘We are islanders…

#ferries - In the UK the Department for Transport is cancelling contracts to provide extra ferry services after Brexit. As BBC News reports, ending the contracts with Brittany Ferries and DFDS could cost the taxpayer more than £50m. (See related Eurotunnel…

The National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire has preparations well underway to host the 2019 Flying Fifteen World Championships.  The event was launched on Wednesday and will see up to 80 two-person boats take to the water for the qualifying Pre-worlds from…

Only 10 days to go until 24 of the world’s best cliff divers will return to Ireland for the 2nd stop of the 2019 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Dún Laoghaire Harbour on the 12th of May. Following…

The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) has issued a new advisory over the risk of vessels becoming entangled in ropes used in pot fishing. Marine Notice No 10 of 2019 supersedes No 26 of 2016 and reminds all…

There were three McMahon family members from Howth racing in the Laser Radials at this year’s Irish Junior Championship at Crosshaven. But while youngest Jack had to be content with 13th overall, his cousin Eve was very much in improvement mode…

Dedicated Olympic solo sailor Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) is “Sailor of the Month” for April on the strength of his closely-focused campaign towards qualifying for the 2020 Olympics. In three major international regattas during the first part of the…

Jamie McMahon (Howth Yacht Club), put in a convincing performance at the Irish Youth Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club in the final weekend of April to emerge as Laser Radial overall champion, seeing off some determined challenges from a…

While the main kudos in the Rolex Fastnet Race comes from class wins or ultimately the Fastnet Challenge Cup for the overall IRC winner, who will simply be first home to Plymouth often turns into an engaging, heavyweight bout. Among…

#Rowing: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for April are the Enniskillen girls’ and boys’ junior 18 eights which won at Commercial and Neptune regattas, respectively. The young women won the final race at  Commercial, beating the hosts in a…

Royal St. George's Dragon ace Martin Byrne is lying 11th in the second leg of the 2019 European Cup. As Afloat previously reported, crewed by Brian Matthews and Mark Pettit, the Dun Laoghaire trio scored a 15 and a ten in yesterday's opening rounds. Full…

The flight sheet for this weekend's Irish Schools Team Racing Championships at Schull in West Cork has been released. Downloadable below as an Excel file. With up to 64 preliminary races, the event is using four flights so competing teams won’t have…

Delegates from the Flemish government visited Dublin Port Company to discuss the importance of direct shipping routes to Europe and preparations in the lead-up to Brexit. Such preparations include the launch of the world’s largest roll on-roll off ship Celine…

As part of the ongoing improvements being introduced by the national cruiser racer body, ICRA has announced a new basis for the award of the coveted “Boat Of The Year” trophy. Previously, this trophy was awarded to the boat, who in…

I like the direct approach of Irish Sailing President Jack Roy. He makes his points clearly, such as telling me that the sport is under pressure from other sports and needs more young people to become involved and ‘yes’ it…

Dun Laoghaire Harbour is set for seven cruise liner calls this summer over the period from May to September.  The first caller will be the Norwegian Pearl that is scheduled to anchor next Monday off the Harbour Mouth on her maiden…