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Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
The European Optimist Team at Malahide Yacht Club which includes NYC sailors Leah Rickard, Nathan van Steenberge, Rocco Wright and  Sam Ledoux
The National Yacht Club had great success in the Optimist Ulster Championships which took place in Malahide Yacht Club last weekend writes Frieda Forde. Twenty four sailors from the NYC – some of whom are junior members of other clubs as well –…
Worthy of celebration and support. Cork City’s own Bantry Boat, the Fionnbarra, sailing in style on Lough Neagh, the setting for this year’s biennial Atlantic Challenge in July
Poetry with a seafaring flavour by Theo Dorgan, Paddy Bushe, Mick Delap and the late Richard Murphy will bring a distinctive nautical mood to an evening of absorbing interest at the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire next month in…
A ship transformed. While she is still very much a serious seagoing proposition, the restored 1926-built 56ft Conor O’Brien ketch Ilen will take to the waters this weekend in Baltimore with her new and positive educational purposes emphasised by a fresh colour scheme and a brighter style
The restoration of the 56ft 1926-built ketch Ilen by Liam Hegarty and Fachtna O’Sullivan and their team in the boatyard at Oldcourt near Baltimore in West Cork, working in concert with the Gary Mac Mahon-directed Ilen Boat-Building School in Limerick,…
Horace grinding hard a few hours after the start on board Dongfeng Race Team, Sunday 20 May
#VOR - Dongfeng Race Team has had a successful first night at sea on Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race, building a 20-mile lead over arch rivals and overall race leader MAPFRE. A split has already developed, with Dongfeng…
Flying Fifteen East Coast Championship winners Rory and Andrew Martin
Andy & Rory Martin (SLYC) sailed a near perfect series counting four firsts in windy conditions in winning the Flying Fifteen East Coast Championships at Ballyholme Yacht Club on the south shore of Belfast Lough. As this was the first…
Minkes are among the smallest baleen whales but can still measure 8-9 metres in length
#MarineWildlife - Galley Head was the place to see Ireland’s biggest recorded gathering of minke whales in recent weeks, as TheJournal.ie reports. Cork Whale Watch skipper Colin Barnes estimated more than 50 minke whales feeding off the coast of West…
The INSS in Dun Laoghaire Harbour is holding two information events this week to help primary and second level teachers, TY co-coordinators and PTA members see what can be offered to schools to get them sailing
The Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School (INSS) is inviting school principals, teachers, PTA members to two information sessions this week. With the new physical education syllabus for the Leaving Certificate including sailing as an option the Irish National Sailing…
Rescue 116 pictured over Wicklow in August 2015
#Rescue116 - Transport Minister Shane Ross has appointed an international team to review Irish SAR operations in the wake of last year’s fatal Rescue 116 crash, as The Irish Times reports. The team, led by former European Aviation Safety Agency…
Work continued on Ilen over the weekend and her appearance at Baltimore is eagerly awaited
The final touches are being put to the Ilen at Hegarty’s boatyard in Oldcourt, Skibbereen, prior to her going down the Ilen River this week, heading for Baltimore. There, on Saturday afternoon, at the Wooden Boats Festival, will be her first…
IWDG's Celtic Mist with Fin Whale
Humpback whales are one of the most iconic animals on the planet, ambassadors for the world’s oceans. The image of a humpback whale, with its fluke lifted clear of the water became the symbol of the environmental movement when a…
An 8-acre waterfront site up for sale at the former Royal Victoria Dockyard located in Passage West, Cork Harbour. The site is owned by Doyle Shipping Group (DSG). Afloat adds that the property includes a quay (see cargoship's bow) that extends eastward (not included in the photo) to the left.
#WaterfrontProperty - Victoria Dockyard an eight-acre site in Passage West which is up for sale needs to be purchased by the State or Cork County Council in order for a development that benefits the town centre to be built there,…
IOM Steam Packets' ropax ferry Ben-my-Chree sailing in rough seas.
#FerryNews - Manx history was made as the islands parliament, the Tynwald voted to take the Isle of Man Steam Packet into public ownership (last) week. Following a three-hour debate, reports IOMToday, Tynwald voted by 23 votes to one in…
In a fine turnout of 126–boats, there was 55 Optimists in the main fleet, 50 in the junior fleet and 21 in the Regatta fleet for the Malahide–based Ulster Championships
With five top three results out of six races sailed, Howth Yacht Club & RStGYC youth Johnny Flynn was the clear winner of the Ulster Optimist Championships sailed at Malahide Yacht Club over the weekend by a large margin of 21–points. Dublin sailors…
At the CEF Motorways of the Sea seminar on Understanding the Opportunities from the EUÕ, hosted at the Savoy Hotel in Limerick by Shannon Foynes Port Company, were from left: Prof Peter Balaz, European coordinator for the Ten - T North Sea-Mediterranean Corridor, Brian Simpson, European coordinator Motorways of the sea and Pat Keating, Chief Executive Officer at Shannon Foynes Port Company
#IrishPorts - A leading EU official overseeing a key element of the CEF ‘Motorways of the Sea’ project has confirmed that Ireland will have increased funding opportunities under the programme after plans for it were rewritten to take into account…
A sample of the dead fish found downstream of Ballina Waste Water Treatment Plant discharge pipe
On Thursday 17 May, 2018 Inland Fisheries Ireland received a report of a fish kill on Ballycorrigan stream and near the confluence with the River Shannon in Ballina, Co. Tipperary. Staff observed approximately 100 brown trout of various age groups,…
While currently third 12 hours into Leg 9, Team Brunel took the lead at the start
#VOR - Team Brunel accomplished its first goal on Sunday afternoon, taking the early lead on Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race from Newport, Rhode Island to Cardiff, Wales — though their advantage was fleeting, with Dongfeng Race Team…
The late Pat O’Rourke being instructed in motor-boat handling by her husband Jack during a Shannon cruise in 1971
The 1875-founded Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club has been mourning the passing of its most senior member with the death at the age of 97 of Patricia (Pat) O’Rourke. As Patricia Kavanagh, she married Jack O’Rourke, a noted tailor in…
Ross O'Leary of the Royal St. George Yacht Club in action at the Irish Laser Masters Championships on Dublin Bay
RYA Master Laser Sailor Mike Matan made clear his intentions for September's World Championships on Dublin Bay taking a clean sweep of the Irish Masters Open at the Royal St George Yacht Club at the weekend. In a fleet of 31,…
St Michael's win the Club Two Coxed Quad at Castleconnell Sprint Regatta
#Rowing: Castleconnell Sprint Regatta had a huge entry and a good day for rowing. The host club, which had amassed a set of fine results at Ghent regatta, did so again at their home regatta. They won the junior 15…
Powering along – Andrew Algeo steered Juggerknot to East Coast victory on Dublin Bay
Andrew Alego's powerful Juggerknot crew took their first J109 Championship victory on Dublin Bay today as they swept to a two–point win at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Dublin Bay sailor Algeo, of the host club, emerged on top over four…

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