Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Rowing Ireland has announced the athletes that will represent Ireland at the European Championships. Racing will take place from the 25th April – 28th April in Szeged, Hungary. The Szeged National Canoeing and Rowing Olympic Centre has an eight-lane rowing…

Shipyard group Harland & Wolff has welcomed the announcement by the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) regarding the company’s plans to transform its Arnish and Methil facilities into leading hubs for renewable infrastructure. Proposals for Harland & Wolff’s Scottish…

Irish Ferries high-speed craft (HSC) Dublin Swift has been tracked by Afloat to Cardiff Docks, south Wales, where the vessel has been wintering, but in a month’s time is to resume seasonal service, writes Jehan Ashmore. According to the Irish…

Discover SUP hosted the second running of The Eye Race, the final event in the 2023-2024 Irish Winter SUP Race Series, on April 13th, 2024. The race, which took place in the waters of Howth Sound and Ireland's Eye, Dublin,…

Ireland’s commitment to strategic partnership with Small Island Developing States (SIDS), through Our Shared Ocean was highlighted throughout the UN Ocean Decade Conference, which took place in Barcelona last week. In her opening remarks to the Conference, UNESCO Director General…

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) anticipates that puffins will benefit from the closure last month of the industrial fishery for sand eels in the North Sea and Scottish waters. The closure of the fishery from March…

Rosalin ‘Rosie’ Kuiper says Team Holcim-PRB will be on the starting line in Kiel, Germany and ready to race in The Ocean Race Europe in the summer of 2025. The Dutch sailor, who competed around the world in The Ocean…

The anticipation had been building for weeks, and as a group of 39 of the country's more experienced Optimist sailors headed for the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven from April 4th to 7th, excited at the prospect of four…

The European Union has pledged €3.5 billion to protect the world’s oceans, as Silicon Republic reports. A raft of commitments to support marine protected areas (MPAs), improve ocean observation programmes and more was made at the Our Ocean Conference in Athens,…

The rejuvenated Mirror dinghy class is ready to kick off 2024 in Blessington on 27-28 April, whether you have the latest Winder racing unit or the wooden beauty your granddad built in his garage. Is it the fun, the intergenerational learning,…

Once the new £70m ferry terminal in Liverpool Docks is in operation, it is hoped the Isle of Man Steam Packet can put on a year-round operated service between Douglas and Merseyside. The Steam packet’s fast-ferry Manannan currently does not…

The Spring 2024 yacht sales period has been strong for Leinster Boats, with yacht sales completed despite the weather. Recent Spring sales sales include: J109,  Hanse 341,  Starlight 35  Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i   Happy buyers now have their plans set for the…

The fifth and final of the 5,150dwt class, Arklow Guard, was launched at Ferus Smit’s Dutch inland shipyard in Westerbroek, writes Jehan Ashmore. Its launch on Friday saw the single-hold cargo ship take to the waters transversely into the adjacent…

To fly over water, almost silently is an amazing feeling. That’s according to Brendan Foley, Wing Foiling Class Captain at the Royal St George Yacht Club. Just this weekend six brand new wing foilers from the Royal St George got…

Following Saturday's dead heat for first place in ISORA's season coastal race opener, 14 boats have entered next Sunday's four-hour race.  Among the contestants are last week's Dun Laoghaire winners, the J122 Aurelia (Chris Power Smith) from the Royal St.…

Ireland is on course to become the first country in the world to complete seabed mapping. The mapping of the seabed off the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher on the Clare coast will be one of the keynote topics…

Glenans arrived in West Cork in 1969 with a vision to offer sailing and water activities to all in an egalitarian way. For 25 years, they trained thousands of Irish people in sailing instruction, boat building, and the marine environment.…

Residents and sailors in and around Dublin Bay have been asked to give their views on a “noise action plan”. The draft Dublin Agglomeration Noise Action Plan 2024-2028 has been put together by the capital’s local authorities – as in…

More than 50 entries have been confirmed so far for the fifth edition of the Drheam Cup, which will take place from 11-21 July 2024 between Cherbourg-en Cotentin and La Trinité-sur-Mer in north-western France. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, 11…

The 1980s tend to get a bad press as a time when young people left the country in droves, searching for jobs that matched their potential and training. Those of us who stayed at home to battle on, but now…