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A Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: AfloatA Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

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Paul O'Higgins's ISORA champion JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI, which missed last weekend's cross-channel race, was on form in a blustery northwesterly on Dublin Bay last night, winning Dublin Bay Sailing Club's sixth AIB-sponsored Thursday evening race of the season.

The Royal Irish yacht finished in a corrected time of 1 hour 26 minutes and 54 seconds, beating clubmate Sean Lemass's First 40, Prima Forte, by one minute and 22 seconds. In third place was Johnny Treanor's National Yacht Club J112e Valentina, making its 2024 Thursday night debut on the Bay.

The result confirms Rockabill VI's place at the top of the Summer Series Zero leaderboard. She now leads Prima Forte by four points.

In IRC One, Richard and Timothy Goodbody, having competed at last weekend's Wave Regatta in Howth, returned to the Bay race track to take victory in IRC One by three minutes and 23 seconds on corrected time. The RIYC crew beat the National Yacht Club sistership, Something Else (Brian Hall), in her first race back since competing in last weekend's Scottish Series on the Clyde. Third was the series IRC One Summer Series overall leader, Colin Byrne, in the XP33, Bon Exemple.

Full results in all DBSC classes below

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Dublin Bay Sailing Club's fifth AIB Saturday race of the 2024 season was sailed on May 25th in blustery south easterly winds on a sunny Dublin Bay.

There were several reasons that turnouts were down outside of this afternoon's European Rugby Champions Cup in London. Not least Howth Yacht Club's Wave Regatta that drew DBSC IRC one Saturday Series leader, White Mischief (skippered by Tim Goodbody) northside for the Lambay Race along with Royal Irish Yacht Club clubmate Barry Cunningham on Chimaera.  DBSC regular Brian Hall is competing in the Scottish Series on Loch Fyne.

Also at play today were two offshore races featuring DBSC boats in the 90-mile ISORA race from Pwllheli to Dun Laoghaire and a win on the south coast for DBSC's Chris Power Smith in Kinsale's 230-mile Inistearaght Race.

There was no racing in Cruisers Zero, and in a two-boat IRC One race, Tom Shanahan took the gun in the J109 Ruth from Bobby Kerr in the sistership Riders on the Storm.

Cruisers Two IRC was won by Jim McCann's Mustang 30. Peridot from Lindsay Casey's J97 Windjammer and William Despard's Blacksheep scored OCS in the three-boat turnout.

In an unbeaten run so far this series in the two-boat IRC Three division, Edward Melvin's Sonata One Design, Ceol na Mara of the National Yacht Club beat Myles Kelly's Senator 22 Maranda of the DMYC. 

In Class 5a (White Sails), PJ Timmins in Misfits won from Peter Richardson's Dehler 36 Deliverance. Third, in a five boat turnout, was Tim Costello's Just Jasmin.

In the one-design fleets, the four-boat Dublin Bay 21 class did not race.

The National Yacht Club's David Gorman scored a 2, 1 in the two-race Flying Fifteen class that saw a ten-boat turnout, down from last week's fine 18 as the Western Championships are on in Connemara.

Royal Irish's Ger Dempsey was the winner of a three-boat SB20 race from Grzegorz Kalinecki. Charlotte O'Kelly was third.

Results in all DBSC classes are detailed below.

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Sean Lemass's First 40 Prima Forte was the winner of Dublin Bay Sailing Club's fifth AIB-sponsored Thursday evening race of the 2024 season as Royal Irish Yacht Club boats took the Cruisers Zero IRC podium.

The Lemass boat took the victory in a heavy north-westerly of 16 to 23 knots in a corrected time of 1 hour 38 minutes and 13 seconds from last Thursday's winner Kyran McStay's X-35 D-Tox by a margin of 11 seconds. Third was Tim Kane's X-Treme 37 in 1:52:14. Overall IRC Zero leader for the Thursday Series, Paul O'Higgins' JPK 10.80 scored 'OCS' in the race run by Race Officer and Club Commodore Eddie Totterdell.

Prima Forte is one of the latest entries into Friday's (May 24th) Wave Regatta at Howth Yacht Club as Afloat reports here

Full results in all DBSC classes below

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Dublin Bay Sailing Club's fourth AIB Saturday race of the 2024 season was sailed on May 18th in sub-ten knot northerly winds on a hazy Dublin Bay.

In a nine-boat turnout, J109s took the top three places in IRC One with Barry Cunningham's Chimaera of the Royal Irish Yacht Club finished in 1 hour 28 minutes and 03 seconds corrected from Brian Hall's National Yacht Club (NYC) Something Else on 1 hour 31 minutes and 05 seconds behind on corrected time. Third was RIYC's Richard and Tim Goodbody's White Mischief which finished in 1 hour 32 minutes and 36 seconds corrected.

Overall, the Goodbodys lead Hall in the Saturday Series by a point.

Cruisers Two IRC was a one, two, three for the Royal St. George Yacht Club with Lindsay Casey's J97 Windjammer winning the five boat race in 1 hour 39 minutes and 52 seconds corrected from the Lovegrove family's Sigma 33 Rupert on 1:41:56.  Third was another Sigma 33, Moonshine skippered by David O'Flynn. 

Overall, Casey leads O'Flynn in the Saturday Series by four points.

In an unbeaten run so far this series in the two-boat IRC Three division, Edward Melvin's Sonata One Design, Ceol na Mara of the National Yacht Club beat Myles Kelly's Senator 22 Maranda of the DMYC . 

In Class 5a (White Sails), Johnnie Phillips's Elan 333 Playtime won the ECHO handicap race from Colin O'Brien's Jeanneau 39DS, Spirit. Third was Peter Richardson's Dehler 36 Deliverance.

In the one-design fleets, under Race Officer Jim Dolan, Geraldine (number 7) won from Estelle (number 3). In third place was number six, Naneen in a four-boat Dublin Bay 21 race.

David Mulvin won the 18-boat Flying Fifteen races from Niall Coleman with Alan Green third. 

In a five-boat scratch race for the Beneteau 31.7s, Christ Johnston's Prospect won from Brian Geraghty's Camira. Eoin O'Driscoll's Kernach was third.

The Dun Laoghaire Cup at the Royal Irish Yacht Club, incorporating championships for the 1720, SB20, B211 and J80 classes, meant DBSC racing was not held in these classes on Saturday, May 18. Results after day one at the Cup are reported here.

Results in all DBSC classes are detailed below.

Summer racing continues on Dublin Bay next Tuesday.

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Kyran McStay's X-35 D-Tox was the winner of Dublin Bay Sailing Club's fourth AIB-sponsored Thursday evening race of the 2024 season as Royal Irish Yacht Club boats swept the Cruisers Zero IRC podium.

The McStay boat took the victory in a light north-westerly of four to eight knots in a corrected time of 1 hour 39 minutes and 02 seconds from the overall IRC Zero leader Paul O'Higgins, JPK 10.80 (Paul O'Higgins) in a time of 1:39:24 corrected. Sean Lemass's, First 40, Prima Forte was third overall in 1:44:50 corrected.

Full results in all classes below

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After some late April cancellations, Tuesday night AIB-sponsored Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) dinghy sailing is off to a gentle start in May with some good turnouts across ILCA 6 and 7, Fireball, IDRA 14, PY and a DBSC debutante Melges 15 class. Four races have been sailed with three to count after discard with Royal St. George boats on top in several of the competing classes. 

Frank Miller, sailing IRL 14915 Ballderdash from the DMYC, leads a six-boat Fireball class in the Tuesday night AIB sponsored Dublin Bay Sailing Club dinghy sailing Photo: AfloatFrank Miller, sailing IRL 14915 Ballderdash from the DMYC, leads a six-boat Fireball class in the Tuesday night AIB sponsored Dublin Bay Sailing Club dinghy sailing Photo: Afloat

Miller leads Fireballs

Frank Miller, sailing IRL 14915 Ballderdash from the DMYC, leads a six-boat Fireball class by four points from Louise McKenna's Pink Fire on 7. Third, on tie break is another lady helm Cariosa Power of the DMYC on seven.

O'Beirne has three-point margin in ILCA 6

Royal St. George's Judy O'Beirne, on six points, leads a 16-boat ILCA 6 class from clubmate Mary Chambers on nine. Michael Norman of the Irish National Sailing Club is lying third on ten. O'Beirne finished second last weekend at the ILCA 6 Masters Championships at Howth Yacht Club.

The Melges 15 class are enjoying a debut season in the Tuesday night AIB-sponsored Dublin Bay Sailing Club dinghy racing Photo: Afloat

Flying Tiger is three points clear in Melges 15s

Class promoter John Sheehy leads the way in a seven-boat Melges 15 class that makes its DBSC debut in 2024. In a clean sweep so far for the Royal St. George Yacht Club, Sheehy's Flying Tiger (No 564) has two race wins to put him three points clear of Theo Lyttle's Surf Baby (566) on seven. Lying third is David Williams (637) on eight.

There is an 11-boat ILCA 7 fleet competing in Tuesday night AIB sponsored Dublin Bay Sailing Club dinghy sailing Photo: Michael ChesterThere is an 11-boat ILCA 7 fleet competing in Tuesday night AIB sponsored Dublin Bay Sailing Club dinghy sailing Photo: Michael Chester

Cowman on top in ILCA 7

In another top three for the Royal St. George in the ILCA 7s, Niall Cowman, on five points, leads Gavan Murphy on eight in an 11-boat fleet. Ross O'Leary is lying third on 11.

Aeros are PY Class winners

The National Yacht Club's Noel Butler in an RS Aero, Orion is clear at the top of the DBSC PY scoreboard on three points from clubmate Damien Dion on 8.5 in another Aero. Third is Brian Sweeney's Royal St. George Dutch Gold.

Dart leads three IDRA 14s

Pierre Long, sailing number 1612 Dart, leads a three-boat IDRA 14 class (all from the DMYC) but is tied on points after four races sailed with Frank Hamilton sailing number 140, Dart.

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Dublin Bay Sailing Club's third AIB Saturday race of the 2024 season was sailed on May 11th in light to medium south-easterly winds on a hazy Dublin Bay.

No results were posted in IRC Zero, as the first ISORA Cross-channel race of the season took a number of regular boats away from the bay in the race to Pwhelli in North Wales.

In a nine-boat turnout, J109s took the top two places in IRC One with Richard and Tim Goodbody's White Mischief of the Royal Irish Yacht Club finished in 1 hour 28 minutes and 03 seconds from Brian Hall's National Yacht Club (NYC) Something Else just 16 seconds behind on corrected time.

Colin Byrne's XP33 Bon Exemple, of the Royal Irish Yacht Club, was 11 seconds further back in third place.

Overall, the Goodbodys lead Hall in the Saturday Series by two points.

In Cruisers Two IRC, the Sigma 33 Moonshine skippered by David O'Flynn of the Royal St. George was the winner from clubmate Lindsay Casey's J97 Windjammer. Third in the five-boat turnout was Jim McCann's Royal Irish Mustang 30 Peridot. 

In a two-boat IRC Three race, Edward Melvin's Sonata One Design, Ceol na Mara of the National Yacht Club beat Myles Kelly's Senator 22 Maranda of the DMYC by 33 seconds on corrected time.

In Class 5a (White Sails), Johnnie Phillips's Elan 333 Playtime won the ECHO handicap race from Colin O'Brien's Jeanneau 39DS, Spirit. Third was Peter Richardson's Dehler 36 Deliverance.

In the one-design fleets, under Race Officer Jim Dolan, Garavogue won from Geraldine in a three-boat Dublin Bay 21 race. 

Overall leader, NYC's David Gorman, was second in the first race and third in the 18-boat Flying Fifteen races to be on nine points and Ken Dumpleton in second on 20. Third overall is Neil Colin on 23.

In a three-boat scratch race for the Beneteau 31.7s, Christ Johnston's Prospect won from Brian Geraghty's Camira.  Michael & Bernie Bryson's Bluefin Two retired.

In the seven-boat B211s scratch division, Jimmy Fischer's Billy Whizz beat overall leader Joe Smyth's Yikes. Third was DBSC Vice-Commodore Jacqueline McStay in Small Wonder from the Royal Irish Yacht Club. 

Results in all classes are detailed below.

Summer racing continues on Dublin Bay next Tuesday.

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After last week's cancellation, Dublin Bay Sailing Club's third AIB Thursday evening race of the 2024 season was another gentle affair in light southerly winds where results were marred by plenty of retirals.

On the North Bay race course, in division zero, there was only one finisher, the Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) JPK 10.80 champion Rockabill VI (Paul O'Higgins) with clubmates Sean Lemass's First 40, Prima Forte, Kyran McStay's X-Yacht D-Tox and Royal St. George Yacht Club's Chris Power Smith's J122 Aurelia all retiring.

In a ten-boat IRC One turnout, Barry Cunningham's J109 Chimaera took the gun in a corrected time of 1 hour 44 minutes and 31 seconds from clubmate Philip Byrne's XP33 on 1:46:41 corrected. Unfortunately, the rest of the fleet either retired or did not finish. Overall this means Byrne's X-yacht now leads from Cunningham's J-boat in DBSC's hottest cruiser division.

There were no finishers In Cruisers Two IRC or Cruisers Three IRC or IRC Five, but RIYC's Rodney and Sally Martin Sun Odyssey 32 Gemini managed the only finish in Cruisers 4B. 

A long last leg on a failing wind and building tide spelt the end for many competing boats.

There were some one-design class finishes on the Scotsman's Bay race area, with Philip Lawton's Puffling winning from Neil Colin's FFuzzy. Alastair Court's ffinisterre was third in a 14-boat turnout for the  Flying Fifteen classes where five of the local fleet are competing at the European Championships in France.

National Champion Michael O'Connor of the Royal St. George was the 7-boat SB20 winner from Richard Hayes in Carpe Diem. Third was Grzegorz Kalinecki's SportChip.ie 

Dublin Bay 21s Tuesday Racing Gets Underway

After several cancellations, the first DBSC Tuesday race for the Twentyones took place on May 7th. Nineteen crew members and all four boats took part. The lighter winds facilitated a lovely sailing experience for the newcomers to the fleet. Geraldine won from Estelle. Garavogue was third, with Naneen in fourth.

Dublin Bay 21 Garavogue picture in Tuesday (May 7th) first DBSC race in light airs Photo: Gary O'SullivanDublin Bay 21 Garavogue pictured on Tuesday (May 7th) in a light airs DBSC race Photo: Gary O'Sullivan

Summer racing continues on Dublin Bay with DBSC Saturday racing in the club's 140th season this weekend and also the first ISORA Irish cross-channel race of the season on Saturday morning at 8 am with a bumper 21-boat fleet in prospect.

Results in all classes below

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Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly, aboard the committee boat 'Spirit of the Irish', set a three-round windward/leeward course in a 10-knot southwesterly breeze for the third Water Wag race of the AIB/DBSC 2024 season.

The 23-boat fleet’s start was postponed due to a 40-degree wind shift. The start line was relaid, and the course was adjusted before the starting sequence got underway. A number of boats were OCS, and the next start got away under the U flag with boats all clear.

The wind dropped to 3 knots on the last round, and the final downwind leg was slow. Judy and Grace O’Beirne sailing Shindilla had a good lead at the leeward gate before the final windward leg when Sean and Heather Craig sailing Puffin split tacks and benefitted from a better breeze on the beat finally taking the lead by a small margin.

Seán & Heather Craig sail No. 52 Puffin to a win by a small margin from No. 19 Shindilla, Judy & Grace O’Beirne in Wednesday night's Water Wag AIB/DBSC race at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Ann KirwanSeán & Heather Craig sail No. 52 Puffin to a win by a small margin from No. 19 Shindilla, Judy & Grace O’Beirne in Wednesday night's Water Wag AIB/DBSC race at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Ann Kirwan

Top 3 results were:

  1. No. 52 Puffin, Seán & Heather Craig
  2. No. 19 Shindilla, Judy & Grace O’Beirne
  3. No. 42 William Prentice and crew
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Dublin Bay Sailing Club's second AIB Saturday race of the 2024 season was sailed on May 4th in medium westerly winds on an overcast Dublin Bay.

Sean Lemass's First 40 Prima Forte won from Chris Power Smith's J122 Aurelia in IRC Zero in a one-and-a-half-hour race.

In a six-boat turnout, J109s took the top three places in IRC One with Brian Hall's National Yacht Club (NYC) Something Else taking the gun in a one-and-a-half-hour race by a winning margin of one minute on corrected time. 

Tim Goodbody's White Mischief finished in 1 hour 29 minutes and 43 seconds to take second place. Barry Cunningham's J109 Chimaera, both of the Royal Irish Yacht Club was thirty seconds further back in third place.

Overall, the Goodbody's lead Brian Hall from Barry Cunningham. The Race Officer was Barry MacNeaney. 

In Cruisers Two IRC, Lindsay Casey's  Royal St. George J97 Windjammer topped a three-boat turnout with Jim McCann's Royal Irish Mustang 30 Peridot in second. Third was the Sigma 33 Moonshine skippered by David O'Flynn of the Royal St. George.

In a two-boat IRC Three race, Edward Melvin's Sonata One Design, Ceol na Mara of the National Yacht Club beat Myles Kelly's Senator 22 of the DMYC by almost two minutes on corrected time.

In Class 5a (White Sails), Tim Costello's Bavaria 35 Just Jasmin was the ECHO handicap winner from Charles Broadhead's Sigma 38, Persistence. Third was Peter Richarson's Dehler 36 Deliverance.

In the one-design fleets, under Race Officer Jim Dolan, Estelle won from Geraldine in a three-boat Dublin Bay 21 race. The restored vintage fleet recently announced its 2024 racing programme in a new class website.

Overall leader, NYC's David Gorman, was second in the first race but won the second in the 14-boat Flying Fifteen races under Race Officer Declan Traynor.

In the seven-boat B211s scratch division, Joe Smyth's Yikes won from Jacqueline McStay's Small Wonder from the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Third was Pat Shannon's B211 Beeswing.

Results in all classes are detailed below.

Summer racing continues on Dublin Bay next Tuesday.

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How to sail, sailing clubs and sailing boats plus news on the wide range of sailing events on Irish waters forms the backbone of Afloat's sailing coverage.

We aim to encompass the widest range of activities undertaken on Irish lakes, rivers and coastal waters. This page describes those sailing activites in more detail and provides links and breakdowns of what you can expect from our sailing pages. We aim to bring jargon free reports separated in to popular categories to promote the sport of sailing in Ireland.

The packed 2013 sailing season sees the usual regular summer leagues and there are regular weekly race reports from Dublin Bay Sailing Club, Howth and Cork Harbour on Afloat.ie. This season and last also featured an array of top class events coming to these shores. Each year there is ICRA's Cruiser Nationals starts and every other year the Round Ireland Yacht Race starts and ends in Wicklow and all this action before July. Crosshaven's Cork Week kicks off on in early July every other year. in 2012 Ireland hosted some big international events too,  the ISAF Youth Worlds in Dun Laoghaire and in August the Tall Ships Race sailed into Dublin on its final leg. In that year the Dragon Gold Cup set sail in Kinsale in too.

2013 is also packed with Kinsale hosting the IFDS diabled world sailing championships in Kinsale and the same port is also hosting the Sovereign's Cup. The action moves to the east coast in July with the staging of the country's biggest regatta, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta from July 11.

Our coverage though is not restricted to the Republic of Ireland but encompasses Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Irish Sea area too. In this section you'll find information on the Irish Sailing Association and Irish sailors. There's sailing reports on regattas, racing, training, cruising, dinghies and keelboat classes, windsurfers, disabled sailing, sailing cruisers, Olympic sailing and Tall Ships sections plus youth sailing, match racing and team racing coverage too.

Sailing Club News

There is a network of over 70 sailing clubs in Ireland and we invite all clubs to submit details of their activities for inclusion in our daily website updates. There are dedicated sections given over to the big Irish clubs such as  the waterfront clubs in Dun Laoghaire; Dublin Bay Sailing Club, the Royal Saint George Yacht Club,  the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club. In Munster we regularly feature the work of Kinsale Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.  Abroad Irish sailors compete in Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) racing in the UK and this club is covered too. Click here for Afloat's full list of sailing club information. We are keen to increase our coverage on the network of clubs from around the coast so if you would like to send us news and views of a local interest please let us have it by sending an email to [email protected]

Sailing Boats and Classes

Over 20 active dinghy and one design classes race in Irish waters and fleet sizes range from just a dozen or so right up to over 100 boats in the case of some of the biggest classes such as the Laser or Optimist dinghies for national and regional championships. Afloat has dedicated pages for each class: Dragons, Etchells, Fireball, Flying Fifteen, GP14, J24's, J80's, Laser, Sigma 33, RS Sailing, Star, Squibs, TopperMirror, Mermaids, National 18, Optimist, Puppeteers, SB3's, and Wayfarers. For more resources on Irish classes go to our dedicated sailing classes page.

The big boat scene represents up to 60% of the sail boat racing in these waters and Afloat carries updates from the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA), the body responsible for administering cruiser racing in Ireland and the popular annual ICRA National Championships. In 2010 an Irish team won the RORC Commodore's Cup putting Irish cruiser racing at an all time high. Popular cruiser fleets in Ireland are raced right around the coast but naturally the biggest fleets are in the biggest sailing centres in Cork Harbour and Dublin Bay. Cruisers race from a modest 20 feet or so right up to 50'. Racing is typically divided in to Cruisers Zero, Cruisers One, Cruisers Two, Cruisers Three and Cruisers Four. A current trend over the past few seasons has been the introduction of a White Sail division that is attracting big fleets.

Traditionally sailing in northern Europe and Ireland used to occur only in some months but now thanks to the advent of a network of marinas around the coast (and some would say milder winters) there are a number of popular winter leagues running right over the Christmas and winter periods.

Sailing Events

Punching well above its weight Irish sailing has staged some of the world's top events including the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover, Tall Ships visits as well as dozens of class world and European Championships including the Laser Worlds, the Fireball Worlds in both Dun Laoghaire and Sligo.

Some of these events are no longer pure sailing regattas and have become major public maritime festivals some are the biggest of all public staged events. In the past few seasons Ireland has hosted events such as La Solitaire du Figaro and the ISAF Dublin Bay 2012 Youth Worlds.

There is a lively domestic racing scene for both inshore and offshore sailing. A national sailing calendar of summer fixtures is published annually and it includes old favorites such as Sovereign's Cup, Calves Week, Dun Laoghaire to Dingle, All Ireland Sailing Championships as well as new events with international appeal such as the Round Britain and Ireland Race and the Clipper Round the World Race, both of which have visited Ireland.

The bulk of the work on running events though is carried out by the network of sailing clubs around the coast and this is mostly a voluntary effort by people committed to the sport of sailing. For example Wicklow Sailing Club's Round Ireland yacht race run in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been operating for over 30 years. Similarly the international Cork Week regatta has attracted over 500 boats in past editions and has also been running for over 30 years.  In recent years Dublin Bay has revived its own regatta called Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and can claim to be the country's biggest event with over 550 boats entered in 2009.

On the international stage Afloat carries news of Irish and UK interest on Olympics 2012, Sydney to Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race.

We're always aiming to build on our sailing content. We're keen to build on areas such as online guides on learning to sail in Irish sailing schools, navigation and sailing holidays. If you have ideas for our pages we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]