Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Storm Boelo Fails to Dampen Royal Cork Autumn League Prizegiving Spirit
25th October 2026 Royal Cork YC
Finbarr and Colm O’Regan’s Kinsale Yacht Club J109 Artful Dodger takes IRC and ECHO Spinnaker 1 honours as Royal Cork Yacht Club celebrates its 2026 Autumn League winners despite the cancellation of the final day’s racing. Storm Boelo may have…
An award-winning documentary on the battle by a fisherman after a mysterious environmental disaster devastated the northeast coast of England is due to be screened at Dublin's Irish Film Institute (IFI) on Tuesday, October 27th, and Thursday, October 29th. All…
The 44Cup will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2027 with a five-event international racing calendar, including two opening regattas in Antigua and Barbuda, a World Championship in Sardinia and a first visit to La Palma in the Canary Islands. The…
DLRCoCo Seeks Consent to Regularise Existing Harbour Pontoons
25th October 2026 Dun Laoghaire Harbour News
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has applied to the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) to regularise existing pontoons adjoining the Irish Lights Buoy Bank quayside in Dún Laoghaire Harbour. The application, reference MAC260026, was received on 25 September 2026 and concerns…
Antrim Contractor Appointed by Port of Dover for £53m Western Docks Revival Project
25th October 2026 Northern Ireland Waters
The appointment of a Northern Ireland company by the Port of Dover for a £53m project sees construction firm McLaughlin & Harvey secure two places on a new contractor framework at the UK's busiest ferry port. The development of the…
A recent sighting of a beluga whale off Donegal is only the second recorded this century, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) says. The remarkable visitor was captured on video by Sebastian Szumlański at Fintra on Donegal Bay last…
Marine Notice: Nearshore Survey Operations for Irish Sea Gas Interconnector
25th October 2026 Coastal Notes
Nearshore surveys of the high-pressure gas interconnector pipelines running between Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man are being conducted along the shores of Loughshinny and Gormanstown by AWJ Marine. Earlier this month, multi-beam echo sounder, side-scan sonar and sub-bottom…
Ulster Wildlife's work to restore the endangered European native oyster (Ostrea edulis) to Northern Ireland's coastal waters has won Biodiversity Initiative of the Year at the 2026 All-Ireland Sustainability Awards. The award recognises a restoration programme that has established four…
The week to Saturday, 24 October 2026 — An Irish solo sailor’s Golden Globe challenge ends, a second Middle Sea Race line-honours win has an Irish connection, and autumn racing gives way to storm warnings. Here is the week’s sailing…
With Storm Boelo threatening further disruption to weekend sailing in Cork Harbour, Royal Cork Yacht Club has put back the first gun for Sunday's (25 October) final day of its 2026 Autumn League until 11.55am. The revised start is an…
Bad Weather Cancels Monkstown Bay October League Racing
24th October 2026 Monkstown Bay Sailing Club
Stoem Boelo has forced the cancellation of Saturday's (24 October) racing in the Monkstown Bay Sailing Club October League in Cork Harbour. The cancellation interrupts the club's autumn dinghy racing programme, which has attracted 16 boats this season. As Afloat…
Met Éireann has issued multiple weather warnings for Storm Boelo, which will bring gale-force westerly winds with severe and damaging gusts and spells of heavy rain. Strong onshore winds, high tides, surge and large waves may cause overtopping and coastal…
Dún Laoghaire Council Seeks Consent for West Pier Eco Pontoon
24th October 2026 Dun Laoghaire Harbour News
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has applied to the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) for consent for a proposed floating ecological pontoon inside Dún Laoghaire Harbour. The application, submitted on 18 September 2026 under reference MAC260024, concerns an area near the…
Swedish-owned ferry operator Stena Line has highlighted the importance of resilient transport networks to Ireland's trade, economic growth and connectivity at a high-level Irish-Swedish infrastructure forum in Dublin. The company sponsored the Resilience Forum, held at Stephen's Green Club on…
Sydney Hobart Race Attracts 107 Entries for St.Stephen's Day Start
24th October 2026 Sydney to Hobart
A fleet of 107 yachts, including four 100-foot maxis, 18 double-handed entries, and eight international competitors, has been confirmed for the 81st Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, starting on St. Stephen's Day, 26th December. Entries have closed for the 628-nautical-mile…
Oriel Wind Farm Seeks 2028 Deadline Extension as Planning Queries Continue
24th October 2026 Power From the Sea
Oriel Windfarm Limited has applied to extend a commercial deadline for its proposed 375MW offshore wind project off County Louth, while the planning authority has issued a further request for information on the development. The developer applied to the Maritime…
A severe South Atlantic storm forecast to bring winds of around 50 knots and gusts reaching 70 knots from Sunday, 25 October, is threatening the 2026 Golden Globe Race fleet as the solo sailors approach the Southern Ocean. Race leader…
Two failed riveted fastenings in the steering gear of Pat Lawless's Silvermines Hydro compounded the Solent stay failure that ended the Kerry sailor's 2026 Golden Globe Race challenge, organisers have revealed. The latest account explains that the fastenings failed in…
With just over a week to go until the opening races of the 2026/27 Viking Marine-sponsored Frostbites, hosted by Dún Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), the entry list stands at 55 boats. The largest entry to date comes from the…
Brittany Ferries Achieves Energy Savings with Presentation at Route du Rhum Village
24th October 2026 Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries has teamed up with Adrena and Bureau Veritas Solutions Marine & Offshore to successfully demonstrate fuel savings of up to 6% through the deployment of an advanced digital twin-enabled routing solution. The AdrenaShip concept highlights the potential of…
