Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Defending Champion Wiersema Expects ‘Tricky Racing’ at Dublin Bay ILCA 7 Worlds
24th August 2026 ILCA Worlds 2026
Defending ILCA 7 World Champion Willem Wiersema says Dublin Bay's shifting breeze and pressure differences are set to make for “tricky racing” when the 141-boat World Championship fleet begins racing off Dun Laoghaire on Tuesday. The Dutch champion has already…
Jon Mclean's FarEast 28R Resolute and Colm Garvey's Ceccarelli Quarter Tonner Illegal emerged as the leading IRC winners from Royal Cork Yacht Club's 306th At Home Regatta at Crosshaven, with Illegal also taking the overall spinnaker IRC prize. The weekend…
Sean Donnelly and Greg Arrowsmith of the Royal St George Yacht Club have won the 2026 Melges 15 Irish National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club after a one-point victory at the end of a remarkably close seven-race series…
Tom Slingsby’s Bonds Flying Roos claimed their fifth SailGP event victory of the 2026 season in Sassnitz on Sunday (August 23), beating NorthStar Canada and Spain’s Los Gallos in a light-air final on the Baltic. The victory stretched Australia’s lead…
Carrick Rowing Club has appealed for information after one of its boats was badly damaged in an overnight act of vandalism at its base in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim. The club says its octuple rowing boat was removed from its storage…
Denis Hewitt’s Mills 31 Raptor took both the race victory and overall honours as the Sail for Cancer charity sailing event hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club returned to Dublin Bay on Friday evening (August 21), raising just under €5,000…
The 50-year-old former fishing vessel MV KATE is due to leave Kinsale Fisheries Pier on Sunday afternoon, bound for Gaza in an attempt to breach the Israeli naval blockade and deliver relief supplies to Palestinians. Previous attempts by vessels taking…
Following ORC Ireland's review of the results from Quintas Capital Calves Week 2026, ORC Ireland Rating Officer Pat Tanner says he went back through the individual race results to address what he describes as the “obvious issue” that the IRC…
Revenues reported at Mersey Ferries have been buoyant in the year to 31 March, 2026, as the summer period of holidays has helped boost earnings. However, the commuter and excursion operator had only a small pre-tax profit, which was wiped…
A collection of “toxic tyres” gathered from the shoreline and waters of Lough Corrib were removed this week as part of a community initiative to mark National Heritage Week. Research shows that as tyres break down, they can release a…
Ireland's 2021 World Championship silver medallist Finn Lynch leads a six-strong home challenge when one of the deepest ILCA 7 World Championship fleets of recent years begins racing on Dublin Bay, with 141 sailors from 45 nations assembled in Dún…
An overcast Dublin Bay provided a busy backdrop for Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Saturday Series B racing on August 22, with the regular cruiser and one-design fleets sharing the bay with the Melges 15 National Championship fleet and ILCAs training…
Martin Byrne’s Jaguar Sailing Team from Dun Laoghaire Harbour has won the Corinthian title at the 2026 Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix in Cowes after a dramatic final-race battle decided on countback. Byrne, sailing IRL201 Jaguar with his…
Light northerly winds provided a testing opening day for the 306th Royal Cork Yacht Club At Home Regatta in Cork Harbour on Saturday (August 22), with two races completed for the keelboat divisions. Race Officer Richard Leonard took the keelboat…
A new Shannon-class lifeboat has been officially named Bobby Cameron at Kilkeel RNLI in County Down in memory of the late brother of its principal donor, Margaret Cameron. The naming ceremony and service of dedication took place at Kilkeel Lifeboat…
France has shattered the SailGP speed record after hitting 107.63 km/h during a high-octane opening day of the ROCKWOOL Germany Sail Grand Prix in Sassnitz on Saturday. DS Automobiles Team France eclipsed the previous championship record of 103.93 km/h, set…
Norwood and Donagh Lead Melges 15 Nationals After Four Dublin Bay Races at Royal Irish
22nd August 2026 Melges 15
Royal Irish Yacht Club pair Tim Norwood and Luke Donagh have taken the overnight lead in the 22-boat Melges 15 Irish National Championships after four races on Dublin Bay on Saturday (August 22). Norwood and Donagh, sailing NonameO, opened the…
The world’s largest floating bookfair ship, MV Logos Hope, currently at the Port of Cork, is a former Denmark-Faroe-Iceland ferry that is from a series all built by the same West German shipyard in the 1970s, writes Jehan Ashmore. The…
Jetpack Takes IRC Three Win as Round Britain and Ireland Fleet Heads Home
22nd August 2026 Rd Britain & Ireland
Mark Brown’s JPK 1010 Jetpack has become the latest class winner in the RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race, taking provisional IRC Three honours as the flow of finishers into Cowes gathered pace overnight and into Saturday. The 1,805-nautical-mile race…
Scientists have warned that the seas around Ireland and much of Europe are warming beyond a stage that many marine species can tolerate. The World Weather Attribution (WWA) network of scientists forecast severe disruption to ecosystems, with impacts ranging from…
