Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Ireland's Ger Owens and Mel Morris take a commanding 24-point lead into the final day of the GP14 World Championships on Belfast Lough after Thursday's light and patchy conditions produced some major changes among the leading contenders. The Wicklow Sailing…
Irish double Olympian Robert Dickson has won redress at the GP14 World Championship on Belfast Lough after an International Jury found his Race 5 score had been made significantly worse through no fault of his own by an improper action…
A generally light easterly breeze produced close racing across Dublin Bay on Thursday evening (August 13), with Valentina, Riders on the Storm and Windjammer heading the principal cruiser results in the AIB Dublin Bay Sailing Club Summer Series. Conditions appeared…
Afloat.ie records with profound regret the death of American sailing writer and historian John Rousmaniere at the age of 82. He was best known on this side of the Atlantic as the author of the best-seller "Fastnet Force 10", his…
A 30-metre French schooner carrying 25 people has been successfully freed after running into a salmon farm off Clare Island in Co Mayo. The Rara Avis, a flat-bottomed schooner modelled on Thames sailing barge lines, entered Mowi Ireland’s Portlee Smolt…
Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) has confirmed that its Saturday racing programme will continue during the ILCA World Championships in Dún Laoghaire, with some changes to starting arrangements on two Saturdays. The ILCA World Championships run in Dún Laoghaire from…
Achill Island RNLI volunteers were involved in a 16-hour operation after a 24-metre sailing vessel carrying 25 people made contact with a fish farm off the Mayo coast and began taking on water. The lifeboat was requested to launch at…
Laragh and Roisin Epstein claimed overall victory at the 2026 Irish International 420 Class Championships on Lough Derg, topping a 29-boat Irish and British fleet after eight races. Lough Derg Yacht Club hosted the three-day championship from 7-9 August, with…
Role Of Cable Ships In Transatlantic Communications To Be Celebrated in Kerry's Waterville
13th August 2026 Maritime Festivals
Tales of the ships that laid Waterville’s cables off the Kerry coast will be told during several special events planned for Heritage Week 2026 this month.Friends of Waterville Cable Station are organising two special events on Saturday, August 22nd. The first…
The history of Monkstown Bay Sailing Club’s burgee goes back much further than the club's founding in June of 1970. As far back as 1872, members of the public who visit the club this Saturday, when it opens its doors as…
The angler who had his leg bitten by a blue shark off the Waterford coast this week said he feared for his life. As The Irish Times reports, Sebastian Achim (27) was fishing with four others some 6.5km from Ram…
Two Cruise Ships at the Same Time Mark a Busy End to Season at Bantry
13th August 2026 Cruise Liners
Bantry Bay had a 'first' of two cruise ships at the same time as its ‘cruise ship visitor season came to an end.’ "The sight of two cruise vessels was both unusual and welcoming, demonstrating the Bay’s capacity to accommodate…
MARA Rejects Criticism of "Underperformance" By Minister For Environment
13th August 2026 Marine Planning
The State’s marine regulator has defended its track record, following criticism by Minister for Environment Darragh O’Brien. As The Irish Times has reported, a freedom of information request it tabled confirmed that the minister wrote the Marine Area Regulatory Authority…
Port of Cork Loses Case Over Public Right Of Way At Deepwater Quay Area
13th August 2026 Port of Cork
The Port of Cork has lost a case over a public right of way on deepwater quay land. The Currency reports that the case taken by the port against a group of community activists in Cobh collapsed “within days”, after…
Twenty-six Water Wags turned out for Wednesday evening’s AIB DBSC race in Dún Laoghaire Harbour, on an evening marked by both a partial solar eclipse and Water Wag President Gail Varian’s 80th birthday. Seán Craig and Heather Craig took the…
Irish Wildlife Trust Speaks Out Over Media Coverage of Shark Bite Incident Off Waterford
12th August 2026 Marine Wildlife
The Irish Wildlife Trust has spoken out over “sensationalised” media coverage of an incident off Co Waterford in which a man was bitten by a blue shark. As The Journal reports, the casualty was part of a group on a…
Pace Powers North as Round Britain and Ireland Race Splits Into Two Battles
12th August 2026 Rd Britain & Ireland
Johnny Vincent’s Volvo 70 Pace has surged clear at the front of the RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race, clocking up around 428 nautical miles in 24 hours as an Atlantic low propels the leaders north towards the top of…
World Sailing Signs Three-Year Partnership With FarEast to Support Global Development
12th August 2026 World Sailing
World Sailing has signed a three-year global partnership with marine manufacturer Shanghai FarEast Co. Ltd, with boats and equipment to be supplied for international events and development programmes around the world. The agreement, announced on Wednesday (12 August), makes FarEast a…
Irish offshore sailor Tom Dolan is preparing to return to racing later this month aboard the repaired Figaro Kingspan, teaming up with longtime friend and mentor Gildas Mahé for the season-ending L’Adventura. The double-handed race starts from Port Bourgenay on…
Unlicensed Boat Captain Charged After Mother and Baby Killed in New York Capsizing
12th August 2026 News Update
A boat captain is facing federal charges after a vessel carrying 14 people capsized near the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour, resulting in the deaths of a 27-year-old woman and her five-month-old daughter. The incident occurred at approximately…
