Blogs
National Yacht Club and Ruffian Association Share MG Motor “Sailing Club of the Year 2024” Award
6th January 2024 Sailing Club of the Year
It is not unprecedented for leading clubs and one of the key class organisations within their ambit to share the MG Motor Sailing Club of the Year Award. It began with an added convention (the informal contest has been based…
"My Toughest 48 hours at Sea"- Pam Lee from Greystones On Her Transat Jacques Vabre Yacht Race (Podcast)
30th December 2023 Wavelength Podcast
Let’s do that again, but do it better – they are the words of a very determined Pam Lee from Greystones, who came 29th with Tiphaine Ragueneau in the 30th Transat Jacques Vabre yacht race from Le Havre to Martinique.…
Afloat.ie’s “Sailors of the Month” Highlight Variety of 2023’s Achievements In Selecting “Irish Sailor of the Year 2023”
30th December 2023 W M Nixon
Afloat.ie has already clocked 2.1 million readers during 2023, so we’re communicating with a large and often international readership, although the core of our regular visitors is still very much in Ireland. And now, with just one day to go…
For sure, it’s very easy to make too much of the power of the Irish global diaspora. After all, these days just about everybody in the creative arts – particularly writing, acting and music – will determinedly claim an Irish…
Royal Cork Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble: From a Wreck in Greece to Irish Boat of the Year with Young Sailors
21st December 2023 Tom MacSweeney
Dave Dwyer’s success with Swuzzlebubble comes from a determination to acquire the classic Farr-designed half-tonner, which had been a wreck in Greece. He comes from a Cork family that has a four-generation sailing history. Dave Dwyer’s Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble competing…
Tomek Ciezki of Heavy Man Films on The Making of the Documentary - Man Versus Ocean
17th December 2023 Wavelength Podcast
When Tomek Ciezki of Heavy Man Films was asked to meet a man who wanted to make a video of his “holiday and travel photos”, he was initially doubtful. However, the footage took him aback – he was stunned by…
Ireland’s Cruising And Voyaging Continues To Develop The Rich Legacy And International Friendship Radiating From Cork
16th December 2023 W M Nixon
In a week’s time, Sailing on Saturday will resume normal service with a preview on December 23rd of the up-coming Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race on December 26th, both generally and from an Irish angle, for we…
SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race 2024 Asserts International Cred And Welcomes Female RORC Commodore
9th December 2023 W M Nixon
We know that the biennial SSE Renewables 700-mile Round Ireland Race from Wicklow is a significant fixture in the international calendar. We know it well, because since its inception through the dedication of the late Michael Jones and his voluntary…
Marine leisure facilities will be included, including the possibility of a new marina on the north-east coast, because there is room for one in the Bremore Port development at Drogheda. Dr. Joe Hiney, a director at Bremore Port and an…
Let us begin by simply setting out the pillar events of the 2024 season in Ireland, while including the major international happenings which will be of interest to our sailing community. And then we’ll provide a further take on it…
How a Mirror on a Paddle Saved The Lives of Divers and an Artist off the Kerry Coast
28th November 2023 Wavelength Podcast
Imagine being on your own on a Blasket island, dependent on several divers to come and collect you – and then their dinghy runs out of fuel. If a fishing vessel hadn’t spotted the reflection of a mirror they had…
What, you might well wonder, is a blatant billboard doing at the top of the page this Saturday morning, even if it is exactly a month to Christmas, and Christmas has come early for Ireland’s younger international sailors in 2023?…
After 50 years, there is a major change in sailmaking at Crosshaven, Cork Harbour’s dominant sailing centre..Outside the village, the loft associated with the legendary Des McWilliams and family is no longer a sailmaking centre. Barry Hayes and his wife,…
Shannon Estuary & Limerick Have Combined Over Centuries As Ireland’s Most Innovative Sailing Area
18th November 2023 W M Nixon
The Cruising Group can often emerge as the backbone of any sailing club, particularly in the winter. Back in the day when the new Howth Yacht Club premises opened in March 1987, fresh concepts were needed to ensure that the…
Seaweed Farming Can Feed The Globe and Capture Carbon - UN Oceans Advisor
12th November 2023 Wavelength Podcast
It is easier to pump oil from the bottom of the ocean than to farm seaweed, according to French oceans advisor Vincent Doumeizel. Doumeizel, from Burgundy in France, is a senior advisor on the oceans to the United Nations (UN)…
Tom Dolan Sets the Record Straight on Last Week’s 'Sailing on Saturday' Article on his Round Ireland Challenge
11th November 2023 Tom Dolan
Tom Dolan halted his latest Round Ireland speed challenge on October 31st due to worsening weather forecasts off the South and Southwest coast. It was a disappointing decision for him and his team and a great many readers who had…