Historic Boats
One of the odder stories to emerge from the weird and wonderful history of Dublin port is the near-legend of the Ouzel galley. It seems that in 1695 a group of the city’s merchants funded a sailing cargo ship called…
The 2026 Herreshoff Classic Yacht Regatta brought classic yachts back to Rhode Island waters at the weekend, with racing between Newport and Bristol producing a mix of light-air patience, historic boats and close competition. The opening Newport-to-Bristol feeder race produced…
A dispute has arisen as to whether the wreck of a ship with cargo of gold, silver, and priceless royal belongings of British King Charles I has been located on Scotland's Firth of Forth estuary, just north of Edinburgh. Recent…
North Dublin rowers have completed a crossing of the North Channel from Donaghadee in Co.Down to Portpatrick in Scotland in two traditional West of Ireland currachs. As previously reported by Afloat, a crew panel from Currachaí na Sceirí in Skerries,…
The 78-year-old heritage tall ship Le Français has been relaunched after an extensive restoration programme ahead of a new season of charter voyages, sail training and educational work. The 47-metre, three-masted barque, which carries 19 sails, returned to the water at…
North Dublin boatbuilders and rowers aim to set off and row the North Channel from Donaghadee to Portpatrick in two west of Ireland currachs this weekend. Weather permitting, a crew of about ten from Currachaí na Sceirí in Skerries, Co…
It seems the best way to make commemorations go with a buzz is to try to make it all low-key. The Sailing Into Wellness organisation, which runs the restored 1926-vintage 56ft Baltimore-built trading ketch Ilen of Conor O'Brien fame, tends…
It may have been way back in 1963 that the 43ft S&S-designed sloop Clarion of Wight won the Fastnet Race, beating gallant many-season campaigner Adlard Coles in the prototype Nicholson 36 Cohoe IV (with Keith Hunt of Kinsale in his…
We all know that drink was invented to stop the Irish ruling the world. But on the same theme, the Irish sailing community has always quietly nurtured the thought that if our usual weather could just be somehow modified to…
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…
At most gatherings of classic yachts, it would be thought quite an achievement to muster a dozen boats setting proper two-yard jackyard topsails. But as in everything they do, the 1898-vintage Howth 17s are different. They simply have to signal…
Divers who found bottles of Guinness dating back to the mid-19th century on a shipwreck off Dover want to try and rebrew the stout. As The Irish Times reports, up to 20 bottles of stout were discovered by a team…
90-Year-Old Cruinneag III Adds to Dún Laoghaire’s Classic Yacht Visitors
10th August 2026 Historic Boats
The 90-year-old Scottish classic yacht Cruinneag III added to Dún Laoghaire Harbour’s growing roll-call of notable traditional sailing visitors when she was photographed under sail on Dublin Bay on Sunday (9 August). The handsome auxiliary ketch was pictured departing Dún…
Gaff rig enthusiasts will find their reward this weekend on two coastlines, along Ireland’s Atlantic seaboard at Kinvara on Galway Bay, and along the East Coast at Howth. Kinvara in the southeast corner of Galway Bay will see the traditional…
Historic Fastnet Race winner Tally Ho received a memorable homecoming to Irish waters on Friday evening when a flotilla of 34 traditional and sailing boats escorted the famous yacht into Baltimore Harbour, West Cork. The 48-foot gaff-rigged cutter, winner of…
A 117-year-old British sailing yacht rescued from a Mallorca beach after a winter storm is set to undergo a major restoration following a marine industry-backed rescue effort. The 20-metre classic yacht Owl broke free from her mooring during a January…
