Historic Boats
The 56.6-metre wooden ship Batavia has arrived at Damen Shiprepair in Amsterdam after being towed from Lelystad across the Markermeer and IJ, marking the final stage of the 17th-century ship's reconstruction. The vessel, complete with its masts, passed the centre…
A record fleet of 170 Swan yachts and more than 1,800 sailors has completed the 23rd Rolex Swan Cup in Porto Cervo, bringing a week of racing marking Nautor Swan’s 60th anniversary to a close. Among those involved in running…
Strong Mistral conditions have tightened the battle for honours across the Rolex Swan Cup in Porto Cervo, with most classes still undecided going into Saturday’s final day. The third and penultimate day of the 23rd edition brought 16-knot winds for…
Call For Galway Hooker To Be Recognised With UNESCO Heritage Status
18th September 2026 Galway Hookers
Galway West TD Sean Kyne is calling on the Minister for Arts, Media, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht to initiate a formal process to have the Galway Hooker given UNESCO heritage status. The recognition would be granted under Ireland’s framework…
The record 170-yacht fleet assembled in Porto Cervo for the 23rd Rolex Swan Cup has completed its first day of racing, with light winds producing a shortened coastal programme off Sardinia. As Afloat reported ahead of the regatta, this year's…
A fleet of 170 Swan yachts has gathered in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, for the 23rd Rolex Swan Cup as Nautor Swan celebrates its 60th anniversary. More than 90 Swan models spanning six decades of production are represented at the Yacht…
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…
