Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

A Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: AfloatA Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

Displaying items by tag: Storm Betty

Waterways Ireland advises all masters of vessels and waterways users that the Grand Canal’s Circular Line in Dublin (Lock C1 through to Lock C7) is now reopened.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Circular Line had been closed to navigation due to fallen trees across the canal in the aftermath of Storm Betty in mid August.

Published in Inland Waterways

Waterways Ireland advises all masters of vessels and waterways users that the Grand Canal’s Circular Line in Dublin (Lock C1 through to Lock C7) is currently closed to navigation due to fallen trees across the canal in the aftermath of Storm Betty at the weekend.

The cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways did not provide a timeframe for the line’s reopening but said it “apologies for any inconvenience caused”.

Published in Inland Waterways

The Clontarf Baths have been left “destroyed” by the impact of Storm Betty as it passed over Ireland late on Friday and early Saturday (18-19 August), as RTÉ News reports.

A lifeguard at the baths who joined the clean-up operation on Saturday morning said damage caused is “very upsetting” and it could be up to a fortnight before the baths are returned to normal.

“It’s paradise working here, and to see it like this after the work we’ve put in to keep it clean and safe, and it’s just destroyed,” Anne Miller said.

Boats from nearby Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club were also damaged by the storm, with a wooden Kestrel that’s been in the club for nearly 50 years among three vessels affected.

Across Dublin Bay in Dun Laoghaire, a Cape 31 was blown off its hard-standing cradle and into the water, where it was later retrieved by crane.

RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.

Published in Weather

As Storm Betty approaches Ireland, the Irish Coast Guard is issuing important advice for those engaging in water-based or coastal activities. According to Met Éireann, a deepening Atlantic depression is expected to bring very strong winds with heavy rain or showers across the country through this evening and night, and for a time on Saturday.

The strongest winds are predicted to hit southern coastal and midland counties, with severe or damaging gusts possible. Heavy rain or showers may also result in localized flooding, and there is a possibility of coastal flooding, particularly on the south and east coasts.

"Marine warnings have been updated to include a Status Red Storm warning"

Marine warnings have been updated to include a Status Red Storm warning from Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford, to Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, to Mizen Head, Co. Cork. South to southeast winds, veering south-westerly will reach storm force 10 and occasionally violent storm force 11 for a time on Irish coastal waters from Carnsore Point to Dungarvan to Mizen Head. There is also a status yellow Gale warning for all coasts of Ireland.

The Irish Coast Guard strongly advises those planning any water-based or coastal activities to check the weather carefully at www.met.ie and consider if the conditions are suitable. Strong winds can result in relatively rough seas, resulting in perilous sea conditions that could be challenging for water-based activities this weekend.

In stormy conditions, the general advice from the Coast Guard is to stay back from cliffs, exposed coastal areas, and piers where breaking waves can be hazardous. If you see someone in difficulty, call 999 or 112 and request the Coast Guard. Stay safe and stay informed during Storm Betty.

Published in Coastguard
Tagged under

How to sail, sailing clubs and sailing boats plus news on the wide range of sailing events on Irish waters forms the backbone of Afloat's sailing coverage.

We aim to encompass the widest range of activities undertaken on Irish lakes, rivers and coastal waters. This page describes those sailing activites in more detail and provides links and breakdowns of what you can expect from our sailing pages. We aim to bring jargon free reports separated in to popular categories to promote the sport of sailing in Ireland.

The packed 2013 sailing season sees the usual regular summer leagues and there are regular weekly race reports from Dublin Bay Sailing Club, Howth and Cork Harbour on Afloat.ie. This season and last also featured an array of top class events coming to these shores. Each year there is ICRA's Cruiser Nationals starts and every other year the Round Ireland Yacht Race starts and ends in Wicklow and all this action before July. Crosshaven's Cork Week kicks off on in early July every other year. in 2012 Ireland hosted some big international events too,  the ISAF Youth Worlds in Dun Laoghaire and in August the Tall Ships Race sailed into Dublin on its final leg. In that year the Dragon Gold Cup set sail in Kinsale in too.

2013 is also packed with Kinsale hosting the IFDS diabled world sailing championships in Kinsale and the same port is also hosting the Sovereign's Cup. The action moves to the east coast in July with the staging of the country's biggest regatta, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta from July 11.

Our coverage though is not restricted to the Republic of Ireland but encompasses Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Irish Sea area too. In this section you'll find information on the Irish Sailing Association and Irish sailors. There's sailing reports on regattas, racing, training, cruising, dinghies and keelboat classes, windsurfers, disabled sailing, sailing cruisers, Olympic sailing and Tall Ships sections plus youth sailing, match racing and team racing coverage too.

Sailing Club News

There is a network of over 70 sailing clubs in Ireland and we invite all clubs to submit details of their activities for inclusion in our daily website updates. There are dedicated sections given over to the big Irish clubs such as  the waterfront clubs in Dun Laoghaire; Dublin Bay Sailing Club, the Royal Saint George Yacht Club,  the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club. In Munster we regularly feature the work of Kinsale Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.  Abroad Irish sailors compete in Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) racing in the UK and this club is covered too. Click here for Afloat's full list of sailing club information. We are keen to increase our coverage on the network of clubs from around the coast so if you would like to send us news and views of a local interest please let us have it by sending an email to [email protected]

Sailing Boats and Classes

Over 20 active dinghy and one design classes race in Irish waters and fleet sizes range from just a dozen or so right up to over 100 boats in the case of some of the biggest classes such as the Laser or Optimist dinghies for national and regional championships. Afloat has dedicated pages for each class: Dragons, Etchells, Fireball, Flying Fifteen, GP14, J24's, J80's, Laser, Sigma 33, RS Sailing, Star, Squibs, TopperMirror, Mermaids, National 18, Optimist, Puppeteers, SB3's, and Wayfarers. For more resources on Irish classes go to our dedicated sailing classes page.

The big boat scene represents up to 60% of the sail boat racing in these waters and Afloat carries updates from the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA), the body responsible for administering cruiser racing in Ireland and the popular annual ICRA National Championships. In 2010 an Irish team won the RORC Commodore's Cup putting Irish cruiser racing at an all time high. Popular cruiser fleets in Ireland are raced right around the coast but naturally the biggest fleets are in the biggest sailing centres in Cork Harbour and Dublin Bay. Cruisers race from a modest 20 feet or so right up to 50'. Racing is typically divided in to Cruisers Zero, Cruisers One, Cruisers Two, Cruisers Three and Cruisers Four. A current trend over the past few seasons has been the introduction of a White Sail division that is attracting big fleets.

Traditionally sailing in northern Europe and Ireland used to occur only in some months but now thanks to the advent of a network of marinas around the coast (and some would say milder winters) there are a number of popular winter leagues running right over the Christmas and winter periods.

Sailing Events

Punching well above its weight Irish sailing has staged some of the world's top events including the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover, Tall Ships visits as well as dozens of class world and European Championships including the Laser Worlds, the Fireball Worlds in both Dun Laoghaire and Sligo.

Some of these events are no longer pure sailing regattas and have become major public maritime festivals some are the biggest of all public staged events. In the past few seasons Ireland has hosted events such as La Solitaire du Figaro and the ISAF Dublin Bay 2012 Youth Worlds.

There is a lively domestic racing scene for both inshore and offshore sailing. A national sailing calendar of summer fixtures is published annually and it includes old favorites such as Sovereign's Cup, Calves Week, Dun Laoghaire to Dingle, All Ireland Sailing Championships as well as new events with international appeal such as the Round Britain and Ireland Race and the Clipper Round the World Race, both of which have visited Ireland.

The bulk of the work on running events though is carried out by the network of sailing clubs around the coast and this is mostly a voluntary effort by people committed to the sport of sailing. For example Wicklow Sailing Club's Round Ireland yacht race run in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been operating for over 30 years. Similarly the international Cork Week regatta has attracted over 500 boats in past editions and has also been running for over 30 years.  In recent years Dublin Bay has revived its own regatta called Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and can claim to be the country's biggest event with over 550 boats entered in 2009.

On the international stage Afloat carries news of Irish and UK interest on Olympics 2012, Sydney to Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race.

We're always aiming to build on our sailing content. We're keen to build on areas such as online guides on learning to sail in Irish sailing schools, navigation and sailing holidays. If you have ideas for our pages we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]