Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Friendship, family and sailing enjoyment expressed enthusiastically through quietly efficient organisations - that was the warm theme which dominated Thursday evening’s convivial gathering in the National Yacht Club on Dun Laoghaire waterfront. The successful hosting club and the Golden Jubilee-celebrating…

The prestigious MG Sailing Club of the Year Ship's Wheel was awarded to both the National Yacht Club and the Ruffian Association at a presentation ceremony at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Thursday evening, February 29th. As Afloat's WM Nixon announced…

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…

The Golden Jubilee of the much-loved Ruffian 23 Class was well celebrated in 2023 at all its main centres in an enjoyable moveable feast, mostly in Ireland but culminating in Hong Kong in October with the triennial Inter-Port Championship in…

A highlight throughout our 2023 sailing season has been the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the much-loved Billy Brown-designed Ruffian 23, which became an almost continuous and very friendly party of shared enthusiasm, friendship, racing and cruising-in-company. It began on Strangford…

As solo star Tom Dolan said when he arrived this week in Greystones to position himself on stand-by for his waiting-game round Ireland record challenge from the Kish Lighthouse, the current increasingly Autumnal weather pattern is much more encouragingly dynamic…

You never really know when you’re experiencing history in the making. It was early in March 1973 when we were invited to Portaferry, along the east side of the Narrows going into Strangford Lough, on a Saturday morning. The idea…

Following the success of the Ruffian 23 50th anniversary celebrations in Portaferry in June, the next major event in the Ruffian Golden Jubilee calendar was the All Ireland Team Racing Championship hosted by Mayo Sailing Club on Saturday and Sunday,…

Two second places in the final races of the 2023 Ruffian 23 National Championships at the National Yacht Club handed overall victory to Stephen Penney's Hot Orange from Carrickfergus Sailing Club on Belfast Lough. Royal St. George's Shannagh (S. Gill & P. MacDiarmada)…

After five races sailed at a breezy Ruffian 23 National Championships at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, Carrickfergus Sailing Club's Stephen Penney leads the fleet counting three race wins on his scoresheet. The Belfast Lough 'Hot Orange' crew are two points clear of Royal St.…

Frank Bradley's Ripples from the DMYC had seven results in the top two to take the Ruffian 23 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta prize on Sunday afternoon. Bradley had three race wins on his scoresheet to be five points clear of clubmate…

Friday’s post-sailing festivities at the Ruffian 23 Golden Jubilee on Strangford Lough kicked off with an evening with the Brown family, Michael Cutliffe, and Weatherly Yachts craftsmen. Michael Cutliffe gave a short presentation on the history of the Ruffian 23s…

The Ruffian 23s are congregating in Portaferry on Strangford Lough to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Irish-designed and built one-design class this weekend.  As Afloat reported earlier, Heather Kennedy, the late boat designer Billy Brown’s daughter, is one of the…

Shipbuilding was a major industry in Portaferry on Strangford Lough in the 1800s. Jump forward until 1973 when the Ruffian 23 was designed by the late William P Brown in 1972/73 and primarily built by his brother, the late Dickie…

First staged in 1904, Howth YC’s annual Lambay Race claims to be unique in offering keelboats of all types a taste of the offshore racing experience while remaining within safe coastal limits. It could be argued that the race round…

Time was in sailing when the Golden Jubilee of any One Design Class was a matter of extra-special celebration. But it’s now more than fifty years since glassfibre construction became mainstream. Thus instead of fleets dominated by timber boats which…