WM Nixon
William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.
Tom Dolan of Ireland had his hectic first year on the Figaro circuit during 2018 celebrated at the Paris International Boat Show over the weekend when he was on the podium for the National Championship Offshore awards writes W M…
Maybe it’s the fact that the days start to get longer again in only a fortnight, but there’s mood of rising optimism in Irish sailing these days writes W M Nixon. There’s an almost measurable buzz in the air which…
The Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association has a long and varied history extending back to the 1930s writes W M Nixon. For although ISORA, as we know it today, was inaugurated as recently as 1972, it is directly descended from…
Conor Byrne remembers his best sailing in Ireland as being in Mermaids at his home port of Skerries writes W M Nixon. But for some time now he has been in the most tropical part of Australia in Darwin, and…
On most coastlines in the world, you’ll invariably hear of some challenging nearby headland being referred to as “the local Cape Horn” writes W M Nixon No other promontory worldwide has the same global image. It tells us much about…
Balbriggan Harbour Area Redevelopment Offers Potential for Old Town with Young Population
27th November 2018 Coastal Notes
When you’ve an ancient port town which happens to have the youngest population in all Ireland, clearly you face problems when the local authority proposes plans to upgrade the old harbour area to bring it more in line with the…
Historic Ketch Ilen’s Helmsmen Get Top Class Instruction Among Limerick’s Metallic Moving Mountains
23rd November 2018 W M Nixon
Down Limerick way, somebody is probably already putting together an appropriate song about how the historic sail trading ketch Ilen was saved from the scrapyard through a heroic decade-long restoration programme by Limerick’s Ilen Project, only to spend her first…
The keen November sailors of Crosshaven, Dun Laoghaire, Howth and Bangor weren’t the only ones to get a bonus afloat from the weekend’s almost freakish sunshine before the first real hints of winter arrived today writes W M Nixon. The…
How Will an Irish Olympic Two-Person Offshore Campaign for France 2024 take shape?
12th January 2019 W M Nixon
A woman. A man. Three days and two nights together at sea. Racing in a cramped 30ft boat. Under 24-hour surveillance. It sounds like the latest pitch for a Reality TV show. Arguably, it is. But it’s also the new…
When we’d flash floods pestering the country recently with wayward downpours, Gary MacMahon went to check out the beloved Ilen in Limerick docks, and found the old girl sitting serenely under her own private rainbow writes W M Nixon But…
Donal Lynch’s remarkable life was a series of successful and interconnecting phases writes W M Nixon. His engaging presence is now gone from among us at the age of 81, and he is very much missed. Yet so much of…
2018’s Sailors of the Month - The Human Face of Exceptional Irish Sailing Achievements
3rd November 2018 W M Nixon
As we begin to contemplate a 24th year for the Afloat.ie/Irish Sailing “Sailors of the Month” assessments in 2019, it’s time and more for a look back to the people and the achievements which defined our top performers in and…
Restored Ketch Ilen Finds That The O’Briens Retain Their Special Fondness for Foynes Island
31st October 2018 Ilen
Foynes Island in the Shannon Estuary exerts an almost supernatural attraction for the O’Brien family writes W M Nixon. The great circumnavigator Conor O’Brien always regarded it as his one and only true home. And though his voyagings and other…
Dingle Maritime Weekend to Feature Ted Creedon on 3rd & 4th November
29th October 2018 Maritime Festivals
Dingle Maritime Weekend, an annual event jointly organised by Kevin Flannery of the town’s renowned Oceanworld, and former Harbour Master Captain Brian Farrell (he played a key role in the establishment of the biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in…
Everyone Welcome to Limerick Party to Celebrate Restoration of Sail Trader Ilen
27th October 2018 Ilen
The return of the restored trading ketch Ilen to Limerick after 92 years has been a matter of quiet celebration among all involved since the 56ft “small tall ship" sailed up the Shannon Estuary from Baltimore at the beginning of…
Ireland’s Sailing Prospects for 2019 – Constantly Changing to Stay The Same
26th October 2018 W M Nixon
“For everything to stay the same, everything must change….” It’s an enduring and profound thought from the classic Italian novel The Leopard. And it applies to Irish sailing at least much as it does to most other aspects of Irish…
The recent totally carbon-free delivery of six tons of Irish craft beer from Cork to France makes for a positive response to those who are concerned by the adverse effects of industrially-induced climate change, and the possible interruptions to trade…
Howth Yacht Club’s KBC Bank Autumn League Carries Summer into Autumn with Style
21st October 2018 Howth YC
The six Saturdays of the KBC Bank Autumn League at Howth Yacht Club experienced some days so perfect that by the time it concluded with the mother of all festive prize-givings last night, everyone had forgotten that somewhere in the…
Anyone who claims to comprehend every nuance of Ireland’s sailing story during 2018 is living in a state of happy delusion writes W M Nixon. For sure, much that happened followed the set path of the annual programme at home…
Historic Ketch Ilen Finds Secure Winter Berth in Workaday Setting of Limerick Docks
16th October 2018 Ilen
The restored 1926-built 56ft ketch Ilen proudly tells us on her transom that her home port is Limerick writes W M Nixon. And while Limerick may have come to prominence as a raiding base and trading centre for the Vikings…
