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.
50th Fastnet Race on Saturday July 22nd 2023 Will Remind Us Of Vintage Racer Brynoth’s Unique Success In Golden Jubilee Race
15th July 2023 W M Nixon
It is arguably the greatest on-water fleet organisation in world sailing. In a week’s time, the 450 or so boats in the 50th staging of the 695-mile Rolex Fastnet Race will be sent on their way from Cowes in a…
Conor O’Brien Two Year Saoirse Circumnavigation Centenary Celebration Now Well Under Way
11th July 2023 Conor O'Brien
A hundred years ago on this day, Conor O’Brien of Limerick’s 42ft own-designed ketch - newly-built by Tom Moynihan of Baltimore with some of the West Cork shipwright’s small but very effective hull shape improvements - was well into a…
The Elan marque maintained a primary placing to the end, with Johnny Philips Elan 33 Playtime (NYC) making a thing of it in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Non-Spinnaker 1 with nothing but firsts after taking his discard on his single…
Southworth Has It Hung, Drawn, And Quarter-Tonned in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Cruisers 3
9th July 2023 DL Regatta: Cr 3
Quarter Tonning is up in lights these days, and Dublin Bay had an illuminating intro to it in its hottest form with the Hamble River’s Ian Southworth in Protis happily discarding a 9th from the harsh first race of Volvo Dun…
Royal Irish's Rockabill VI Has Closure On Class 0 Title at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023
9th July 2023 DL Regatta: Cr 0
The final two-race day of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 went through with increasing speed as slowly brightening skies were matched by a steadily rising southerly - a sou’easter to seaward of the harbour, but distinct overtones of a sou’wester…
Royal Cork's Swuzzlebubble Has It Almost Entirely Her Own Way In Cruisers 2 of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
9th July 2023 DL Regatta: Cr 2
The ultra-veteran Farr Classic Half-Tonner Swuzzlebubble from Crosshaven (James Dwyer, Royal Cork YC) had the turbo boost of Olympian and World Dragon Champion Andy Beadsworth in the cockpit to help continue a string of firsts into the final day of…
With thirty offshore miles to race and the finishers ranging in size from 30ft to 50ft, it was no surprise that the finish times between the Dun Laoghaire pierheads for the Offshore Class were spread over an hour in Saturday's Volvo…
Cruisers 1 Cools Down After Red-Hot Racing at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023
9th July 2023 Volvo Regatta
With its formidable lineup of J/109s inter-mingled with the RC35 group, this IRC 1 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta class was Hotstown-plus. Yet the John Minnis team with the super-souped A35 Final Call II (RUYC) emerged out of sight ahead, on…
Vintage boats of the Elan marque have been making themselves so comfortable at the front of Non-Spinnaker IRC1 of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta that they had seemed to be taking an "After you" approach to the leading places, but this…
The Dwyers Of Crosshaven Just Keep Bubbling Along In IRC2 of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
8th July 2023 DL Regatta: Cr 2
The quirky Classic Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble (James Dwyer, RCYC) may have found the ferocity of the winds in Friday's early races not quite to her taste, but with Olympian Andy Beadsworth on the mainsheet, she was flying today, winning everything…
Cruisers Zero Set The Pace For Super Saturday at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
8th July 2023 DL Regatta: Cr 0
It was Super Saturday on Dublin Bay for VDLR23 Day 3, with brisk but very manageable sailing conditions matched by a brisk throughput of three races by the Race Teams, setting up everything nicely on track for two intense races…
Some decidedly rugged racing yesterday (Friday), though with rapidly improving conditions, managed brilliantly to pull the wind-battered VDLR-23 back into line. But there’s no doubting the fact that it is all being achieved with weather that is a little bit…
Gran Senor Tops Offshore Fleet in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's First Race
7th July 2023 DL Regatta: Coastal
Scotland's leading offshore skipper Jonathan Anderson seems to have gone native in Dun Laoghaire, as he registers himself and his J/122 El Gran Senor as racing for the Royal Irish YC in the crack Offshore Class of the 2023 Volvo…
Royal Irish's Rockabill VI is Rocking It In Class 0 of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
7th July 2023 DL Regatta: Cr 0
You'll sometimes hear complaints that the impressive JPK range from France are marginally under-canvassed boats, but what's not to like about that when racing on Friday's slowly easing rough and tumble? Paul O'Higgin's well-proven JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI (RIYC) took…
Royal Cork Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble Finds Mojo in IRC Two of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
7th July 2023 DL Regatta: Cr 2
The tough first race of IRC Two at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta saw the rugged veteran X-302 Dux (Gore-Grimes family, HYC) loving it, but as things settled down a bit, Olympian Andy Beadsworth in James Dwyer's legendary Half Tonner c (Royal…
Howth Seventeens Quasquicentennial Celebration Finds Summer At Fastnet and Cape Clear
4th July 2023 Howth 17
In Ireland last week as June drew to a close, the month’s exceptionally high temperatures were already becoming a memory, while the winds were raw along the west coast. Yet in far Southwest Cork and particularly out at Cape Clear,…
Carrigaholt's Shannon Estuary Festival to Celebrate Links of Sea and Land
4th July 2023 Shannon Estuary
The naturally-sheltered and historic little port of Carrigaholt on the south shore of the Loop Head peninsula in far southwest County Clare is where sea and land and the outer Shannon Estuary colourfully interact to provide a unique sense and…
A week of maritime-related festivity is underway today (Saturday) as Coastival gets going in Dun Laoghaire, with the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta from next Thursday through to Sunday contributing mightily to a peak of dynamic interaction between town entertainment and…
In the buildup to the Centenary of Conor O'Brien's significant arrival with Saoirse at Funchal in Madeira next Monday (July 3rd), the restored 1926-vintage O'Brien-designed 56ft trading ketch Ilen, under the command of James Lyons of the Sailing Into Wellness…
The Howth 17s, on their Quasquicentennial (125th Anniversary) Cruise-in-Company in West Cork, are on target with their arrival this afternoon (Tuesday) from Schull at their furthest west port of Crookhaven. There, it was discovered that Billy O'Sullivan, second generation host…
