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.
Shannon Estuary's Traditional Cutter Sally O'Keeffe Celebrates Ten Years Of Maritime Community Service
5th July 2022 Shannon Estuary
Sally O'Keeffe, the 25ft re-interpretation of the Shannon Estuary's traditional sail-driven cargo-carrying cutters which could usefully find their way into the smallest ports along both sides of the majestic waterway, is this year celebrating ten years of quietly useful service…
June’s Mixed Weather Created Intense Competition For “Sailor of the Month” Awards To Provide Four Winners
2nd July 2022 W M Nixon
With the almost melancholy passing of Mid-Summer’s Day, the sailing season is taking on a different look, a distinctly-changed mood and flavour. For in normal times – if anyone can remember when you could talk of such things – there…
Atlantic-Crossing Book “Long Lost Log” Is A Fascinating Story Within Many Stories
30th June 2022 Book Review
When Michael Chapman Pincher arrived into Howth Yacht Club yesterday for the launch of his sometimes raunchy book The Lost Log, there was a slight shadow clouding his normally sunny visage. The book is about how in 1974 he lost…
Resurgent 1720s Will Celebrate 30th Anniversary At Volvo Cork Week In July With Large Fleet
29th June 2022 Cork Week
When anybody asks how the concept of the Cork 1720 Sportsboat Class first came to see the light of day in Crosshaven in the early 1990s, the response these days tends to be “Which version of the story would you…
Round Ireland Oldest Boat Award Goes To American Classic In Cruising Club of America’s Centenary Year
27th June 2022 Round Ireland
The Cruising Club of America is celebrating its Centenary this year, and while the actual birth date may not fall until September, the Club is already in the midst of a busy special season which saw its recent biennial Newport-Bermuda…
Whatever excitements the Irish J/24 class may have been providing in home waters this past weekend, the current all-Ireland Champions (in every sense) with the not-inappropriately-named Headcase have succeeded brilliantly in keeping their heads above water and their noses in…
Round Ireland Detail Results As Sailing in Ireland heads For High Stool Days
25th June 2022 W M Nixon
We can only be wishing this morning that the traditional-type low pressure areas which march across the Atlantic from New England towards Old Ireland could take aboard some of the strict Sabbatarianism of the regions they’re passing through in their…
Round Ireland - the Race that Breaks Boats In The West, and Hearts In The East
24th June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race Day Six (Thursday) 1700 hrs - In the end, it was just about two miles of the Wicklow coast that did for them. Mike and Richie Evans with the J/99 Snapshot knew they’d to be at the finish…
Final Battle Today In The Context For Supreme Position of IRC Overall Winner in Round Ireland Race at Wicklow
23rd June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race Day Six (Thursday) 0900 hrs - Although the Swiss Cookson 50 Kuka 3 and the Volvo 70 Green Dragon took first and second in the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race 2022 in full daylight yesterday evening, an entire…
Round Ireland Race Day Five (Wednesday) 1830 hrs - The Cookson 50 Kuka3 (Franco Niggeler, Switzerland) took line honours in the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race 2022 at 18:09 hrs this evening off the Wicklow pierhead, after closing in on the…
Round Ireland Race 2022 Tests Crews’ Patience and Persistence As They Struggle Towards The Finish
22nd June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race Day Five (Wednesday) 1500 hrs - Time was when most crews thought they’d had a crisp and efficient Round Ireland Race if they were finished by the Thursday evening. But George David’s sensational circuit with Rambler 88 in…
SSL Renewables Round Ireland Race Should See Kuka3 Take Line Honours At Wicklow In Late Morning
22nd June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race Day Five (Wednesday) 0800 hrs - Despite the continuing prospect of light north to northeast winds, this morning’s south-going ebb tide off the Wicklow coast should speed up the progress of the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race from…
Tides and Times of North Channel are Dictating the Current State of the Round Ireland Race
21st June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race Day four (Tuesday) 2100 With the tides of the North Channel running favourably southwards for the Round Ireland fleet from around 16:30hrs today, the state of play for the leaders in the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race…
Tidal Gates of Northern Coasts are Now Dominant as Kuka3 and Rockabill VI Hold Round Ireland on-Water and Handicap Leads
21st June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race Day Four (Tuesday) 0830 hours: When the on-water leader, the Swiss Cookson 50 Kuka3 (Franco Niggeler), came past Rathlin Island at 03:00 hrs this morning, her crew knew that they had barely two hours of tide still…
Approach of Welcome Westerly Tested Positioning Skills of Round Ireland Racers, With Overall Lead Now Battled Between Five Boats
20th June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race Day Three (Monday) 2000 hrs - As the overnight northerly morphed unevenly into the new breeze from the west today with the fleet strung out between the latitudes of Kerry and the Aran Island, the tacticians in…
Nieulargo, Rockabill VI and Snapshot Move into Overall CT Lead in Round Ireland Race as Winds Start to Change off West Coast
20th June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race day three (Monday) 0830 - The northerly winds have been easing through the night as the bulk of the fleet in the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race make varying rates of progress northwards off the coast of North…
Will Kuka3 Maintain her Round Ireland Pace and Place as the Winds Turn Light?
19th June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Day Two 2030 hrs - At 06:30 this morning, came sweeping past the Fastnet Rock, and hardened sheets for the long and rugged slug to windward up the coasts of West Cork and Kerry, fired up to maintain her…
Kinsale's Cinnamon Girl Takes Round Ireland Handicap Lead as Kuka 3 Retains Lead on Water as Fleet Face The Kerry Windward Test
19th June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race Day Two (Sunday) 1300hrs - The majestic coast of West Kerry is a tumbling undulation of unexpected peaks and sudden steep cliffs, a seaboard for heroes. And when the wind is fresh to strong or worse from the…
Tough Windward work in Prospect on West Coast for Round Ireland Fleet After Leaders Have Swift Progress to Fastnet Rock
19th June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race Day 2 (Sunday) 0900 - Conditions have been ideal for swift and steady progress by the fleet in the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race since they cleared Wicklow Head and passed Arklow. An area of light breezes off…
Breeze — Or Lack of It — Will Prove a Challenge as 2022 Round Ireland Race Gets Under Way (Photo Gallery)
18th June 2022 Round Ireland
Round Ireland Race Race Start: The Swiss Cookson 50 Kuka 3, the Howth-based Grand Soleil 44 Samatom and the Italian Class 40 Influence had the best of today’s spinnaker start in the 21st SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race off Wicklow in…
