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.
Launch of New Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300 by MGM Boats Will Make Irish Sailing Fun Again
6th March 2020 W M Nixon
We were having one of those brainstorming discussions the other day about how best to promote sailing in Ireland, when some still small voice suggested that we were going at the challenge entirely the wrong way. We were thinking in…
Howth and its peninsula have been actively interacting with the sea since recorded history began, and instances of Howth children being taken sailing date back at least to the famous visit of Connacht’s sea queen Granuaille to Howth in the…
Keeping Ireland’s Sailing & Boating Communities in Good Health is Always Work in Progress
28th February 2020 W M Nixon
This weekend two years ago, Storm Emma was sweeping Ireland, with onshore hurricane-force winds attacking much of the East Coast and wrecking a shed on Howth’s East Pier where, for decades, boats of the 1898-founded Howth Seventeen Foot class had…
You’d like the absolute one hundred per cent top-level insider information on what gives with the approaching Storm Jorge? Well, unless things conspire to such total destructiveness that she has to be at her command post 24/7 as Jorge sweeps…
The death of Roy Dickson of Sutton and Howth at the age of 87 takes from among us one of the most multi-talented people in sailing, a man whose 75-year career of innovation and success afloat had started as a…
We regret to announce the death a the age of 87 of Roy Dickson of Howth and Sutton, a former Commodore of both Sutton DC and Kilbarrack SC, and a renowned dinghy racer and offshore sailor who was a pioneer…
The Irish Cruising Club celebrated the completion of its successful 90th year at its Annual General Meeting in the Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire last night and saw a significant change of the watch with Stanton Adair of Belfast…
The further west you go in Ireland, the warmer is the hospitality. So despite the current ferocious weather and the fact that Clifden in Connemara is well out into Ireland’s Atlantic frontier, the mood will be friendly and warm in…
The Limerick ketch Ilen has received the ultimate accolade among classic and traditional boat restorations by being chosen as the cover star for the March/April 2020 issue of WoodenBoat, the American magazine which deservedly has a global reach and reputation…
Irish Sailing’s Cruising Conference at National Yacht Club Provides Inspiring Visions of Far Horizons
16th February 2020 Cruising
The annual Irish Sailing Cruising Conference attracted a capacity attendance of a hundred enthusiasts to the hospitable National Yacht Club on Saturday, with an excellent and sustaining club lunch at mid-conference to provide further energy for a very busy programme,…
With the Silver Jubilee of their leading Dun Laoghaire boat agency, brokerage, dealership and boatyard only two years away, Gerry and Martin Salmon of MGM Boats find themselves in the position of being seen as senior role models in a…
Round Ireland Yacht Race Entries Already Going Big On Size & Variety
12th February 2020 Round Ireland
It may be only mid-February, but entries for the 704-mile 40th Anniversary 21st edition SSE Renewables Round Ireland Yacht Race from Wicklow on June 20th are already on the two dozen mark, and the fleet is remarkable for its variety…
The Strange Story of the Life & Death of Ireland’s Department of the Marine
8th February 2020 W M Nixon
With Storm Ciara battering the country on this General Election day to remind us all of who is really the boss in Ireland during an average February, it’s timely to reflect on the longterm effect of the choices we make…
Sheila Morrison of Howth, who has died aged 92, had a natural talent for sailing. But in her many years, she demonstrated that her greatest gift was as a supportive and loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend who…
This year, with the fresh sponsorship of SSE Renewables, the Round Ireland Race from Wicklow comes of age. The 21st staging of the biennial classic – now an international event, included in the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s programme and an…
Rocco Wright of Howth Takes Silver Again in Another Optimist Mega-Fleet -This Time in Spain
30th January 2020 Optimist
Howth Optimist ace Rocco Wright barely had time to gather breath - other than getting a haircut somewhere along the way - after taking second overall in the 225-boat Optimist fleet in Sail Melbourne 2020 in Australia before he was…
Eve McMahon of Howth Yacht Club, current Gold Medal holder in the Laser Radial U17s World League after success in Canada last summer, has added yet more valuable metal to her collection by emerging as U17 Gold Medal winner in…
Last June, in what was meant to be the mid-summer period, Ireland was experiencing notably unseasonal weather with winds in the northerly sector which were cold - as anyone who took part in the biennial Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race will…
Olympic Silver Medallist Annalise Murphy has shown she has lost none of her spark in Laser Radial racing by taking second overall in the women’s division in the Laser Radials in the major Sail Melbourne 2020 regatta which has concluded…
Kinsale Yacht Club’s “Woman on Water” in Australia Tops the Grade in Secret Men’s Business
21st January 2020 Kinsale
Even by Australia’s sometimes weird boat-naming standards, calling your pride-and-joy Secret Men’s Business is a bit off the wall. Yet there is such a boat – in fact there are two, the second one being a TP52. But the first,…
