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.
The 1926-built 56ft Conor O’Brien trading ketch Ilen of Limerick has had an exceptionally busy first season in 2019 in her restored condition as achieved by the Ilen Boat-Building School of Limerick, and Liam Hegarty’s Oldcourt Boatyard in West Cork.…
“If the wind holds up you can live with the rain” was one stoical comment after Saturday’s increasingly brisk fifth contest in the Beshoff Motors Howth Autumn League on Saturday afternoon. But there was no escaping the fact that by…
Only in Ireland Could the Supreme Sailing Championship Produce Such Diverse Contenders
4th October 2019 W M Nixon
Only in Ireland could it be like this. We hear that of many things in this curious island of ours. But the varying sailing, location and personal backgrounds of the sixteen helmspersons competing in this weekend’s All-Ireland Helmsmans Championship at…
The New Dun Laoghaire? Could Restored Classic Marguerite Point the Way Towards a Reimagined Harbour?
3rd October 2019 Dun Laoghaire Harbour News
Anyone sailing in Dun Laoghaire on one of those gentler days which have occasionally punctuated this Autumn’s meteorological extremities could have been forgiven if they thought they were seeing a ghost writes W M Nixon. White of hull – very…
Lorenzo Looms Large, But Ireland’s Weekend Sailing Programme was Fulfilled
30th September 2019 Racing
We may all be thinking Hurricane Lorenzo as we look towards later this week writes W M Nixon. But in looking back at the underlying themes of the weather forecasts as the weekend’s busy programmes at places as diverse as…
All Ireland Sailing Trophy Provides Key to Mysteries of Irish Sailing History
27th September 2019 W M Nixon
The Champion of our Sailing Champions? Ireland first ran with the idea 72 years ago. And while other countries have since come up with their own versions with varying levels of success which have sometimes reduced annually until fading away,…
Get yourself a sponsorship partner of intriguing Russian descent, and you can hardly be surprised that an element of Russian Roulette enters the staging of your annual Autumn League writes W M Nixon. With the presence of hurricanes past and…
As each year passes, it becomes increasingly difficult to explain to up-and-coming offshore racers just what “The Doyler and The Duster” meant to a whole generation of Irish sailors writes W M Nixon. Crosshaven-built in 1981 and kitted out with…
Kilrush on the Shannon Estuary Shows the Way for Dun Laoghaire – Again
20th September 2019 W M Nixon
In 1828, when the recently re-named and still only semi-finished harbour of Kingstown on Dublin Bay staged its first regatta, it certainly gave an indication of the transformed place’s potential for waterborne sport. Yet it was not until 1831 that…
Strength in Numbers - Cruising Association Lifts the Liffey Bridges in Once-a-Year Display
18th September 2019 Cruising
John Leahy, Honorary Secretary Cruising Association of Ireland, reports on this year’s "Three Bridges Liffey Cruise" The Cruising Association of Ireland’s “Three Bridges Liffey” cruise is an annual end of season mini social cruise which attracts a large number of…
American AC Challengers Give Master-Class in Use of Foils & Breaking of Champagne Bottles
16th September 2019 America's Cup
The New York Yacht Club have been having a busy time of it up at their Newport, Rhode Island summer base, what with running the intense International Invitational Series in which Ireland’s Anthony O’Leary took Bronze for Royal Cork, and…
Beshoff Motors Autumn League in Howth Finally Brings Proper Summer to the East Coast
15th September 2019 Howth YC
Bright sunshine, a good but warm sailing breeze, and summer temperatures which lasted well into the evening made Saturday’s opening of the 38th annual Autumn League at Howth Yacht Club – partnered this year by specialist car importers Beshoff Motors…
Howth Yacht Club has a fresh buzz to it these days, an electrical charge which - if they could somehow package, market and sell it at its true value - would surely provide a handy addition to club revenues. But…
Limerick Ketch Ilen’s 'Salmon's Wake' Voyage to Greenland Provided Research from High Latitudes
12th September 2019 Ilen
This past summer’s successful Salmon’s Wake voyage by Limerick’s 56t traditional ketch Ilen to Greenland worked productively in many ways in high mountains, on the sea, and in ports where the crew interacted with Greenlanders on several cultural programmes. But…
Drascombes Disappear into Ireland’s Most Meandering Inland Waterway
11th September 2019 Inland Waterways
What is the most meandering bit of waterway in all Ireland? Obviously it would be a river. And surely it would have to be a river trying to get across a very large area of flat country where, over the…
New Irish-Designed Boat in Use as Royal Cork & New York Go Together like Baby & Stork……
10th September 2019 Royal Cork YC
Although the New York Yacht Club was founded as “recently” as 1844, it’s regarded in the senior yacht club in the USA, as is the Royal Cork in Ireland - and the world too, come to that, with the RCYC’s…
Grace O’Malley was Busy when She Voyaged from Clew Bay to the Thames for Parlay with Queen Elizabeth
9th September 2019 Offshore
When the great sea warrior queen Granuaile of Mayo voyaged from Clew Bay to parlay with the then all-powerful Queen Elizabeth I in London, there was even more to it than was hinted at by Clew Bay Figaro sailor Joan…
Dun Laoghaire Town & Its Harbour Users: Must it Be a Continuing State of Mutual Incomprehension?
6th September 2019 Dun Laoghaire Harbour News
Mark Twain used to say that you should never get into a row with anyone who buys ink by the barrel. But last weekend The Irish Times, our national Paper of Record, ran a Weekend Review feature about the problematical…
This week’s attempt by the Monaco-based Malizia II to set up a Transatlantic west-east record time for a fully-crewed IMOCA 60 with two Irish – Shane Diviney and Brian Carlin – in the crew of five, has been knocked off…
The Limerick ketch Ilen returned safely from Greenland to berth at an Irish quayside for the first time in more than two months when, at 0400hrs this morning, skipper Paddy Barry and his crew brought the 56ft 1926-built “little ship”…
