Afloat – Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
Royal St. George Yacht Club Higgins Brothers are Crowned 2024 Irish Match Racing Champions at Dun Laoghaire
12th May 2024 Match Racing
Royal St. George Yacht Club trio Tom, Henry and Jack Higgins were crowned 2024 Irish Match Racing Champions after eight teams competed over two days in the National Yacht Club's Elliott 6m sportsboat fleet in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Waterford Harbour match racer…
UNESCO world heritage site Skellig Michael ( Sceilg Mhichíl) has opened to visitors for the 2024 season. Access to the monastic site off the Kerry coast is dependent on favourable weather, sea, and island conditions, the Office of Public Works…
Artemis Racing emerged victorious at the 44Cup Baiona, held at the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona (MRCYB) in Galicia, after winning five out of nine races. The second event of the 2024 44Cup concluded on Sunday, after a…
Flotilla Gathers for Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club's 'Blessing of Boats' Ceremony on Dublin's River Liffey
12th May 2024 Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club
Up to 30 yachts and motorboats joined the annual Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club parade of sailing down the River Liffey and out into Dublin Bay on Sunday afternoon, a tribute to deceased members of the Dublin City club. The…
Waterways Ireland advises all masters of vessels on the Grand Canal that the 14th Lock at Devonshire Bridge in Co Kildare has been closed with immediate effect. Navigation through the lock is not possible at this time. Further notices in…
Waterways Ireland advises masters and owners of vessels on the Shannon Navigation that water levels in all areas north of Lough Ree are now at Ordinary Summer Level. Water levels on the Shannon Navigation south of Lough Ree are approaching…
UK Government Receives Another Wake-Up Call From Inland Waterways Campaigners
12th May 2024 Inland Waterways
Campaign group Fund Britain’s Waterways has returned to Westminster to deliver a loud and clear message for funding to safeguard the future of the country’s canals and river navigations. The 20-strong flotilla on Wednesday (8 May) was a spectacle for…
Dickson and Waddilove Secure Their Paris 2024 Spot as Guilfoyle and Durcan Are Denied Chance to Close the Gap
12th May 2024 Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing
Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove have emerged best of the two Irish contenders to compete in the men’s skiff event at Paris 2024 this summer. The Dublin crew — from Howth Yacht Club and Skerries Sailing Club respectively — qualified…
The body of a 44-foot long endangered sei whale was found on the bow of a cruise ship as it approached New York last weekend. As CBS news reports, the carcass was discovered as the ship neared the Brooklyn Cruise…
The Shanahan family J109, Ruth, of the National Yacht Club, pulled off a late-race victory in Saturday's marathon ISORA race from Dun Laoghaire to Pwhelli in North Wales. The win is a significant result in one of the biggest ISORA…
Galway RNLI’s volunteer crew were requested to launch by the Irish Coast Guard shortly before 4pm on Friday afternoon (10 May) following a call by a member of the public reporting four people on Hare Island cut off by the…
Carrigaline Choral Group Joins Royal Cork Yacht Club at Sunrise in Cork Harbour to Support Pieta's Annual 'Darkness into Light' Fundraiser
11th May 2024 Royal Cork YC
On Saturday morning, the Carrigaline Choral Group participated in the annual Darkness into Light national fundraiser with the Royal Cork Yacht Club. Up to 30 pleasure crafts sailed out into Cork Harbour before sunrise to support the charity Pieta, which…
The excitement is building as the start of the Volvo Cork Week 2024 regatta approaches. With the event scheduled to begin on Monday, July 15th, the Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC) organisers say the club is buzzing with preparations for…
Italy’s Ambrogio Beccaria on his all-Italian designed and built Musa 40 Alla Grande Pirelli added the hugely prestigious Transat CIC Class 40 title to his steadily growing collection of solo and short handed ocean racing honours this morning when he…
In Eighth Overall, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove Have One Hand on Paris Olympic Berth at 49er Europeans
11th May 2024 Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing
With one last gold fleet race of the 49er European Championships in La Grande Motte, France, scheduled on Sunday morning before the medal race decider in the afternoon, Ireland's Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove of Howth and Skerries aren’t counting their…
Dublin Bay Sailing Club's third AIB Saturday race of the 2024 season was sailed on May 11th in light to medium south-easterly winds on a hazy Dublin Bay. No results were posted in IRC Zero, as the first ISORA Cross-channel…
While a strong solar storm is producing spectacular displays of Northern lights over Ireland, large numbers of basking sharks have been sighted in waters off the south and south-west coasts. “We have seen 60, 70, and even 80 basking sharks…
Eels in a park pond? About 150 eels were found during de-silting work in the ponds in the 37-acre Ward Park in the centre of Bangor on Belfast Lough. That’s about 5,000 km from their spawning area, the Sargasso Sea…
Fish, Chips, Seaweed and More Marine Topics at Pint of Science Festival
11th May 2024 Marine Science
Fish and chips and biodiversity, how seaweed can be a medicine, and Ireland’s underwater forests are among marine topics which will be discussed at the “Pint of Science” global science festival opening next week. The three-day event opens in 11…
When it was announced that the three-day Howth Wave Regatta 2024 would be in the last full May weekend of Friday 24th to Sunday 26th, there was a certain thoughtful sucking of the molars among the waterfront pundits. For this…