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.
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…
Howth’s Time Capsules Celebrating Their 125th Anniversary In Baltimore And Among Carbury’s Hundred Isles
25th June 2023 Howth 17
During this past week, competitors in the Simply Blue Sovereign’s Cup at Kinsale have been sailing at a venue much of which is a time capsule of the picturesque town attached to a naval base of the 1700s. Today (Sunday),…
Kinsale’s Simply Blue Sovereign’s Cup Regatta Can Sparkle As Sailing Stars Shine
24th June 2023 W M Nixon
Although Friday’s racing was cancelled in the face of heavy winds and the strong possibility of fog in a notably unstable weather phase, it has otherwise been Camelot in Kinsale for the Simple Blue Sovereigns Cup 2023. Any serious rain…
Irish sailing has lost one of its best international friends and loyal supporters with the death at the age of 93 of Piet Vroon, who was the very epitome of the reality that in The Netherlands, we find Europe's leading…
Kinsale Yacht Club's Simply Blue Sovereign's Cup Series On Target For Sport And Socialising
21st June 2023 Sovereign's Cup
Kinsale Yacht Club's popular biennial Sovereign's Cup series is up and running today (Wednesday, June 21st), on target with 90 entries, and the rock stars of the re-born 1720 Sportsbat Class coming up with a fleet of 25 super-hot boats…
Conor O’Brien Honoured With Ilen Dun Laoghaire Celebration For Saoirse Circumnavigation Centenary
18th June 2023 Ilen
The Commemoration of the Centenary of the pioneering global circumnavigation south of the Great Capes by Conor O’Brien of Foynes, sailing the 42ft ketch Saoirse between June 20th 1923 and June 20th 1925, was put underway yesterday (Saturday) from Dun…
Conor O'Brien’s Saoirse Departure Centenary Underlines Dun Laoghaire’s Central Role
17th June 2023 W M Nixon
A hundred years ago next Tuesday, June 20th, Conor O'Brien (1880-1952) of Foynes took his departure with some fanfare aboard his 42ft Saoirse from the harbour her skipper preferred to call Dunleary, though most of its citizens saw it as…
Dublin Bay’s Definitive One Designs Provide Ideal Projects For International Boat-Building Schools
13th June 2023 Historic Boats
The recent spell of hyper-sunny weather was a reminder of the time we stumbled upon the “lost” Dublin Bay 24 Zephyra while searching for shade to walk our little dog around the back of a castle in Mayo. The elegant…
Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 – An Entire Saga Of Sailing In Just Twenty-Six Hours
9th June 2023 Dun Laoghaire Dingle
It was that noted offshore yachtsman and rail travel enthusiast Vladimir Ilyich Lenin who observed that ten years can go past with no significant history occurring at all, and then suddenly ten years of hectic history can happen in just…
Volvo Dun Laoghaire-Dingle Race: Privateer’s Crew Necks Are Safe For Another Day
8th June 2023 Dun Laoghaire Dingle
D2D Thursday, 7 pm - In the golden olden days, when the legendary Fingal privateer skippers like Luke Ryan of Rogerstown or James Mathews of Rush went forth on their remarkably fine ships in officially licensed pursuit of enemy bullion and…
D2D Thursday, 4 pm - The majestic monastic rock of Skellig Michael may be the austere epitome of a rugged and solitary Atlantic outpost, but this final turning point of the 270-mile Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 has…
