The latest news from Scottish and Northern Irish waters produced by Yachting Life & Afloat.
Belfast Lough's Connection with the Round Ireland Yacht Race
20 February 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Bangor has more of a link to the prestigious SSE Renewables Round Ireland Yacht Race than is at first obvious writes Betty Armstrong. This year Royal Ulster Yacht Club looks forward to tracking the progress of father and son duo,…
Council Pours Cold Water On Carp Anglers’ Demands For Loughgall Lake
17 February 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Plans by Armagh’s council to restock Loughgall Lake with £12,000 worth of carp have been deemed insufficient by local anglers. According to ArmaghI, the Loughgall Carp Anglers group believes night angling catch rates would rise — and its membership would…
Belfast Harbour Submits Planning Application For Major Film Studios Expansion
17 February 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Belfast Harbour has submitted a planning application for the development of six new purpose-built film and television studios at its existing Giant’s Park site. The harbour company says the plans represent an investment of £45m and will generate 250 construction…
East of the City of Derry on the River Foyle are the Foyle Bridge and Culmore Point and it is here on the northern banks of the river that the Eden Project Foyle will be located. The project, developed by…
Royal Irish's Saskia Tidey & Charlotte Dobson Narrowly Miss 49erFX World Title
15 February 2020 Scottish Waters
It was so close yet so far for Scottish-Irish combination Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey who narrowly missed out on winning the World 49erFX championships in Australia today. The pair, who have qualified for Team GB's Tokyo team, had a…
Royal St George Yacht Club's Frank O'Beirne won the Irish Cruising Club's (ICC) Perry Greer Bowl for the 'Best First ICC Log' that describes a cruise from Dun Laoghaire to the Hebrides last Summer, a voyage that has provided the…
British Marine Spring Expo 2020 Closes With Vision of a Thriving Industry
13 February 2020 Scottish Waters
The British Marine Spring Expo 2020 drew to a close last week (5 February) having invigorated the UK industry with an ambitious vision of the future and delivered the valuable platform for learning, networking and business to kick start it…
Bangor Town Regatta entry is now open and it’s the Sigma 33s who lead the way with five entries already for the June event writes Betty Armstrong. With Charles Hurst Jaguar Land Rover as headline sponsors, the event incorporates the…
In the women’s 49erFX World Championships at Geelong, Australia, the Royal Irish Yacht Club's Saskia Tidey from Dun Laoghaire sailing with Charlotte Dobson keeping up their winning moves to be lead boat as the top 25 teams also split off to gold…
Charlotte Dobson teamed with Dublin Bay's Saskia Tidey (who will sail for GBR in Tokyo) won World Championship races one and two in the FXs in Geelong, Australia today then just bailed out of the top 10 to finish fifth…
Among the craft in Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough who have made it their home since it opened thirty years ago, are the rowing boats belonging to the Bangor Sea Cadet Unit, T S Decoy. Their shore base is an…
A new grassroots initiative hopes to consolidate dinghy sailing in Scotland and put it back on the map. Growing out of a Facebook group for Scotland’s dinghy sailing community, the Scottish Dinghy Sailing Development Group first met in December and…
Lerwick Lifeboat Guild Fundraising Volunteer Steps Down After 38 Years
10 February 2020 Scottish Waters
Bella Irvine has retired from the Lerwick Ladies Lifeboat Guild after 38 years service, since first volunteering for the Shetland Islands RNLI unit in 1982. At a gathering at RNLI Lerwick lifeboat station to mark the occasion last Tuesday evening…
NI Primary School Pupils Become ‘Salmon Ambassadors’ For Loughs Agency
10 February 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Last week the Loughs Agency visited local primary schools in the Foyle and Carlingford areas as part of the Salmon Ambassadors programme. The programme, which forms part of the legacy of 2019’s International Year of the Salmon, will see the…
It started in August last year when Northern Ireland man Jon Medlow noticed the amount of rubbish floating downstream while kayaking in the River Bann near Portadown. Just a few months later, as BBC News reports, and he’s removed almost…
The volunteer crew of Oban RNLI’s lifeboat Mora Edith MacDonald faced the gale-force conditions of Storm Ciara on two separate callouts yesterday (Sunday 8 February). At 10:14am, HM Coastguard requested an immediate launch following reports of a group of divers…
Although the mystery of how a Goblet inscribed Royal Ulster Yacht Club, dated 1869 and awarded to a Mr Foster Connor, ended up in Melbourne (Read Afloat's earlier report here) has not been resolved, the trophy has been bought by…
RYANI Seeks Expressions Of Interest For 2020 Women On Water Festival
9 February 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
The RYANI is calling on sailing clubs across Northern Ireland to bid to become host of the 2020 Women on Water Festival. Following the success of the first-ever Women on Water Festival at Strangford Lough Yacht Club as part of…
Tobermory Lifeboat In Multi-Agency Operation To Evacuate Injured Fish Farm Worker
6 February 2020 Scottish Waters
Tobermory RNLI’s volunteer crew took part in a multi-agency operation to evacuate an injured man from a local fish farm yesterday morning, Wednesday 5 February. Following the report of a crush injury at the fish farm in the Sound of…
Following the announcement of its first-ever National Agenda, British Marine has today (4 February 2020) launched an ambitious plan to drive its vision of a thriving industry delivering amazing on-water experience for everyone. Unveiled at the British Marine Spring Expo…
Larne Lifeboat Assists Broken Down Motor Boat Near Ballygally
4 February 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Larne RNLI’s volunteers diverted from their crew assessments on Sunday morning (2 February) to assist a person on a nine-metre motor boat which had broken down near Ballygally in Co Antrim. Launching at around 10.15am into a calm sea, the…
Spirited Performance from 49er Duo Ryan Seaton & Séafra Guilfoyle at Oceania Championships
3 February 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Irish Olympic 49er campaigners Ryan Seaton and Séafra Guilfoyle put in a spirited performance in the 74-strong fleet at the 2020 Oceania Championships at Geelong near Melbourne, which ended today. They posted a set of results which included a second,…
The RS Elite Association is pleased to announce Brewin Dolphin as the Headline Sponsor for the Brewin Dolphin RS Elite International Grand Prix, to be held at the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes from 9th to 12th July 2020. The event…
The regeneration of the waterfront in Bangor as detailed on 25th November in Afloat.ie, reached another crucial stage in its progress when the developer Bangor Marine Ltd. submitted a comprehensive planning application for the site at Queen’s Parade and Marine…
The RYANI has congratulated Donaghadee sailor Oisin McClelland on his strong showing at the Hempel World Cup Series in Miami last week. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Finn sailor from Northern Ireland finished fourth, just shy of the podium,…
Storey is 'Mug of the Day' Winner at Ballyholme Pre-Icebreaker Sprint on Belfast Lough
27 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Ballyholme Yacht Club was one of the first to organise winter sailing on Belfast Lough way back in the seventies. It’s called the Icebreaker and in the past, it has indeed at times involved breaking ice on boat cover. The…
At the end of the 500 metre Titanic Walkway which connects the Titanic and Olympic Slipways to the Alexandra Dock in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter, proudly sits The Great Light, a curved glass interpretive structure designed to resemble a lighthouse lantern…
Tobermory RNLI’s deputy second mechanic Tony ‘Kiwi’ Spillane has been announced as World Mince and Tatties Champion for 2020. After the All Blacks' disappointing run in the Rugby World Cup last year, the New Zealander made his home country proud…
Oisin McClelland Stands Fourth Heading Into Finn Medal Race In Miami
25 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Northern Ireland’s Oisin McClelland was off form on Friday (24 January) on Biscayne Bay as two seventh-place finishes saw him slip from the third place he’d held in recent days to fourth overall, heading into the Finn medal race at…
Oisin McClelland Holds Third In Finn Fleet As Light Wind Hampers Hempel World Cup Series In Miami
24 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Northern Ireland’s Oisin McClelland maintains third place in the Finn class at the Hempel World Cup Series in Miami as cold temperatures, wind chill, rain, strong breeze, and more typical South Florida conditions challenged the 182 sailors from 45 nations…
Two very generous cheques was presented from supporters of Portree and Kyle of Lochalsh lifeboat stations in western Scotland last Friday 17 January. Mr Rodger Harvey-Jamieson made the very generous donation of £10,000 cheque from his family to each station…
A cardiac defibrillator has been installed outside Lerwick RNLI’s lifeboat station, to provide essential lifesaving treatment to anyone suffering from a heart attack. The defibrillator is fitted in a highly visible protective cabinet outside the station door next to the…
Oisin McClelland Third In Finn Class Amid Unexpected Miami Conditions At Hempel World Cup Series
23 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
The 182 sailors embraced the challenge of the uncharacteristically cold and blustery conditions in Biscayne Bay on Day 3 of the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Miami yesterday (Wednesday 22 January). The athletes were faced with similar conditions on Tuesday,…
Anglers in the Foyle and Carlingford areas are advised that the Loughs Agency will soon launched an upgraded eLicence website that meets GDPR requirements and includes a number of improvements based on user feedback. When the new site goes live, all…
Scottish Brothers Set Trio Of Records In Transatlantic Rowing Challenge
20 January 2020 Scottish Waters
Three brothers from Scotland have set a trifecta of world records after rowing across the Atlantic Ocean in just over a month. According to BBC News, Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan MacLean are the first three brothers to row any ocean,…
Another Big Night For Contributions To Northern Ireland Sailing At RYANI Annual Awards
20 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Over 150 guests at the RYANI Annual Awards ceremony in Queen’s University Belfast’s prestigious Riddel Hall last Friday (17 January) saw many sailors, instructors, volunteers and coaches receive well-deserved praise for a job well done in 2019, writes Betty Armstrong.…
Giffiths Valuation of Ireland tells us that in the middle of the nineteenth century the sole occupant of Trasnagh Island in Strangford Lough was a John Patton writes Betty Armstrong Now the County Down Spectator reports that for the first…
County Antrim Yacht Club Youth Sailors Win Volunteer Award at RYA NI Awards
18 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Fundraisers at County Antrim Yacht Club won the Young Volunteer of the Year at the RYA Northern Ireland Awards last night in the Queen’s University’s Riddel Hall writes Betty Armstrong. The century-old CAYC, which lies on the north shore of…
East Antrim Boat Club Seeks Final Votes for UK Club of Year Award
16 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
As the final days of voting for the UK's Sailing Club of the Year draw near, and as Northern Ireland's East Antrim Boat Club is for sure the minnow in the competition the Larne club is looking for every single vote available…
Irish Yacht Racing Judge Chris Lindsay for Tokyo Olympic Duty
15 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Irish Sailing National and International Judge Chris Lindsay of Carrickfergus Sailing Club on Belfast Lough has been appointed as an International Technical Official (ITO) for the Tokyo Olympics. Not only will Chris be the only Irish race official in Tokyo,…
Ireland’s Small Tall Ship will Brighten a Winter’s Night in Dublin
14 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Tall Ships and Sail Training? Everyone will immediately think of stately clipper-bowed cathedrals of sail making their elegant and timeless way across the high seas, driven along under acres of square-sailed cloth, spreading the gospel of international fellowship and the…
Citizen Sea: Northern Ireland’s First Boat-Based Environmental Charity
11 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
If you go down the ramp to the pontoons in Bangor Marina you couldn’t miss the impressive vessel sitting to your right. She’s the Seabird, Northern Ireland’s first sea-going boat-based environmental charity known as 'Citizen Sea', supported by Ards and…
New Lough Erne Ferry Provides Important Cargo Transport for Cattle & Equipment
11 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
The traditional Lough Erne Cot is a vessel unique to Upper and Lower Lough Erne and used there for possibly 2000 years. It was popular for transporting goods, people and cattle around the islands in the lakes in County Fermanagh…
Sailing and Cruising NI is RYANI’s newest affiliated body, and over the last two years has established what’s been described as a “one stop shop run by sailors for sailors” in Northern Ireland. In a new interview with RYANI development…
The wife of a Scottish businessman has appealed for help in finding his whereabouts after his yacht was discovered empty during a 5,000-mile solo trip. Colin Finnie (67) was last in contact with his family six days before his 45ft…
The RYA Youth Sailing National Championships will enter an exciting new era in 2020 with the latest Olympic discipline of wind foiling set to make its debut. Windfoiling, an evolution of windsurfing, will replace the RS:X at the Paris 2024…
It’s been a busy start to the New Year with multiple callouts for Scottish RNLI lifeboat crews at Aberdeen on the east coast and Oban in the west. Aberdeen’s all-weather lifeboat was called for a medevac from an oilfield platform…
County Down has become an important centre for coastal rowing with clubs dotted around Strangford Lough and the Ards Peninsula. This is very much a community-based activity with skiffs active at Strangford, Portaferry, Portavogie, Donaghadee, Dundrum, Killyleagh, Sketrick, Strangford, and…
New Beneteau 'First 40' Arrival on Dublin Bay is Former French Winning Yacht
5 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
The Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Cruiser Zero fleet will get a boost this week when its latest addition drops anchor in Dun Laoghaire Harbour at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. The First 40 La Response, formerly known as Courier…
In a unique opportunity to portray the intriguing maritime heritage of the Ards Peninsula and North Down in Northern Ireland, seven communities have produced a maritime history of each of their locations – Portaferry, Portavogie, Ballyhalbert and Cloughey on the…
Tobermory RNLI’s volunteer crew had their first shout just 12 hours into 2020 when they went to assist a seriously injured casualty on a remote island in Loch Sunart in the western Scottish Highlands. The pagers sounded just before midday…
Jackie Patton, chair of RYANI and Donaghadee Sailing Club member, is on a mission. She used to crew a 505 and along with Thomas Anderson, ex 505 helmsman and crew and past Commodore of Royal North of Ireland YC, is…
Hunt is on for Bangor Bay's Missing 'Pickie to Pier' Swim Trophy
1 January 2020 Northern Ireland Waters
Today you couldn’t swim across Bangor Bay on Belfast Lough without skirting the Marina but from 1910 till the 80s the ‘Pickie to Pier’ annual sea swim saw many participants taking part in the 650-metre race from Skippingstone Beach, beside…
Olympian McGovern Can't Stop Chris Boyd in Ballyholme Icebreaker
28 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Olympian Matt McGovern returned for the final race of part one of the Icebreaker Series on Belfast Lough and showed enough class and speed in the very light winds to show the rest of the Laser fleet the way home.…
Northern Ireland Finn Sailor is 32 from 60 at Gold Cup in Australia
22 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Josh Junior has become the first Kiwi to ever win the Finn Gold Cup after an epic medal race in Melbourne, Australia. Nick Heiner, from The Netherlands, took silver while 2018 world champion, Zsombor Berecz took bronze. Ireland was represented…
Bangor Town Regatta 2020 is Launched By Royal Ulster Yacht Club
21 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Bangor Town Regatta on Belfast Lough hopes to attract more than 60 boats and build on the success of the 2018 event, the formal launch of the regatta was told writes Betty Armstrong. Charles Hurst Jaguar Land Rover is the…
British Marine and the Association of Inland Navigation Authorities (AINA) have jointly launched the much-anticipated consultation on the proposed changes to the existing Code for the Design, Construction and Operation of Hire Boats, better known as the Hire Boat Code.…
Miracle Dolphin ‘Spirtle’ Spotted Off Scotland After Her Summer Break In Ireland
19 December 2019 Scottish Waters
Miracle dolphin Spirtle has returned to her home waters in the north-east of Scotland after her summer spent off Ireland’s south-west coast, as BBC News reports. The bottlenose dolphin with a distinctive sunburn scar was spotted with her family group…
Foyle & Carlingford Anglers Encouraged To Make Catch Returns For 2019
19 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Anglers are being encouraged by the Loughs Agency to log and submit their efforts, catches and releases for the 2019 angling season in Foyle and Carlingford. Whenever anyone buys a rod licence to fish for salmon and sea trout in…
The 12th edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's RORC Caribbean 600 will start on Monday 24th February 2020 from Antigua. Already the early entries are nudging towards an eclectic mix of 50 boats, with competition expected to be as…
Bangor Olympian James Espey Making Most of San Francisco Move to Explore Five Oceans
17 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
It’s a long way from Ballyholme near Bangor to Sugardock in Point Richmond on San Francisco Bay writes Betty Armstrong. But James Espey has made the leap and works as boat captain for Chris Welsh, among whose job titles are…
Lough Swilly, Portrush & Arranmore RNLI Rescue Five Fishermen in Storm Force Conditions (VIDEO)
16 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Lough Swilly, Portrush and Arranmore RNLI volunteers spent almost 15 hours at sea in storm force conditions at the weekend to rescue five fishermen who got into difficulty off Fanad Head. Lough Swilly and Portrush RNLI were requested to launch…
In recent weeks the Loughs Agency has been working with groups of volunteers to clean up the banks of the River Foyle in Northern Ireland. The Foyle Ambassadors, a group of young environmentalists, completed a clean-up on the upstream bank…
Co Down woman Danielle Rooney has started her “dream job” as harbour master at Kilkeel, as The Irish News reports. The 28-year-old is believed to be the first woman to hold such a role within the Northern Ireland Fisheries Harbour…
RYA Calls For Sailors for Britain's Double-handed Olympic Mixed Offshore Keelboat
11 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
The RYA is on the hunt for sailors and boat owners interested in the new double-handed mixed offshore event that will debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This exciting discipline will see mixed pairs battle it out over a 4-day…
Belfast Harbour's Role in World’s First Zero-Emissions Workboat
10 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Artemis Technologies, the world’s leading high-performance maritime design and applied technologies company, will collaborate with Tuco Marine Group to integrate its new electric eFoiler propulsion system into an 11m carbon fibre vessel. This will serve as a demonstrator vessel as…
A sudden and violent rip current may have been the cause of a tragedy at a Northern Ireland beach in which one woman drowned, an expert has said. Two women, part of a group of experienced cold water sea swimmers,…
Strangford Lough's Carol Ship Brings the Sound of Christmas to the Narrows
9 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
There’s been a ferry across the Strangford Lough Narrows between Portaferry and Strangford for four hundred years (reputed to be the oldest continuous ferry crossing in the world) but five years ago, in celebration of the Christmas season, there appeared…
It was a busy weekend for Oban RNLI in Western Scotland, with its lifeboat Mora Edith MacDonald responding to two separate incidents, covering over 120 miles. The first call came Saturday afternoon (7 December) as the lifeboat launched in gale…
Cork Registered Fishing Vessel Raised from the Seabed off Ardglass
7 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Ardglass, on the southern coast of County Down, has one of the Northern Ireland’s main fishing harbours, is home to over 30 fishing vessels and is the main hub for the region’s pelagic fish processing industry writes Betty Armstrong As…
MGM Boats Celebrate Sun Odyssey 410 'Cruiser of the Year' Award
5 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Irish agents MGM Boats are celebrating Jeanneau's Sun Odyssey 410 win in the “British Yachting Awards” in the category of “Cruiser of the Year” 2019 this week. The Sun Odyssey 410 received the honours last Monday during the Awards celebration…
Belfast Harbour Named Best Cruise Port of Call in UK & Ireland
4 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Belfast Harbour has been named the best port of call in the UK and Ireland for cruise ships. The accolade was awarded by a global panel of cruise experts as part of the 2019 Cruise Critic Editors’ Pick Awards. It…
Irish 49ers Battling for Olympic Qualification on Day Two of World Championships in Auckland
4 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Some consistent scoring from Ireland's two 49er skiff teams on day two of the 49er World Championships in Auckland harbour sees Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle lead the Irish quest for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Regatta qualification. Day two saw lighter…
It’s not often a Notice to Mariners is issued by Bangor Harbour on Belfast Lough for a paddleboarding event but this was the case when a fundraiser was held in the Harbour on a very cold Sunday morning (1st Dec)…
Strangford Lough Yacht Club Members Celebrate 85 Years of Sailing
3 December 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
In celebration of 85 years of sailing, 190 Strangford Lough Yacht Club members enjoyed a memorable gala ball in the Clandeboye Lodge Hotel in Bangor. Commodore Rosie Baird said “It was great to see so many members and their guests…
At a glittering Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) annual awards ceremony in London, Janet Grosvenor was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award and made an Honorary Life Member for her immense contribution, both to the Club and the sport itself.…
Royal Ulster Yacht Club Goblet - Could Afloat Readers Solve This Australian Mystery?
30 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Recently Royal Ulster Yacht Club was contacted by a Mr Andre Jaku of Melbourne, Australia about a goblet he had bought from Leonard Joel’s Auction house in the city. It was listed as silver and was engraved with the words: …
Killyleagh Topper Sailor Awarded New Boat Thanks to John Merricks Sailing Trust
29 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
A young sailor from Killyleagh has been awarded her own boat thanks to a national programme helping young talent progress in the sport. Autumn Halliday (12), who is a junior member of Strangford Lough Yacht Club (SLYC), will have exclusive…
“Momentum behind this innovative and exhilarating dinghy is building in Ireland, and opportunities to engage a wide range of dinghy sailors cannot be overlooked”. Irish RS dealer Kenneth Rumball, is sure in his assessment of what the RS Aero can…
Irish 49er Skiffs Face Big Test for Olympic Qualifier in New Zealand
29 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Two Irish 49er crews aiming to qualify Ireland for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games face a stern test when the 49er World Championship series gets underway next week (evening of Monday 2nd December 2019 Irish time). Four nation places for next…
Dragon Gold Cup at Kinsale Yacht Club Will Be Something Quite Magic
28 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
The International Dragon Class and Kinsale seem to have been made for each other. When the Dragon Gold Cup is staged at the glossy south coast port next September, there will undoubtedly be a natural harmony to the event. With…
Enda O'Coineen's Belfast Book Launch for 'Journey to the Edge'
28 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Enda O’Coineen has many friends who sail Northern Waters. Now there’s the chance to meet up with him next week at the launch of his latest book, Journey to the Edge in No Alibis bookstore on Botanic Avenue, Belfast writes…
Bangor Waterfront Project on Belfast Lough to Better Link Town to Sea
27 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Another project in addition to the Bangor Queen’s Parade development on the County Down coast mentioned recently in Afloat, should see the enhancement of a two-mile stretch of the coast from the west of the Bangor Harbour all the way through…
Royal Cork Yacht Club Opens Entries for Cork Week 2020 Regatta
27 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
The Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world, today launched its online entry system for the prestigious Volvo Cork Week 2020 regatta which will see hundreds of boats and thousands of yachtsmen and women from around…
Photo Contest To Celebrate ‘Year Of The Salmon’ In Foyle & Carlingford Catchments
27 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
The Loughs Agency has announced a photography competition to celebrate the Foyle and Carlingford catchments and International Year of the Salmon. Prizes of vouchers for an online camera shop are up for grabs — in categories for under and over…
Three volunteers from Northern Ireland are celebrating as their efforts were recognised by Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal at RYA’s Volunteer Awards held in London on Friday 22 November, to reward hard-working volunteers from all over the UK for…
Portaferry RNLI Assist Workers Stranded on Island in Deteriorating Weather Conditions
26 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Portaferry RNLI came to the aid of three people stranded on Trasnagh Island near Whiterock at Killinchy on the western shore of Strangford Lough this afternoon, as the weather deteriorated. Portaferry’s volunteer crew launched promptly at 1.26 pm and made…
MGM Boats New Prestige 420 F Makes its Debut at boot Dusseldorf 2020
26 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Following its launch last year, Dublin boat dealer MGM Boats will be displaying the new Prestige 420 F motorboat that will be making its first appearance at boot Dusseldorf 2020 in January. The spacious, high-performance flybridge cruiser reflects the core values of…
Greystones Harbour and Irish Sea dealer BJ Marine is showcasing an extensive range of sailing yachts at the 2020 boot Düsseldorf Boat Show (18th – 26th Jan). Potential owners will be able to explore the award-winning Beneteau Oceanis 46.1 (2019…
Here at North Sails Ireland, there is nothing we like more than working with the under 25 sailing teams all over the country. This is a growing segment in Irish sailing and we are delighted to be involved from the…
New Fastnet Course to Finish at Cherbourg – a Coup d’etat & a Fait Accompli?
26 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Well, there’s been something in the air for long enough about the future of the Rolex Fastnet Race writes W M Nixon. Back in September 2018, we were testing a few ideas about where it might go here And on…
Prestigious Awards For Volunteering Go To Scottish Lifeboat Stations
26 November 2019 Scottish Waters
Volunteers at Oban and Tobermory’s RNLI lifeboat stations in eastern Scotland have been recognised for their invaluable service in this year’s Excellence in Volunteering Awards. Oban’s four deputy coxswains — Mark Scott, Finlo Cottier, David Isaac and James Hardie —…
RORC ‘Might Consider’ Plymouth For Fastnet Race Finish In 2025
26 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Organisers of the Rolex Fastnet Race have citied “infrastructre” issues in their decision to move the finish of the 2021 and 2023 races from Plymouth to Cherbourg. And in a press conference announcing the move this afternoon (Tuesday 26 November), the…
The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), organisers of the Rolex Fastnet Race, announced at a press conference today that the City of Cherbourg will host the finish of the Rolex Fastnet Race for the 2021 and 2023 editions of the…
Belfast Coastguard in Northern Ireland is appealing for the owner of a kayak found washed ashore at Millisle in Co Down. The discovery of the green-and-black inflatable kayak yesterday morning (Monday 25 November) prompted a search operation in the area of…
The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) is heralding big changes to its world's largest offshore race, the Rolex Fastnet Race at lunchtime today. The offshore club has invited members of the press to a Briefing concerning the world's largest offshore race, at its…
SB20 Class Vote to Change All Ireland Nomination Process for 2020
25 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
At the SB20 AGM held this month, the sportsboat class made the decision to change its nomination process for the 2020 ISA All Ireland Sailing Championships. The SB20 nomination for the 'champion of champions' event will now be based on…
A few days left to get discounts off hundreds of brilliant sailing wear products from top brands at CH Marine Chandlery in Cork and Belfast who pride themselves as worldwide suppliers of leisure & commercial marine products. As Afloat previously reported,…
Royal Ulster Sailors Tale of Lipton Trophy Replacement at Southern Yacht Club, New Orleans
25 November 2019 Northern Ireland Waters
Royal Ulster Yacht Club members Deborah and Simon Lace recently returned from an adventure holiday in Chile where they had met an American man called Glen, from New Orleans writes Betty Armstrong. It transpired during the course of conversation that he…
Last week brought success for Britain’s thriving marine equipment sector with UK companies picking up a string of accolades and revelling in a flourish of business opportunities at the world’s largest trade marine equipment exhibition, METSTRADE 2019. The event kicked…
