Local boats take majority of silverware in Ireland’s biggest sailing event

Four days of racing (July 11-14) in the Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta came to a close in a light northerly breeze of six knots, and the bulk of the spoils going to local clubs. Dublin yacht clubs clinched 19 of the 34 classes including the…

Ilen returns to Dublin Bay after two decades

A small wooden ketch sailed quietly into Dublin Bay last weekend (May 11-12) after a 21-year absence. Not many of the onlookers perhaps knew the story of this 52ft boat that had left Irish shores over seventy years ago, to endure service in the turbulent waters of the Southern Ocean.
Mulloy and Dolan La Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro

Irish rookies in La Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro

Irish rookies in La Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro
AIS Aug 2

First milestone crossed in Golden Globe Race

On July 31, Gregor McGuckin crossed the symbolic line of the equator in undramatic fashion. His chosen route, west of the fleet as they head towards South Africa, is paying dividends and sees Hanley Energy Endurance currently in 7th place in a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the globe.

AIS Aug 2

Aug 1: Hanley Energy Endurance lying 7th

The race route is east-about, starting and finishing in Les Sables-d’Olonne, France. Eighteen sailors from 13 countries crossed the starting line on July 1 in a 30,000-mile, 8-9-month race that will take the fleet southwards down the Atlantic, through the Indian and Pacific oceans, around Cape Horn and northwards through the Atlantic back to France.

A British boat cruising in Spain, post Brexit, could face time restrictions and/or taxes

Island cruise-hopping and Brexit implications

Back in the good old days, the UK had a triplicate customs form for pleasure craft, the C1128, Notice of Intent to Depart on a Foreign Going Voyage. Part 1 gave details of vessel and crew, and from where within the UK the boat was leaving…
Golden Globe 1

Non-stop around the globe with just a sextant to guide him

When Gregor McGuckin slipped his lines from the pontoon at Dun Laoghaire's National Yacht Club and sailed quietly through Dalkey Sound, bound for Les Sables D’Olonne on France’s Atlantic coast, his hope was not to see dry land again after July 1 — for about nine months. The young Dubliner faces a challenge of huge proportions, both physical and mental: a solo, non-stop voyage around the planet in the Vendee Golden Globe Race.

Golden Globe 1

 Gregor has a 'glass half-full attitude' not only thanks to Glendalough Distillery who presented him with a small barrel of 7-year-old single malt whiskey that is bolted to the foredeck, but in his approach to what lies ahead. With just fourteen days solo sailing experience in his wake, his mental preparation has been to ensure the boat is completely ready “and that helps my confidence,” he said.

2018 BIM Figaro

Irish seafood sets sail on Solitaire du Figaro race

Ireland's seafood development agency is backing the first female sailor from these shores, Joan Mulloy, in the Solitaire du Figaro race in late August.   

2018 BIM Figaro

Jim O'Toole, BIM chief executive with Joan Mulloy, Ireland's first female entry in the Solitaire due Figaro race

Explaining the rationale of the sponshorship, Jim O'Toole, BIM chief executive, said the agency's gastronomy seafod trail "ties Irish seafood production into Ireland's tourism."

2018 team ireland Coineen

Solo Irish sailor races towards notorious Cape Horn

Veteran sailor Enda O'Coineen is expected to round the notorious Cape Horn within the next twently-four hours in his endeavour to complete his solo lap of the globe. 

O'Coineen set out from Les Sables d'Olonne, France, on November 6, 2016, in the Vendee Globe world circumnavigation. On New Year's Day 2017 however, his attempt came to dramatic end when he was demasted 180 miles south of New Zealand.

2018 team ireland Coineen

Determined to complete the course, O'Coineen teamed up with another Vendee competitor who has retired from the race, to create the 'Le Souffle du Nord Kilcullen Team Ireland'.

2017 Volvo Regatta 2

Regatta returns major economic benefit for Dún Laoghaire

Over 470 boats and 2,500 sailors gathered in the east coast town of Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, for the 2017 Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta.

2017 Volvo Regatta 2

Cruising classes, traditional and classic vessels, tacked across the race courses during the 2017 Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta . Photo Gillian Mills 

Seven race courses, 290 races and almost 4,000 results were staged over four days of mostly light sea breezes at Ireland’s biggest sailing event.