As one offshore classic race draws to a close this week, another major race is drawing a near record fleet together closer to home, while at the same time, the Volvo Ocean Race will be decided this weekend in The Netherlands, writes David Branigan

Offshore racing in Ireland is witnessing a significant increase both of participants but also as a course area if 2018 is used as a measure.

Annalise Murphy, 27, from Rathfarnham, Dublin, won silver in the Laser Radial sailing class at the 2016 Rio Olympics and hopes to compete in Tokyo 2020.

As she takes on the greatest adventure of her stellar sailing career Annalise Murphy (27) will, at least, have no worries about her Olympic silver medal as Liberty Insurance has stepped in to cover it against damage or loss after its recent makeover.

With three years to run before the Tokyo Olympics, patience is the watchword as the line-up of Irish sailors in formation start their arduous journey of training and competition against a backdrop of Annalise Murphy’s silver medal success in Rio.

West Cork is preparing to be the centre of attention in the sailing world over the coming week, as thousands of sailors from around the world and closer to home head for the Fastnet Rock.

Extreme weather conditions over continental Europe impacted the opening races of the Moth World Championships on Lake Garda this week.

A 19-year-old man used violence to control his 16-year-old wife’s every move and once gave her the option of having a belt put around her neck or have her arm burned with a poker.

Irish experts in maritime survival techniques have trained six celebrities to cope with whatever the sea might throw at them during a treacherous charity voyage for BBC Sport Relief.

Irish sailor Brian Carlin had a lucky escape over the weekend when his team’s yacht in the Volvo Ocean Race hit a reef in the Indian Ocean, forcing the crew to abandon to life rafts.

After two years of planning and development, a new fleet of round-the-world racing yachts begin the Volvo Ocean Race in Alicante this afternoon.

A friend of two 17-year-old youths used his phone to record them plying a 15-year-old schoolgirl with neat vodka before one of them had sex with her and the other sexually assaulted her.

Today’s American Football game at Croke Park is merely a stepping stone to bigger things

Croke Park stadium director Peter McKenna says attracting American football, including NFL games, to the stadium is part of a long-term strategy designed to help the GAA to maintain its financial independence.

In an unprecedented outcome to the Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland race that started on Monday following weather delays, the Oman Sail entry was first to complete the 1,880 nautical mile course at lunchtime yesterday.

Although the GAA have been at pains to say the Sky deal wasn’t about money but exposure, GPA founder Donal O’Neill’s comments earlier this week suggested because of it sponsorship revenue will soon soar.

Killarney is the most expensive place in Ireland to get a hotel room, as figures show hotel prices around the country continuing to rise.

A proposed ban on alcohol sponsorship will have a “detrimental effect” on Irish sport, an umbrella organisation has told an Oireachtas committee.

Getting the work is the hard part.

The successes of Katie Taylor, Rory McIlroy, Sycerika McMahon and Cian O’Connor could become a distant memory, and sport’s potential to breathe new life into the Irish economy will be unrealised, if there are any further cuts to funding after the upcoming budget.

Galway is not applying to host the Volvo Ocean Race for a third time in 2015, due to outstanding debts and a “lack of interest” by the Government in investing in a new application.

Iarnród Éireann has announced that sales of family tickets soared in summer 2012.

I take my hat off to a wonderful new generation of brilliant young Irish, who represent us so gallantly at the London Olympics.

SHE would be just another nobody senator if it were not for Fidelma Healy Eames’ amazing ability to generate the worst sort of publicity via trains, drains, and automobiles.

GASTRONOMIC science students doing a Masters in marketing now have a list of evocative terms guaranteed to resonate with consumers who are seeking a more authentic wholesome product or eating experience — local artisan handmade, farmhouse, traditional and hand crafted.

Dutch entry Tonnerre de Breskens, owned by Piet Vroon, continued its foray into Irish waters this week by opening class zero at Cork Week with two emphatic race wins.

There were more high spirits than high winds to set the first day of competitive racing off to a breezy start at Cork Week yesterday as sailors and landlubbers descended on Crosshaven for the biennial event.

Local organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race finale in Galway have said they want to bring the event back to the city.

Tens of thousands gathered in Galway at the weekend to witness the final race of the Volvo Ocean Race that staged its finale in Ireland after 39,000 miles and nine ports around the world.

It took a week but finally some of the Volvo Ocean Race sailors found an Irish star they wanted their picture taken with.

Galway opted to do it in American style last night with a spectacular late night fireworks display across Galway Bay to celebrate Independence Day.

After a tense sprint stage from Lorient to Galway, French first-time entrant Franck Cammas and his Groupama 4 team were confirmed as winners of the Volvo Ocean Race early yesterday morning.

Shore crews probably got wetter in one afternoon than sailors did in the entire 550-mile final sprint from Lorient in France to Galway.

A Kerryman on board a French yacht which won the Volvo Ocean Race has said the triumph was the fulfilment of a childhood dream.

More than 20,000 people turned out in Galway overnight to welcome the winners of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Bonfires blazed across the Aran Islands and the coast of Connemara as the six spectacular Volvo Ocean Race yachts sped into Galway to a raucous reception in the early hours of this morning.

Bigger, better and wetter.

There are any amount of hoary old legends associated with the seven seas and those who sail them and the Volvo Ocean Race is no different.

Land ahoy.

Breton entry Inis Mor is almost certain to be declared the overall winner of the 704-mile Round Ireland Race this weekend after Bernard Gouy’s team could not be beaten on handicap by the remaining boats still at sea.

Bobby Nash’s charts have put him on the nautical map with the Volvo Ocean Race and celebrities, writes Tommy Barker

Up to 800,000 people are expected to throng to the west this weekend and next week as the Volvo Ocean Race finishes in Galway.

The biennial Round Ireland Race got off to a brisk start yesterday afternoon before a crowd of more than a 1,000 spectators gathered at Wicklow Sailing Club.