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Nantwich Crew Take Early Lead at GP14 Worlds, Ireland Lying Fifth, Sixth & Seventh

13th August 2014
Nantwich Crew Take Early Lead at GP14 Worlds, Ireland Lying Fifth, Sixth & Seventh

#gp14 – Normal service resumed after Monday's 'Major Rescue' for the second day of the GP14 World Championships at East Down Yacht Club on Strangford Lough yesterday with English crews occupying the top three places in the 14–foot dinghy class event. Nantwich pairing Sam Watson and Andy Hunter have established a three point overall lead from Royal Southern's Robert Gullan Jack Holden. Third overall after yesterday's lighter winds were Ian Dobson and Andy Tunnicliffe from Burwain SC on 18 points.

Top Irish in the 90–boat event is Greystones and Clontarf combination Shane MacCarthy and Damien Bracken on 20 points. Current Irish GP14 champions Gerald Owens and Melanie Morris of the Royal St George are four points further adrift in sixth. Racing continues today. 

GP14 World Championships. Top ten results after three races below

1 8 14132 EG Sam Watson Andy Hunter Nantwich/South Staffs SC 5 2 1

2 11 55 G Robert Gullan Jack Holden Royal Southern Yacht Club 4 4 3
3 18 14023 G Ian Dobson Andy Tunnicliffe Burwain SC 1 1 16
4 18 14118 G Richard Instone Jim Toothill Blithfield SC 3 7 8
5 20 14158 GO Shane MacCarthy Damien Bracken Greystones SC/Clontarf YC 6 5 9
6 24 14076 GO Gerald Owens Melanie Morris Royal St George YC 8 10 6
7 35 14110 G Ross Kearney Jane Alexander RNIYC/South Staffs SC 2 21 12
8 36 14145 G Adam Parry Phil Hodgkins Derwent Reservoir SC 10 11 15
9 39 13801 CG Dan O'Connell Callum Mahar ? Swords SC 13 13 13
10 42 14155 AGT Graham J Flynn Adam Foggatt Chase SC

Published in GP14
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The GP14 is a popular sailing dinghy, with well over 14,000 boats built.

The class is active in the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and parts of north-eastern USA, and the GP14 can be used for both racing and cruising. 

Designed by Jack Holt in 1949, with the assistance of the Dovey Yacht Club in Aberdyfi. The idea behind the design was to build a General Purpose (GP) 14-foot dinghy which could be sailed or rowed, capable of also being powered effectively by a small outboard motor, able to be towed behind a small family car and able to be launched and recovered reasonably easily, and stable enough to be able to lie to moorings or anchor when required. Racing soon followed, initially with some degree of opposition from Yachting World, who had commissioned the design, and the boat soon turned out to be an outstanding racing design also.

The boat was initially designed with a main and small jib as a comfortable family dinghy. In a design philosophy that is both practical and highly redolent of social attitudes of the day the intention was that she should accommodate a family comprising parents plus two children, and specifically that the jib should be modest enough for "Mum" or older children to handle, while she should perform well enough to give "Dad" some excitement when not taking the family out. While this rig is still available, and can be useful when using the boat to teach sailing, or for family sailing, and has some popularity for cruising, the boat is more commonly seen with the full modern rig of a mainsail, genoa and spinnaker. Australian boats also routinely use trapezes.

GP14 Ireland Event Dates 2023

  • O'Tiarnaigh (Apr 22-23) Blessington Sailing Club
  • Ulsters (May 20-21) East Antrim Boat Club
  • Munsters (Jun 17-18) Tralee Bay Sailing Club
  • Leinsters (Jul 7-9) Dun Laoghaire Regatta
  • SOYC (Aug 19-20) Rush Sailing Club
  • Nationals (Sep 1-3) Sutton Dinghy Club
  • Hot Toddy (Sep 30-Oct 1) Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club

 

At A Glance – GP14 Dinghy Specifications

Crew 2
Draft 1,200 mm (47 in)
Hull weight 132.9 kg
LOA 4.27 m (14 ft)
Beam 1.54 m
Spinnaker area 8.4 m2
Upwind sail area 12.85 m2

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