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Displaying items by tag: Guilty

#MOTORBOAT – The owner of a Princess 42 luxury motor yacht has pleaded guilty to carrying more people than licensed to do so between Strangford to Peel, Isle of Man.

The merchant vessel 'Sarah May III' is registered in the UK, certificated under the Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Commercial Vessels and licensed to carry no more than twelve passengers. On 6th June 2008 it carried more than 20 passengers across the Irish Sea from Strangford to Peel, Isle of Man.

The vessel, owned by local man Mr Grahame Stronge, was captured on CCTV at both Strangford and Peel as the passengers boarded the vessel.


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At the Magistrate's Court in Downpatrick on 7th Nov 2011 the owner pleaded guilty of failing to comply with the Code of Practice for the Safety of Small Commercial Vessels and to a breach of survey and certification regulations.

The owner was fined a total of £800

On summing up the Magistrate Brian Archer said:

"Good fortune, as much as there was no accident, the defendant knew he was overloaded and he was lucky there wasn't a tragedy, hopefully this won't happen again.

Captain Bill Bennett, Area Operations Manager (Survey and Inspection) Belfast for the MCA stated that:

"This was a serious breach of the Survey and Certification Regulations and should serve as a reminder to all operators of the dangers of carrying more passengers than the vessel is certificated and equipped to carry. All breaches of the Maritime Regulations are taken seriously by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency."

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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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