The members of East Down Yacht Club in Strangford Lough welcomed the GP14 fleet back for the 2016 Ulster Championships on the 25th and 26th June with their enthusiastic and warm hospitality. This was the fleet’s first return to EDYC since the Club hosted the successful World Championships in 2014. It was good to be back. Racing was brisk for the 22 strong teams on the first day with the Race Officer pleasing every one by getting the full programme of three races and solid Olympic courses. The black flag was pulled out on a few occasions to keep manners on those pushing the line. The wind picked up in strength as the day progressed with the last race sailed in a spirited 20 knots of breeze. Download results below.

Shane McCarthy and Damian Bracken put in a devastating performance with three convincing wins followed by the McGuinness brothers with three second places. The thirds were shared equally between Curly Morris and LauraMcFarland, Keith Louden and Alan Thompson and the Gallagher brothers.

The second days racing was a little less frantic with the winds having dropped to a more relaxed 9 knots. That said, the lovely clear waters of the Lough have lots of tricky little tidal secrets that took the day for some but not all to unlock. With three more races completed, McCarthy and Bracken held on to their first place lead to become Ulster Champions. Louden and Thompson took second when they won the last race with the McGuinness brothers dropping to third overall. Steven Nelson and Brenda Preston, who also won race 4 in some style, won the silver fleet. Michael Cox and Josh Porter were second in the silver fleet with Gareth and Richard Gallagher taking third. The two Derry lads put in an impressive performance all weekend ending up 7th overall. They were also crowned the Ulster GP14 Champion Youth winners. The Bronze champions were Youghal youth sailors Adrian Lee and Edward Coyne with Thomas and Paul Sexton from Sligo in second and Robson Ogg and James Ogg from Donaghadee taking third bronze.

Finally an impressive new trophy to mark the achievements of ace crew Andy Thompson from Larne was presented for the first time to winning crew, Damian Bracken. Andy has, over the years, notched up title after title in the GP14 and other classes and it is fitting that the GP class in Ireland recognise his unparalleled achievements. Well done Andy!

The GP14 Riocard O'Tiarnaigh Challenge was again this year held at Swords Sailing and Boating Club on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd of May. It was sailed as a combined event with the Purcell Trophy this year due to the 2016 World championships being held in Barbados at Easter. A warm welcome was given by the club to all competitors and their friendship and hospitality was extended thought the weekend, with their incredible race management on the water and their fantastic catering and ashore.

The results of the Purcell trophy were rolled over from the Saturday and used partly as qualifying for the Riocard O'Tiarnaigh Challenge final. A total of 7 races would be sailed for qualifying purposes with one discard to be used. After the Purcell event results were counted three shorter races with separate fleet starts were scheduled to be sailed on the Sunday morning.

Qualifying positions for the gold and silver fleets were wide open with a number of boats able to fill the four qualifying positions for each fleet.

In the first two races on the Sunday morning in the gold fleet Keith Louden and Alan Thompson took two race wins and Shane McCarthy & Damian Bracken took two second places. John & Donal McGuinness qualified in third place, this left the last place open and to be contested in the final race by three boats. Niall Henry and Ossian Geraghty took the race win and with other results going their way, they grabbed the final place. However they would later choose not to contest the final and pass on the final slot to Hugh Gill and Simon Revill.

The Silver fleet was just as hotly contested with the final places being decided in the final race of qualifying with Michael Cox and Josh Porter, Simon Jeffery and Alan Henry, Katie Dwyer and Michelle Rowley and Simon Cully and Richard Street all making it through.

The bronze fleet sailors Ian Nish and his crew Des, and Keith and Barbara Leonard who had already qualified, went out on Sunday morning to test out the conditions and get some practice in preparation for the final.

At lunch time the wind died away completely but when PRO Peter Smyth blew his whistle to signal end to lunch the wind duly obliged and within half an hour it had settled in to a steady force 3 in strength. However it was still shifting back and forth in direction, as it had done all weekend in preparation for the final.

The first race saw a great start by Katie Dwyer & Michelle Rowley and when they rounded the windward mark with a sizeable lead they could not be caught by Shane McCarthy & Damian Bracken, a result which would prove significant for the girls by the end of the day. John & Donal McGuinness crossed the line in third place.

Second race saw Shane McCarthy and Damian Bracken take an early lead which they would maintain to the end and with positions changing behind them Keith Louden & Alan Thompson took second and John & Donal McGuinness were third.

In the third and final race points counted double which meant any number of boats could still win the event, Keith Louden & Alan Thompson led at the windward mark and held on to that lead until the final leeward mark when they were passed by Shane Mc Carthy & Damien Bracken. Keith Louden & Alan Thompson finished second and Katie Dwyer & Michelle Rowley in third.

This result gave Shane McCarthy & Damien Bracken the Riocard O'Tiarnaigh Challenge win, Katie Dwyer & Michelle Rowley took second in a break of tie with Keith Louden & Alan Thompson in third place.

The Irish GP 14 fleet returned to domestic competition at the weekend after a very enjoyable World Championship in Barbados over Easter, made all the more enjoyable when we had an Irish winner in Shane McCarthy & Andy Davis. Results are downloadable below.

The Purcell Championship hosted by Swords Sailing Club on Saturday 21st was sailed over four races. The first race saw our newly crowned world champion first at the weather mark and remained there for the rest of the race. With Keith Louden & Alan Thompson taking second and Hugh Gill with his new boat and new crew Simon Revill beginning to find some form in third.

Race 2 saw Shane & Damian round the weather mark in first followed closely by John & Donal McGuinness in second and Keith & Alan in third. On the second beat the wind shifted to right favouring the McGuinness brothers who were first to the weather mark and held it all the way to the finish. Shane & Damian took second followed by Keith & Alan in third.

Race 3 started with significantly less breeze than the morning races and saw the McGuinness Bros get to the weather mark first followed by Shane & Damian. With the breeze slowly dying the world champion showed his superior speed in light airs and passed John & Donal to leeward on the second reach and held the position to the finish. The McGuinness brothers were second with Richard Street & Simon Dickson in third.

Race 4 was sailed in a light-shifting breeze. Curley Morris & Laura McFarland lead at the weather mark with Richard Street & Simon Dickson in second followed by Shane & Damian. At the end of the of the first lap Keith & Alan were at the back end of the fleet but an inspired tack to the left at the start of the second beat paid dividend and put them in the top four at the weather mark. Next time around at the weather mark they had got themselves into second just behind Richard & Simon. With the race shortened and one leg to go it was a drag race to the finish with Keith & Alan coming out on top and finishing first with Curly & Laura in Second and Richard & Simon in third.
Shane & Damian retained the Purcell Championship with two first and a second. Keith & Alan’s dramatic comeback in the last race was enough to wrestle second place from John & Donal who finished third overall.
Katie Dwyer & Michelle Rowley took first overall in the silver closely followed by Michael Cox & Josh Porter in second and Cathal Sheridan & David Cooke taking third in the silver. Pat Savage and Linda Darby took first overall in the Bronze fleet while Bernie Grogan & Rosena Cuddy finished a credible second.

The GP14 Ireland fleet kicks off its 2016 season with combined Purcell Trophy 2016 & O’Tiarnaigh Challenge from 21-22 May at Swords Sailing & Boating Club.

The first event will of course be sailed with the new Irish world champion among its numbers. Shane McCarthy, who was just named Afloat's 'Sailor Of The Month' for April, will be in attendance at the North Dublin venue.

The format is as follows:

Saturday 21 May 2016 (Purcell Trophy)
Four Races First Race 12.00noon
Lunches ashore, there will be a briefing before going afloat

Sunday 22 May 2016 (R O'Tiarnaigh Challenge)
Two/Three Races First Race 10.30.
Lunches ashore, there will be a briefing before going afloat
The Finals will as soon as possible after the selection of the 12 Finalist

The NOR is attached.

Shane McCarthy of Greystones is the Afloat.ie Sailor of the Month (non-Olympic) for April following his stunning overall win in the GP 14 Worlds in Barbados. McCarthy was already on a roll after winning the British Opens in August last year at Brixham in Devon, a victory which in turn followed on a previous success in winning the Irish title. But his success in early April in the Worlds in Barbados – a win in which he was crewed by England’s Andy “Taxi” Davies – takes the Greystones sailor onto a new level of performance.

And it is in turn yet another feather in the cap of Greytones Sailing Club, which is rapidly moving up the index of top dinghy sailing clubs in Ireland. For McCarthy, the logistical challenge of getting a worthwhile campaign to the Caribbean was something which would have discouraged many club sailors. But thanks to the strong International GP14 Class organisation with a contingent of 22 boats and its spirit of mutual help and support, the Greystones skipper emerged in Barbados in exactly the right frame of mind and physical fitness to put in a textbook campaign for Gold to make him a very worthy Afloat.ie Sailor of the Month for April 2016.

Ireland's GP14 World Champion helmsman Shane MacCarthy, who now holds a unique triple crown of Irish, UK and World titles was welcomed home this afternoon by Irish class president Stephen Boyle.

The full story of the Greystones Sailing Club sailors magnificent win in the West Indies is here and in the Irish Times here

Greystones Sailing Club is saluting its first ever world champions tonight as Shane MacCarthy and Andy Davis lift the GP14 Worlds Trophy on the far side of the Atlantic Ocean at the conclusion of the Barbados hosted week long dinghy championships.

With two races left to sail today any one of three crews could have won the world title but provisional results hand it to the Irish duo.  A 22-boat Irish contingent were celebrating the historic win at Barbados Yacht Club, the biggest event the West Indies club has ever held.

Official results were still awaited from organisers but Irish GP14 President Stehpen Boyle has been able to confirm the result for Afloat.ie. 

The 105–boat fleet was barely back on the beach in Barbados when the news broke in Wicklow that MacCarthy and sailmaker Davis had done enough for one of the most coveted UK and World dinghy titles. The Wicklow crew outwitted a number of multi–world champions to seize the trophy, Ireland's first GP14 World Title win since 1991.

Boyle told Afloat.ie: ‘This is a fantastic result for Irish dinghy sailing and the GP14 Class in particular. The GP14 World Championship epitomises what small boat racing is about; large scale participation, racing for all ages and levels, and razor sharp competition at the top end. We are absolutely delighted that Shane and Andy have brought the world title back to Ireland’.

While the other contenders for the title won individual races MacCarthy, the current UK and Irish Champion, sailed a very consistent series and was never outside the top three for the duration of the event. Moving into the latter part of championship with four races to go over Sunday & Monday, MacCarthy & Davis were tied in second place with British pair Ian Dobson & Andy Tunnicliffe on 15 points, both two points adrift of the leaders Craig and Lewis of Great Britain on 13 points.

MacCarthy and Davis are the third Irish name on to the Worlds trophy and the first from the Republic. The Fekkes Brothers from Larne in County Antrim last won it in 1991 and Bill Whisker and Jimmy McKee from Ballyholme in County Down were winners in 1975.

The massive championship was hotly contested with the Irish pair prevailing over a star studded field which included reigning five time GP14 World Champions Dobson & Tunnicliffe, former World Champion Neil Marsden, former UK National Champion Mike Senior and multi class World and European Champion Nick Craig sailing with Toby Lewis and widely recognised as Britain’s most successful amateur sailor.

Shane and Andy, the new GP14 World Champions from County Wicklow –– Photo: GP14 class

Shane lifts the world championship trophy, the first Irish winners in a quarter of a century – Photo: Laura McFarland

Never tasted so good – well earned beers in Barbados – Photo: Laura McFarland

22 crews from Ireland travelled to compete in the event which attracted competitors from Sri Lanka, North America, Australia, Barbados and United Kingdom.

Sunday proved decisive with MacCarthy & Davis making their bid for the title scoring a 1st and 2nd for the day to catapult them into the lead four points ahead of Dobson & Tunnicliffe with Craig & Lewis slipping back to third. It was still all to play for heading into Monday with two races to sail and 4 points separating the three crews who could win the prestigious world title but MacCarthy & Davis wrapped it up in Race 9 finishing second to Craig & Lewis with Dobson & Tunnicliffe forced back into 3rd. This is a first Irish win in this prestigious event since the Fekkes brothers in 1991.

John & Donal McGuinness (Moville SC) in 12th were next best Irish, followed by Lough Erne's JP & Carolyn McCaldin in 14th with Sligo YC Keith Louden & Alan Thompson in 20th.

The GP14 is one of Ireland's most popular two person racing dinghy classes and regularly attracts fleets of 40-50+ boats. 

Top 10
1st Shane McCarthy Andy Davies
2nd Ian Dobson Andy Tunnicliffe
3rd Nick Craig Tobytastic Lewis
4th Matt Burge Paul Childs
5th Mike Senior Chris White
6th Sam Watson Andy Thompson
7th Graham Flynn Adam Froggatt
8th Neil Marsden Derek Hill
9th Richard Instone Jim Toothill
10th Dave Young Nicola Booth

Team Ireland also took home two other special trophies. Brenda Niblock took the ladies helm prize. John & Donal McGuinness took the family prize.

Full results are here

Wicklow sailors Shane McCarthy and Andrew Davis lead the GP14 Worlds in Barbados with two races to go but still any one of three can win the world title later today.

Lighter winds prevailed for Race seven and eight but unfortunately that meant a lot more holes and huge shifts in the air.

Race 7 got under way on time but big shifts caused a bad bend and the gate was restarted. All clean away with Shane & Taxi battling for the lead which they eventually took giving us another new race winner!

Second place was Graham Flynn & Adam Froggatt of Chase with a superb 3rd thrown in by Andrew Clewer & Mark Taylor of Poole YC. Dobson took 9th with Nick Craig seeing his not so best result of 11th.

Race 8 was started under very shifty conditions. So much so that the pathfinder Paul Owen & Sam Pickering of South Staffs were sent on the most massive header that the lined up fleet had to all go in reverse dramatically downwind to try to get behind the guard boat. Loads of boats were left floundering above the gate which then caused serious problems for those who had just about made it. The later gate starters (2mins+ gate left open for 3mins 30secs) were sunk. All sailed on up to the windward mark with many sailors flying red protest flags to protest the committee. A few rounded the windward mark and popped up their spinnakers when eventually (20mins later) the committee boat came up through the fleet and signalled for a restart!! Bit late considering the fleet had sailed the first full beat!

All took a bit of a while to get reassembled back down to the start line and we eventually got going again. Matt Burges & Paul Childs took the second win of the event followed by Shane & Andy, with Iain Dobson and Andy Tunicliffe in 3rd.

Top Ten after 7 races

1st Shane McCarthy Andy Davies 3 3 (9) 3 2 4 1 (25) 16
2nd Nick Craig Tobytastic Lewis5 2 3 2 6 1 (11) (30) 19
3rd Ian Dobson Andy Tunnicliffe2 1 6 (106 DNF) 1 5 9 (130) 24
4th Mike Senior Chris White 7 4 5 1 4 3 (12) (36) 24
5th Matt Burge Paul Childs 1 5 8 11 7 2 (29) (63) 34
6th Sam Watson Andy Thompson 4 15 (25) 4 3 15 4 (70) 45
7th Richard Instone Jim Toothill 12 18 1 (42) 8 7 5 (93) 51
8th Graham Flynn Adam Froggatt 13 (30) 14 20 9 6 2 (94) 64
9th Neil Marsden Derek Hill 17 13 2 (33) 5 10 23 (103) 70
10th Gary Deighan Dale Knowles (28) 12 7 9 16 18 8 (98) 70

After 8 races, results are here

Ireland's Shane McCarthy and Andy Davis are placed third two points adrift of leaders Nick Craig and Toby Lewis of Great Britain after six races of a scheduled eleven in the 105 boat GP14 World Championships in Barbados.

In a hotly contested championship McCarthy, the reigning UK and Irish Champion, has sailed a very consistent series scoring 3,3,(9),3,2,4 to tie on 15 points with second placed and current World Champions Iain Dobson and Andy Tunnicliffe of Burwain Sailing Club.

30–knot winds with big swells Thursday saw some casualties amongst the leaders with Dobson and Tunnicliffe forced to retire with a broken rudder and former Fireball World Champion Matt Burge dropping from 1st to 11th in Race 4 after his rudder parted company from the boat. Race 5 was abandoned as conditions worsened.

Friday’s two races saw McCarthy & Davis scoring a solid six for the day matching Dobson & Tunniclffe as best performers on the water and leaving them within striking distance of Craig & Lewis as the championship moves into its final two days of racing on Sunday after todays scheduled lay day.

With four races left to sail and a second discard to be applied McCarthy and Davis will need to maintain their consistency and most probably post a race win if they are going to close the gap on Craig & Lewis. Dobson & Tunnicliffe, the only crew to win two races, are still very much in contention but the DNF in Race 4 leaves little margin of error for the current champions. It looks like this one may go down to wire on Monday but today will tell a tale with the top four crews in the frame at this point.

Leaders after six races:
1. Nick Craig & Toby Lewis (GBR) 13 pts
2. Iain Dobson & Andy Tunnicliffe (GBR) 15 pts
3. Shane McCarty & Andy Daviss (IRL) 15 pts
4. Mike Senior & Chris White (GBR) 17 pts
13. Keith Louden & Alan Thomson (Sligo Yacht Club)
15. John & Donal McGuiness (Moville Boat Club)

Race 1 – 6 Results here.

Bloomin' windy in the West Indies – gusting up to 30–knots during the race writes Irish crew Laura McFarland about race four of the GP14 World Championships in Barbados yesterday. 

Only one race was sailed due to the very strong winds and the fleet battered its way up the first beat then the choice was on for mad enough to fly a kite or not. Mad enough was Paddy O'Connor & Brendan Brogan who moved from 30th to 5th after the 2 reaches. Only to regret it on the way down the run when they just flew too close to the wind and had their kite burnt with a gust that put them in the drink.

Other technical failures unfortunately were with Dobson & Tunicliffe. A busted rudder early in the first race meant they had to abandon their race, dash to shore, get a replacement rudder and get out for the second race which did not happen.

Leading Irish hope for the world title, Shane McCarthy and Andy Davis on the other hand had a grand old day with another third. Sam Watson & Andy Thompson bunged in a happy 4th - get it folks??!! JP & Carolyn McCaldin worked their butts off and got a 5th - Carolyn has the bruises to prove it! Keith Louden & Alan Thompson as pathfinder held their way and finished a great 6th.

1 GBR 14187 MIKE SENIOR CHRIS WHITE
2 GBR 14023 NICK CRAIG TOBY TASTIC LEWIS
3 1RL 14158 SHANE McCARTHY ANDY DAVIS
4 GBR 14194 SAM WATSON ANDY THOMPSON
5 IRL 14047 JP McCALDIN CAROLYN McCALDIN
6 IRL 14055 KEITH LOUDEN ALAN THOMPSON
7 GBR 14182 STEVE BENNETT JACK BENNET
8 GBR 14181 ANDY HATELEY BEN PICKERING
9 GBR 14091 GARY DEIGHAN DALE KNOWLES
10 GBR 14090 NEAL GIBSON GEOFF PHILLIPS

No overall results so far