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Grants for GP14 Juniors, 2018 Fixtures are Published

13th February 2018
The GP14 class  is providing grants for junior boats travelling to the world championships in Cornwall this July The GP14 class is providing grants for junior boats travelling to the world championships in Cornwall this July Credit: Afloat.ie

Five of the seven Irish GP14 fixtures this season will be on the east coast ranging from Donaghdee and Newtownards in the North to the inland venue of Blessington in County Wicklow. 

The season starts on April 14th with the annual Riocard O'Tiarnaigh Challenge at Swords Sailing Club and runs through to October 14th at the Hot Toddy event on the Ards Peninsula.

The highlight of the season, however, will no doubt be the July World Championships at Mounts Bay Sailing Club in Cornwall, with 2016 world champion Shane MacCarthy of Greystones still holding sway in Irish ranks at least.

The class is providing world championship travel grants for junior boats, where both helm and crew are under 22 years.

Along with the travel grant youth boats will also have a 50% reduced entry fees to the Worlds in Cornwall – the fee will be £125.00

Grant applications need to be submitted before 1st March 2018. 

GP14 Ireland 2018 Events

APRIL  14TH/15TH O'TIARNAIGH CHALLENGE Swords Sailing Club
MAY  12TH/13TH ULSTERS Donaghadee SC
JUNE 9TH / 10TH PURCELL TROPHY Lough Ree YC
JULY  7TH/8TH LEINSTERS Skerries SC
JULY 28TH-3RD GP14 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Mounts Bay SC, UK
AUGUST  18TH/19TH/20TH IRISH NATIONALS & MASTERS Sligo YC
SEPTEMBER  15TH/16TH AUTUMN & YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS Blessington SC
OCTOBER  13TH/14TH HOT TODDY Newtownards 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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