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Sutton Father & Son GP14 Pair Enjoy Heavy Airs at Abersoch

6th August 2019
GP14s converge at a weather mark on day two of the national championships in Abersoch GP14s converge at a weather mark on day two of the national championships in Abersoch Credit: Sailpics

Sutton Dinghy Club father and son pairing Peter and Stephen Boyle had a very good second day at the GP14 UK National Championships in Abersoch to be top Irish boat in 14th place writes Andrew Johnston.

The Boyles had just competed at the RS400 Europeans in Lake Garda last week. While their first time racing an RS didn't go so great, the time on the water together seems to have paid off today in the 56-boat fleet.

Speaking to Stephen last night, the duo had been looking forward to the increased 20kt+ breeze forecast for Monday after the lite stuff on Sunday.

Stephen BoyleStephen Boyle

'We had had good clean starts and blasted left up first beats. Sam Watson & Andy Thompson were the pathfinder in the first race. They had to go right and fortunately got a header just as they were released. They were about 10 boat lengths clear of us at the weather mark and we had probably another 10 to the chasing fleet. Held 2nd for triangle and sausage until we had a slow hoist on 2nd triangle allowed chasing pack to close in. Finished 4th. Sam and Andy won by a good distance. Second race same plan we went hard left up the beat. Third to the weather mark. Course was 3 triangles. At the second weather mark and subsequent weather marks, we lost a few due to a problem with the spinny halyard, dropping us back to ninth. Overall happy with boatspeed in the heavy weather. 6 races to go. Bring it on.'

Full results here

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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