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Skerries Sailing Club's GP14 World Championships is Postponed Until 2021

21st April 2020
The GP14s will race in Skerries in July 2021 The GP14s will race in Skerries in July 2021 Credit: Afloat

The GP14 International Class Association in conjunction with Skerries Sailing Club has postponed its 2020 GP14 World Championships until 2021.

As Afloat reported previously, with over 100 entries already registered, Skerries Sailing Club and the GP14 International Association have been in discussion for quite some time preparing for this eventuality.

In announcing the postponement have provisionally pencilled in July 25 to Aug 1 2021 as the new date for the GP14 World Championships to be held in Skerries.

Ferry Refunds

Currently, the UK Government restrictions on travel for non-essential journeys are in place until 31st May 2020. As the World Championship was scheduled for July 2020, there is currently some uncertainty with regards to the refund option for non-refundable tickets purchased by UK competitors. If the Government extends the ban on non-essential travel to include the dates the hope is refunds should be available.

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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