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Craig and Boyle are GP14 Leinster Victors at Howth Yacht Club

2nd June 2024
A file photo of GP14 racing on Dublin Bay. 34 boats competed at the 2024 GP14 Leinster Championships at Howth Yacht Club at the weekend
A file photo of GP14 racing on Dublin Bay. 34 boats competed at the 2024 GP14 Leinster Championships at Howth Yacht Club at the weekend Credit: Michael Chester

With no race wins but five results in the top four, Dubliners Sean Craig and Stephen Boyle proved consistency pays at Howth Yacht Club on Sunday with overall victory by a single point at the 34-boat GP14 Leinster Championships.

Royal North Of Ireland pair Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson were second on 17 points in the six race championships, with the top two boats having a margin of ten points on third-placed Skerries duo Colman Grimes and Ross Gingles.

This is the season's third event for the Geeps and the first on the sea, with both the Munsters and the O'Tiarnaigh Challenge held on Lough Derg and Owel, respectively.

With the Worlds across the water in Pwhelli in August and 30 Irish boats amongst the 80+ entries, Howth proved an important build-up to Plas Heli.

Results below

Race Results

You may need to scroll vertically and horizontally within the box to view the full results

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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