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Dublin Bay Sailors Craig and Boyle Lie Third at GP14 Worlds in Pwllheli, Strong Winds Forecast for Day Two

12th August 2024
A fleet of 85 boats is contesting the GP14 World Championships in North Wales Plas Heli, Pwllheli
A fleet of 85 boats is contesting the GP14 World Championships in North Wales Plas Heli, Pwllheli Credit: Cormac Murphy/GP14 Ireland

Dublin Bay sailors Sean Craig and Stephen Boyle of the Royal St. George Yacht Club and Sutton Dinghy Club lie third overall after the first three races of the GP14 World Championships in North Wales.

In a strong performance for a visiting 29-boat Irish contingent in light to medium winds on day one at the Welsh National Sailing Academy in Plas Heli, Pwllheli, five Irish are in the top ten of the 85-boat fleet.

Britain's Matt Mee and Chris Robinson of Red Warf Bay Sailing Club have got off to a perfect start and lead with three wins. They are followed by Fireball World Champions Tom Gillard and Andy Thompson (of East Antrim Boat Club in Northern Ireland) on eight points, with the Dublin duo on 12, counting a 2,12 and 6.

Next Irish is Colman Grimes and Ross Gingles of Skerries Sailing Club in fifth. 

Elsewhere in the fleet, Sligo's David Evans and William Draper lead the Silver fleet and the top youth boat.

Winds gusting up to 33 mph confront the fleet on Tuesday, day two of the championships.

Race Results

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

Published in GP14, RStGYC
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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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