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GP14 'Hot Toddy' Fleet Braces Storm Ashley to Crown Evans & Draper Champions at Lough Erne Yacht Club

22nd October 2024
Close racing on Lough Erne at the 34-boat 2024 GP14 Hot Toddy event
Close racing on Lough Erne at the 34-boat 2024 GP14 Hot Toddy event Credit: Peter Brines

The weekend of 19/20 October saw the GP14 fleet return to Lough Erne Yacht Club for the Hot Toddy, the final event of the 2024 calendar.

The warnings that Storm Ashley was due to batter the country did not deter the 34 teams that entered the event. The 34 entries comprised three local Lough Erne Yacht Club boats and 31 visiting boats, some of whom had travelled from as far as Tralee to sail on the beautiful waters of Lower Lough Erne. The fact that this many visitors travelled despite the forecast is testament to the club's renowned event management.

On Saturday, four of the planned six races took place in near-perfect sunny, dry conditions in a shifty southerly wind across the lake.

Race 1 was a battle between Sligo YC teams, with the Irish youth champion team of David Evans and William Draper coming out on top from Niall Henry and Ossian Geraghty. Father-and-son team Keith and Mateo Louden, Lough Foyle YC, took third place. The bronze fleet was won by Lough Ernes brother-and-sister pairing Adam and Emily Torrens.

Race 2 went to Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club's Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson again, from Henry and Geraghty, with another Sligo sister-and-brother team, Jessica and Mark Greer, in third place.

Race 3 was again a battle between the Evans & Draper, Kearney & Nelson, and Henry & Geraghty teams, with the three finishing in that order. Unfortunately, the Royal North pair suffered a freak capsize at the final windward mark, resulting in them losing their huge lead. The first bronze fleet boat was again the Torrens.

The 4th race of the day turned out to be the event's final race due to Sunday's storm. Sligo team Paddy O'Connor, with guest crew Richard Street, took this race after a late start and some bad luck earlier in the day. Evans & Draper beat Kearney & Nelson and ultimately won the event. The top bronze in this race went to The Greers, giving them 4th overall and 1st in the bronze fleet. Equal on points with this pair was the first Lough Erne Yacht Club boat of Adam & Emily Torrens, finishing 2nd in the bronze fleet and 5th overall.

After a mentally demanding day on the water, the crews were welcomed ashore with a "Hot Toddy" courtesy of sponsors The Boatyard Distillery, followed by an evening of food and banter in the bar.

GP14 Hot Toddy winners 2024 were David Evans and William Draper of Sligo YC, who received their prizes from Lough Erne Yacht Club commodore Raymond MorrisonGP14 Hot Toddy winners 2024 were David Evans and William Draper of Sligo YC, who received their prizes from Lough Erne Yacht Club commodore Raymond Morrison Photo: Charlie Valentine

At the prize giving, winners David & William thanked event organiser Michael Brines and all the Lough Erne Yacht Club volunteers and sponsors for a superb event.

Published in GP14, Inland Waterways
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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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