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Owens and Morris Continue to Lead the GP14 Nationals at Rush Sailing Club

23rd August 2025
“Owens
Owens and Morris lead the GP14 Nationals overnight after two days of racing at Rush SC, with up to four races still to sail

Ger Owens and Melanie Morris lead the GP14 Irish National Championships after six races sailed in light to medium winds at Rush Sailing Club off the North Dublin coast.

The Wicklow SC pair, who have led since Friday's first races, posted more consistent results on Saturday (August 23rd), including two race wins, to sit on a net score of nine.

Tied on 12 points are Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson (RNIYC) and Colman Grimes with Ross Gingles (Rush/Skerries SC). Kearney takes second overnight on countback.

John McGuinness and Donal McGuinness (Moville Boat Club) sit fourth on 27 points, bolstered by a win in Race 2.

Adam and Emily Torrens (NSC/LEYC) lead the Silver fleet in fifth overall with 37 points.

William Evans and David Draper (Univela Sailing Centre) top the Bronze fleet in sixth place, sitting on 40 points.

Sam Street and Josh Lloyd (Blessington SC) are seventh with 42 points, tied with Rob Lee and Stephen Lynch (Greystones SC), who hold eighth on countback.

Patrick O’Connor and Richard Street (SYC) are ninth on 45 points.

Rounding out the top ten are Hugh Gill and Peter Boyle (Sutton Dinghy Club) with 51 points.

The 41-boat fleet returns to the water Saturday and Sunday to complete the championship series.

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 2026

  • April 25–26 — O’Tiarnaigh Trophy, Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club
  • May 9–10 — Munster Championship, Cullaun Sailing Club
  • June 6–7 — Ulster Championship, County Antrim Boat Club
  • June 11–14 — UK Nationals, Llandudno Sailing Club
  • July 4–5 — Leinster Championship, Howth Yacht Club
  • August 1–2 — Championship of Ireland, Carrickfergus Sailing Club
  • August 8–14 — GP14 World Championships
  • September 19–20 — Autumn Open / Youth Championship, Sligo Yacht Club
  • October 17–18 — Hot Toddy, Mullingar Sailing 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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