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Owens and Morris Crowned GP14 National Champions at Rush

24th August 2025
“Part
Part of the 41 boat GP14 fleet launches for the final day of racing at the Rush Sailing Club hosted GP14 Irish National Championship won by Ger Owens and Melanie Morris

Ger Owens and Melanie Morris have been crowned GP14 Irish National Champions after three days of racing at Rush Sailing Club, in which the Wicklow-East Antrim duo led from start to finish.

The pair, winners of three races, finished with a net score of nine points to secure the title in one of Ireland’s biggest senior dinghy classes.

Second overall were Colman Grimes and Ross Gingles (Rush/Skerries SC) on 16 points, including a race five win and consistent podium results.

Defending champions Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson (RNIYC) completed the podium in third place with 17 points, having won races one and six.

Sam Street and Josh Lloyd (Blessington SC) finished fourth overall with 29 points, boosted by victory in race eight.

John and Donal McGuinness (Moville Boat Club) placed fifth on 34 points, while David Evans and William Draper (Univela Sailing Centre) were sixth with 36 points.

Adam and Emily Torrens (NSC/LEYC) won the Silver fleet prize in seventh overall on 47 points.

The Bronze fleet title went to Riaghan Boardman and Maedbh Butterly (Rush SC), who placed 16th overall on 87 points.

The 41-boat fleet completed eight races over the three-day championship, with two discards applied under the scoring rules.

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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