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Torrens Wins GP14 Youth Nationals at Blessington

14th September 2025
“Adam
Adam and Emily Torrens celebrate winning the GP14 Youth Nationals at Blessington, steering Kokomo to victory after two races in breeze on Blessington Lake. Credit: Cormac Murphy/GP14 Class

Adam and Emily Torrens have been crowned champions at the GP14 Youth Nationals in Blessington Sailing Club.

Sailing Kokomo, the pair scored a second and a first to finish with three points, securing the overall title in a fleet of 15 entries.

The Championship was raced as part of the GP14 Autumn Open as Afloat reports here.

Mateo Louden and Keith Louden took second place in XXX, also on three points but behind on countback.

Third overall went to Daithi Murphy and Rachel Deasy in Trouble No More with seven points, level with Aishling Kelly and Matthew Kelly.

Daniel Daniel and Brian Corbett claimed fifth in Pinta on 12 points, tied with Riaghan Boardman and Maedbh Butterly in Midas.

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Published in GP14, Youth Sailing
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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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