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74 Boats Pre-Enter GP14 Worlds at Royal North in 2026

9th January 2026
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A total of 74 boats have pre-entered for the 2026 GP14 World Championship at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, with racing set on Belfast Lough from 8–14 August Credit: Bob Given

A strong fleet of 74 boats has already pre-entered for the 2026 GP14 World Championship, set to be held at the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club (RNIYC) from 8–14 August.

Hosted in partnership with the International GP14 Class Association, the event will take place on Belfast Lough and is capped at 100 entries.

“We are thrilled to be hosting this prestigious championship,” Event Director Gerry Reid told Afloat. “Preparations are well underway, and we are very much looking forward to welcoming GP14 sailors from around the world.”

The championship will feature nine races over five days, with all fleets racing together. Categories include male, female, mixed, and youth world champions.

The Notice of Race confirms that registration opens on Saturday, 8 August, with racing starting Sunday, 9 August, following a practice race and Race 1 at 13:30 BST. No races will begin after 16:30 on the final day, Friday 14 August.

All entries before 10 April 2026 qualify for discounted fees and include two complimentary event T-shirts. Youth crews also receive reduced entry rates.

The official Notice of Race can be viewed below as a downloadable PDF file.
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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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