Ger Owens Retains GP14 Championship of Ireland Title

3rd August 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Back-to-Back — Ger Owens and Melanie Morris retained the GP14 Championship of Ireland title at Carrickfergus Sailing Club ahead of the GP14 World Championship.

Back-to-Back — Ger Owens and Melanie Morris retained the GP14 Championship of Ireland title at Carrickfergus Sailing Club and now turn their attention to the World Championship on Belfast Lough. File photo

Defending champions Ger Owens and Melanie Morris retained the GP14 Championship of Ireland title after a thrilling six-race series hosted by Carrickfergus Sailing Club, edging home by a single point in a 37-boat fleet on Belfast Lough.

Representing Wicklow Sailing Club and East Antrim Boat Club aboard Two-Belle, Owens and Morris recovered from an early 14th-place finish to post a championship-winning net score of 17. Their series of 9, 3, 14, 2, 1, 2 demonstrated the consistency that ultimately secured back-to-back national crowns.

The closest challenge came from Colman Grimes and Ross Gingles aboard You Go Boss. The Rush Sailing Club and East Antrim Boat Club pairing won Race Three and recorded four top-five finishes, but a costly 16th in Race Five proved decisive. They finished second overall on 18 points, just one behind the defending champions.

Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club's Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson claimed third overall after winning the final race of the championship. They finished level on 23 points with Keith and Mateo Louden but secured the final podium place on countback after an equally consistent series.

Conor Twohig and Matthew Cotter remained firmly in the title hunt through the opening five races before a final-race DNC dropped The Wrong Trousers to fifth overall.

The championship was one of the closest in recent years. Just one point separated first and second, while only six points covered the leading four crews after six races.

Adam and Emily Torrens finished eighth overall aboard Kokomo to claim the Youth title, while Daniel Corbett and Freya Pembery completed the overall top ten and headed the Silver Fleet.

The result also provides an intriguing pointer towards the GP14 World Championship later this month. While Carrickfergus Sailing Club staged the Irish championship on the northern shore of Belfast Lough, the class now moves across the lough to Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, where many of the leading Irish crews will renew their rivalry against an international fleet.

Owens and Morris will arrive at the worlds with renewed confidence after successfully defending their national title. However, the narrow margins at Carrickfergus suggest the battle for the world crown is likely to be just as closely contested.

Championship of Ireland – Top Five

Ger Owens / Melanie Morris (Two-Belle) – 17 pts
Colman Grimes / Ross Gingles (You Go Boss) – 18 pts
Ross Kearney / Daniel Nelson (Ron) – 23 pts
Keith Louden / Mateo Louden – 23 pts (countback)
Conor Twohig / Matthew Cotter (The Wrong Trousers) – 27 pts

Race Results

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Published in GP14

Tagged under

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