Blessington's Street and Lloyd Lead Irish Charge at GP14 World Championships in Belfast

11th August 2026

Afloat.ie Team

GP14 World Championship fleet racing under spinnaker on Belfast Lough

Colour charge: The 90-boat GP14 World Championship fleet races under spinnaker on Belfast Lough during Monday’s second day of competition. Photo: GP14 World Championships

Blessington Sailing Club's Sam Street and Josh Lloyd have taken the lead at the GP14 World Championships on Belfast Lough after scoring back-to-back victories in Monday's two races.

Reigning Irish champions Ger Owens and Mel Morris of Wicklow Sailing Club are second overall, with five Irish crews now occupying places in the top ten of the 90-boat international fleet after three races.

Street and Lloyd have four points from a 2,1,1 scoreline, giving them a four-point advantage over Owens and Morris on eight. Britain's Oli Hale and Harry Shaw are third on 11 points.

Street and Lloyd Score Belfast Lough Double

Monday's racing brought a marked change from the cold, rain and shifting winds that disrupted Sunday's opening programme, when only one championship race was completed.

The second day initially began windless at host club Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, but a north-easterly filled in around midday and the fleet was sent to a race area off Helen's Bay.

Club scene: Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club at Cultra hosts the 90-boat GP14 World Championships, with racing continuing on Belfast Lough until Friday. Photo: GP14 World Championships

With an eight-knot breeze established, Race Two started at 2.20pm and produced a close Irish battle at the front.

Street and Lloyd took their first victory of the championship, finishing just six seconds ahead of Owens and Morris. Hale and Shaw were third, 14 seconds behind the winners.

The Blessington pair struck again in Race Three, with Hale and Shaw moving up to second, 13 seconds behind. Owens and Morris completed another consistent performance with third place, 27 seconds behind the winners.

Five Irish Crews in Top Ten

The two wins have put Street and Lloyd at the head of a strong Irish showing after three races.

Owens and Morris have yet to finish outside the top three, counting 3,2,3 to lie second.

Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club's Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson are sixth overall on 29 points after adding fourth and 11th places on Monday.

Keith and Mateo Louden of Lough Foyle Yacht Club are ninth on 34 points, while Adam and Emily Torrens, representing Newtownards Sailing Club and Lough Erne Yacht Club, are tenth on 35.

That gives Ireland five boats in the championship top ten, with British crews occupying the other five places.

Racing Continues on Tuesday

Monday's two races brought the championship back on schedule after Sunday's difficult opening day, when major wind shifts forced the abandonment of the first attempted race before a single championship race was eventually completed.

The fleet sailed back west along Belfast Lough to Cultra following Monday's racing.

Racing continues on Tuesday, with Wednesday scheduled as the championship lay day before racing resumes on Thursday and concludes on Friday.

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