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Displaying items by tag: Amir AnwarHameed

As January progresses, the news starts to zip back from the finishes in the Caribbean of the Transatlantic rowing races from the Canaries, and last year it was a Wicklow team that successfully hit the headlines. This year it’s a somewhat more convoluted process, but it emerges that half of the crew were Irish on board Out of the Blue, the entry from the highly-regarded Delft Technological University in The Netherlands, whose alumni include Ireland’s distinguished maritime polymath Hal Sisk.

 Transatlantic oarsman Amir Anwar-Hameed of Bray formerly specialized in aerospace engineering, but at Delft he is transitioning to design and strategic innovation Transatlantic oarsman Amir Anwar-Hameed of Bray formerly specialized in aerospace engineering, but at Delft he is transitioning to design and strategic innovation

Amir Anwar-Hameed of Bray was one of the Out of the Blue foursome from Delft that placed second overall in a very competitive field, and so too was Mark Bolger. He is best known for his Baltimore Sailing Club links, but before that he was active in college racing, and was twice awarded the Irish Universities Sailing Association “Sailor of the Year” title.

Delft post-grad student Mark Bolger has a home address in Sandymount in Dublin, but in sailing in Ireland he is best known for his links to Baltimore and university team racingDelft post-grad student Mark Bolger has a home address in Sandymount in Dublin, but in sailing in Ireland he is best known for his links to Baltimore and university team racing

Published in Sailor of the Month

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 2023

  • O'Tiarnaigh (Apr 22-23) Blessington Sailing Club
  • Ulsters (May 20-21) East Antrim Boat Club
  • Munsters (Jun 17-18) Tralee Bay Sailing Club
  • Leinsters (Jul 7-9) Dun Laoghaire Regatta
  • SOYC (Aug 19-20) Rush Sailing Club
  • Nationals (Sep 1-3) Sutton Dinghy Club
  • Hot Toddy (Sep 30-Oct 1) Royal North of Ireland Yacht 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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