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Displaying items by tag: Isle of Man cruise callers 2012

#MANX CRUISE CALLS – The Manx capital is set to welcome over a dozen cruise callers for the season which starts next month according to www.visitisleman.com

Two of the 14 calls that are scheduled to Douglas belong to the Silversea Cruises fleet, the Silver Cloud due in June, has been a fairly frequent visitor to the Isle of Man in the past. While the company's recently acquired 'Expedition' vessel Silver Explorer will be visiting the Island for the first time earlier in May.

Other distinctive inaugural callers in 2012 include the Seven Seas Voyager. The Berlitz Guide rated luxury premium class vessel is also scheduled to visit Douglas again the following year.

In addition to the 2012 season, the Thomson Spirit is due to call in early September, a vessel with a 1,250 passenger capability.

Below is the 2012 cruise call list

Quest for Adventure, 8th May

Arion, 26th May

Discovery, 28th May

Silver Explorer, 31st May

Marco Polo, 4th June

Ocean Countess, 5th June

Seven Seas Voyager, 7th June

Silver Cloud, 8th June

Saga Sapphire, 4th July

Quest for Adventure, 9th July

Marco Polo, 16th July

Deutschland, 20th July

Hebridean Princess, 21st August

Thomson Spirit, 6th September

Published in Cruise Liners

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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