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Baltimore Sailing Club’s Star keelboat pair Peter and Robert O’Leary look to be the most likely Irish duo to fly the tricolour at the centenary Star Worlds in Marblehead, Massachusetts this September.

The 2022 Star World Championship from 8-17 September will mark 100 years of history since the first World Championship was held in 1922. 

This year’s event at the Eastern Yacht Club will also celebrate one of sailing’s most popular, successful and appreciated boat and its legends.

The world’s best Star sailors will be etched into history on the event’s coveted trophies | Credit: YCCS/Studio BorlenghiThe world’s best Star sailors will be etched into history on the event’s coveted trophies | Credit: YCCS/Studio Borlenghi
 
Remaining true to the heritage of the Star Class since 1922, the Worlds will be contested over six days with one long daily race, bringing together the world’s best in class alongside emerging talent in a battle of endurance, fitness, strategy and competition.

The single-race format is also reflected at the iconic Bacardi Cup, partner of the Star Class since 1927, at which the O’Leary brothers finished just shy of a podium place this past March in Miami.

Staking a place on the Star World Championship leaderboard remains as competitive as ever and the challenge for victory is as tough as the first edition back in 1922.

Published in Star

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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