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#MarineWildlife - In response to a recent outbreak of crayfish plague in the River Suir and River Deel, emergency disease containment measures are needed to help prevent its spread.

Crayfish plague is a disease that kills Ireland’s native white-clawed crayfish. All crayfish that become infected will die.

The disease is easily transmitted in water or via contaminated equipment (for example on canoes, waders or nets).

Ireland holds the largest population of the white-clawed crayfish that remains in Europe.

To help protect our native crayfish from this disease, all water users are asked to operate a temporary ban on moving watersports and angling equipment out of the River Suir and River Deel catchments, commencing immediately.

Watersports and angling equipment currently in use in the Suir and Deel catchments may continue to be used there, but boats or equipment should not be transferred out of the catchment.

Limit your activity to the river section where you normally operate, avoid moving around the catchment and follow biosecurity protocols: Inspect, Remove, Clean, Dispose, Notify.

The Inland Fisheries Ireland website has more information for anglers, boaters, paddle sports enthusiasts and SCUBA divers.

Published in Marine Wildlife

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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