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GP14 dinghy sailing
Irish GP14 Dinghy Sailing News and Regatta Results
Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club Race Officer Gerry Reid starts a race in the 19-boat GP14 Spring Series at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club
19 GP14s set sail on St Patrick's Day for the fifth weekend of the spring series at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club on Belfast Lough.  The sailors were greeted with a light 4-5 knots from the south, with a…
Skerries Sailing Club last hosted the GP14 championship in Ireland 2022 after a number of cancellations caused by COVID
Ireland will stage the GP14 World Championships for the second time in four years following a decision by the International Committee to relocate the 2026 World Championship from Sri Lanka. Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, Belfast, has agreed to…
Is this what it has come to for a once keenly-sailed GP14? Her extremely stationary condition is emphasised by the distant but very live background of Sutton Dinghy Club
Those intrepid spirits who venture westward on the road from the Most Serene Republic of Howth through Sutton Cross, and on into the wilds of nearby Ireland, always used to look forward to the first glimmering glimpse of Sutton Creek…
File image of ILCA dinghies racing in the Viking Marine DMYC Frostbites at Dun Laoghaire Harbour
The Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC) is looking forward to the kick-off of this winter’s dinghy Frostbite Series sponsored by Viking Marine in Dun Laoghaire this Sunday afternoon (5 November), with the wind forecast to provide a challenging afternoon.…
DMYC Frostbites 2022/23 – Aeros, Fireballs, RS and PY dinghies in Dun Laoghaire Harbour
The scheduled start of the DMYC-hosted Viking Marine-sponsored Frostbites for 2023/24 is just over a week away and yet, to date, there is a very modest entry of boats. Indeed, the numbers entered thus far would represent a poor turnout…
Tight racing among the 27 GP14s during the Hot Toddy at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club on Belfast Lough
Last weekend, 27 GP14s gathered at the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club on the south shore of Belfast Lough for the first of the Hot Toddy meetings of the 23/24 season. Dominating the competition were the home crew of…
30 GP14s are expected for this weekend's Autumn 'Hot Toddy' Event on Belfast Lough
The first of the annual GP14 Hot Toddy events listed in the class calendar will be held this weekend (30th September -1st October) at the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club on Belfast Lough. The event originates at East Antrim…
Overall winner Ger Owens leads Rob Dickson at a leeward gate buoy during the GP14 National Championships at Sutton Dinghy Club on Dublin Bay
Sutton Dinghy Club, located on Dublin Bay, proudly hosted the GP14 Championship of Ireland. This year, the club put on an impressive show for the class, attracting 37 boats from across the country, including some of the biggest names in…
Tight racing on Dublin Bay for the GP14 Championship of Ireland hosted by Sutton Dinghy Club
With seven top-two finishes (and four race wins) from eight races sailed, Ger Owens & Mel Morris took the GP14 National dinghy title in style in a tricky light air championship on Dublin Bay. Three races on Friday were followed by…
Racing at the 2023 GP14 Summer Open Championship at Rush Sailing Club in North Dublin
Niall Henry and Ossian Geraghty from Sligo Yacht Club emerged as the 2023 GP14 Summer Open champions, held at Rush Sailing Club on August 19-20. The event saw a strong turnout from sailors across the country, including a notable presence…
Mirror Dinghies in championship action from Sligo Yacht Club at Rosses Point under the distinctive profile of Ben Bulben, a scene which is a fitting memorial to the late Gus Henry
The death of Gus Henry of Sligo has taken from among us a pillar of sailing in the northwest whose energies and enthusiasm were such that they had beneficial effects nationally and internationally. A member of Sligo Yacht Club for…
Ger Owens and Mel Morris (14256) were the overall winners of the GP14 Leinsters at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
The 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta attracted 25 GP14s. On Day 1, with big winds forecast, a 24-boat fleet made their way out to the Salthill racecourse with some trepidation. The fact they got three races completed says much for…
Gus Henry

Gus Henry RIP

9th July 2023 GP14
Afloat.ie regrets to record the death on Friday (7 July) of Gus Henry of Sligo; a leading Sligo Yacht Club member, veteran race officer and sailing enthusiast. In particular, Gus was a GP14 sailor of great energy and national status,…
25-boats are competing for GP14 Leinster Championships honours at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Dublin Bay
Sutton Dinghy Club's Alan Blay and Hugh McNally are top of the 25-boat GP14 Leinster Championships leaderboard with two races left to sail on Sunday at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Dublin Bay. Alan Blay and Hugh McNally competing…
Defending Leinster GP14 Champions Ger Owens (right) and Mel Morris will seek to retain the title at this weekend's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
With the 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta starting for dinghies this Friday, the GP14 Ireland fleet will use the event as their 2023 Leinster Championships. This is not the first time the Leinsters have been run as part of Volvo,…
This year's GP14 Munster Championship was the first time the fleet had visited Fenit in over 40 years
The Irish GP14 fleet made the trip to the southwest corner of Ireland to Tralee Bay Sailing Club in Fenit for the 2023 GP14 Munster Championships on the 17th/18th of June. It was the first time the fleet had been to…

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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