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GP14 dinghy sailing
Irish GP14 Dinghy Sailing News and Regatta Results
East Antrim Boat Club in Larne is a haven of peace and quiet in busy commercial town, manufacturing centre and ferryport
East Antrim Boat Club is a haven of almost rural peace and quiet on the point of land with the remains of historic Olderfleet Castle at the south side of this commercial town. For Larne is a bustling manufacturing centre…
Off the start line at the GP14 Leinsters at Mullingar Sailing Club
With the GP14 World Championships less than a month behind us, many of the Irish sailors would be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas writes Andy Johnston. But with the arrival of autumn, the GP14 Ireland fleet moved to…
GP14 dinghies roll tack during a youth training event at Blessington Sailing Club
Following on from successful training weekend events this season, the Irish GP 14 class has announced a free youth training weekend at Mullingar Sailing Club over the weekend of 24th and 25th September 2022. The GP14 class held two training…
Colman Grimes & Ross Gingles, who finished fifth, were top Irish in the 106-boat GP14 World Championship fleet at Skerries
The top Irish boat at last week's GP14 World Championships in Skerries was the host club's Colman Grimes & Ross Gingles, who finished fifth in the 106-boat fleet. As Afloat previously reported, there were three Irish in the Top 10,…
GP14 Worlds at Skerries - A total of 212 sailors sailed 106 boats and represented five countries in the six-day Skerries event
The GP 14 Sailing World Championship at Skerries Sailing Club has been won for the fifth time by Englishmen Ian Dobson and Andy Tunnicliffe of Burwain Sailing Club. Dobson had led the series from the outset until his winning streak…
Racing at the 106 boat GP14 World Championships at Skerries Sailing Club
Ireland secured its first race win on the penultimate day of the GP14 World Championships at Skerries Sailing Club when three times Olympian Ger Owens and crew Melanie Morris stormed to victory in Thursday's first race of three. GP14 Worlds…
John and Donal McGuinness of Moville Boat Club set their spinnaker on a downwind leg in the first day of racing at the GP14 World Championships in Skerries County Dublin
After two days with no racing, day 3 arrived, and the 106-boat GP14 World Championship fleet at Skerries in County Dublin knew they were in for a busy day. The fleet launched early off the sand in the harbour into…
UK competitors John Hayes and Joel James competing in the practice race of the 104-boat GP14 World Championships in Skerries, North Dublin
Skerries Sailing Club has waited four years to host the GP14 World Championships, so another two days to get the first race is tolerable as Monday's race schedule was upset due to lack of wind. The wind didn't play ball,…
Some final tweaks in the dinghy park before Sunday's first race of the GP14 World Championships in Skerries, County Dublin
Postponed twice due to Covid, there is now only one day to the first race of the GP14 World Championship hosted by Skerries Sailing Club. With 106 entries, the place is really starting to get busy. The Club with support…
Almost 50 boats had amassed to get their Worlds practice in, gate starts and all...
In final preparation for the World Championships in Skerries in a fortnight, the Irish GP14 fleet enjoyed the O'Tiarnaigh Challenge on the Worlds race track The O'Tiarnaigh Challenge has always been a different kind of event. Pioneered by the late…
This weekend the GP14 Ireland fleet head for Skerries for a full event but with an eye to Worlds preparation very much to the fore for sailors and the Race Management team alike
With less than three weeks to go to the GP14 World Championships, the Irish GP14 fleet continues their preparations this weekend (July 30/31) for what will be a massive event in Skerries next month (August 14-19). With 40+ boats in…
The late Pat Kelly from Antrim Boat Club
The late Pat Kelly from Antrim Boat Club on Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland was known far and wide in Ireland. His passing last week at the age of 85, less than a year since he last sailed, was acknowledged…
Jimmie McKee was presented with a GP14 design blueprint during the prize-giving at last weekend’s class Nationals in Cultra, Co Down
GP14 Ireland took time out at last weekend’s Nationals prize-giving at the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, to acknowledge the efforts and contributions made to the class by Jimmie McKee for more than 50 years.  Jimmie, a winning crew with…
Jane Kearney and Ollie Goodhead from Royal North and South Shields SC (14242) in the mix at a leeward mark
In a warm-up for the 12-day long GP14 Worlds in Skerries in early August, a very competitive 40-strong fleet came to the line for the Ridgeway Irish GP14 Championships hosted by the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club on the…
The current Irish GP14 fleet is so strong the whole way through it, that there will be many teams aiming to compete in the top 10
This Saturday the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club is hosting the Ridgeway GP14 Irish National Championships on Belfast Lough and event director Gerry Reid casts his eye over the 40-boat fleet and looks at some of the runners and…
An impressive 60 Irish boats will compete at the 105-boat World Championships in Skerries this August
Host club Skerries Sailing Club in North Dublin has 105 entries for the upcoming GP14 World Championship taking place from the 14th to the 19th of August this year. That number is set to grow further as the event draws…

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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