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GP14 dinghy sailing
Irish GP14 Dinghy Sailing News and Regatta Results
GP14s run downwind at the Barbados World Championships
Ireland stays in contention at the GP14 worlds in Bardbados this week but the lack of official results from the Barbado Yacht Club is possibly best explained by today's layday after last night's Rum party. The overall position after race…
GP14 Worlds Race one underway
Greystones Sailing Club's Shane MaCarthy and Andy Davis took a well earned third in the opening race of the GP14 World Championships in Barbados yesterday. Full (provisional) results for race one are downloadable below. The Wicklow sailor stays very much…
A GP14 is launched off the beach at Barbados Yacht Club in the build up to the World Championships on Monday. 23 Irish boats are competing.
23 Irish GP14s have made the journey to Barbados Yacht Club and the fleet stands at 104 boats from Ireland, UK, Canada, Australia, Sri Lanka and Barbados for the first race on Monday. Greystones'Sailing Club's Shane McCarthy is in the running but…
GP14_Bardbados_packing
22 Irish GP14s took the first step on the journey to the Caribbean when they arrived on a drizzly wet Saturday morning at SureFreight's Yard off the Crumlin Road, Belfast. Barbados Yacht Club welcomes the international fleet of 72 GP14s for racing…
Shane_MacCarthy_Damien_Bracken
The GP14 class runs a league of dinghy sailing in Ireland with sailors competing in Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets writes Laura McFarland. The CraftInsure GP14 Irish League comprises of seven events throughout the season starting in April and finishing…
Gold_Fleet_Winners_Mel_Ger
On a weekend full of expectation, this GP14 championship certainly didn’t disappoint writes David Johnston. Being the last event of the year, a big turnout was expected and with 28 boats competing over the weekend, a big turnout was what we…
Jack_Currin_Tim_Corcoran GP14
There was a record entry of 24 boats for the GP14 Youth Championships hosted alongside the senior event, the Autumn Open last weekend at Greystones writes Niall Henry. With lots of sunshine on Saturday morning, a steady 15 knots of…
gp14_youth
Edward Coyne of Youghal SC crewed by Colman Grimes of Skerries, was victorious in this year’s Youth Championship raced in summer like conditions off Greystones in Co. Wicklow last weekend. David Johnson & Eanna Lawless of Sutton fought hard for…
Big GP14 Turnout for Lough Foyle's Culmore Regatta
Culmore Regatta saw an exceptionally large turnout of GP14 boats and Foyle Class Punts. Winds were good for the Dinghy races but fell away for the Foyle Class punts.Winners for the Foyle Class punts ;Billy Doherty Memorial Cup was won…
Afloat Sailor of the Month Shane McCarthy and Damien Bracken have won the GP14 Championships of Ireland with a dominant display of top class sailing in tricky conditions at Newtownards Sailing Club. Five races were completed over three days on the northern…
With their nearest rivals Flynn & Froggat out of the top four in Race 8, Greystones dinghy duo Shane McCarthy & Andy Thompson became GP14 UK Champions without having to sail the final race at Brixham this afternoon. Scroll down…
#gp14 – The GP14 UK Nationals concludes today in Brixham and there is every chance of an Irish overall winner. Shane McCarthy & Andy Thompson (Greystones SC) had another superb day finishing yesterday with a 2,1,2 to retain the overall…
#gp14 – With winds gusting well into high 20's (mph) forecast for Torbay yesterday' racing at the GP14 UK Nationals at Brixham was delayed for sometime. Eventually the fleet set out for the race course with more than a few…
Shane McCarthy & Andy Thompson
#gp14 – Greystones Sailing Club's Shane McCarthy & Andy Thompson made it two races out of three for the Irish at Zhik GP14 UK Nationals in Brixham. A 1st and 5th leaves them lying 2nd overall. A 7th & 8th…
#gp14 – Sutton Dinghy Club's Alan Blay & David Johnston won the first race today of the GP14 UK Nationals at Brixham. Greystones Sailing Club's Shane McCarthy and Andy Thompson were third. The nine race series at Brixham Yacht Club runs…
GP14 Leinster Championship
#gp14 – With the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta running this year, the GP14 class were invited to compete in addition to 30 other classes that also included 8 other dinghy fleets. To make the event that extra bit special it…

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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