Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

GP14 dinghy sailing
Irish GP14 Dinghy Sailing News and Regatta Results
GP14 Ulsters Won By Greystones Pairing McCarthy & Bracken
#gp14 – Always be apprehensive of a GP14 venue described as picturesque... Lough Erne was described as the most picturesque venue one would ever sail and it definitely delivered on that promise. I got to see every nook and cranny of the beautiful…
Greystones GP14 Pair Win British Inland Championships
#gp14 – Greystones Sailing Club GP14 sailors Shane MacCarthy & Andy Thompson won the GP14 British Inland Championship at Carsington Water Sailing Club 9-10 May. This makes Thompson a double British Inland Champion after his successful win with Tom Gillard in…
GP14 Purcell Trophy Victory For McCarthy & Bracken At Lough Ree Yacht Club
#gp14 – Fresh from their win at the GP14 O'Tiarnaigh challenge two weeks ago Shane McCarthy and Damien Bracken from Greystones Sailing Club took the honours in challenging conditions at Lough Ree Yacht club writes Keith Louden It had been nearly…
Swords Sailing Club Stages GP14 Dinghy Challenge
#gp14 – The GP14's kicked off the season with the Riocard O'Tiarnaigh Challenge sailed at Swords Sailing Club on the weekend of the 18th and 19th of April. A total of 20 boats turned up to compete for the championship…
GP14 Training at Youghal Sailing Club Gives Dinghy Racing A Boost in the South East
#gp14 – The ideal number of six GP14 dinghies with 12 keen sailors ranging in age from 14 to 20 and from four different clubs participated in Easter Training organised under the burgee of Youghal Sailing Club (formed only 4…
GP14 Hot Toddy Event At Newtownards Was Race Officer's 'Nightmare'
#gp14 – The GP14 Hot Toddy 2014 has been won by Ruan O'Tiarnaigh & Mel Morris writes Curly Morris. The forecast seemed promising with warm weather and some wind. However although the autumn warmth was there, Newtownards' sheltered position surrounded by low…
GP14s Return to Howth Yacht Club For Autumn Open Event
The Irish GP14 Class experienced Howth's two days of glorious weather, hospitality and sharp race management at Howth Yacht Club for their Autumn Open and Youth Championship. Under the watchful eye of PRO Harry Gallagher, the fleet completed the full…
Blackwater River Dinghy Cruise Voyages from Youghal to Villierstown
#dinghycruise – As previewed by Afloat.ie, last Saturday four visiting and five local GP14 dinghies crewed by 21 seafarers and two sea dogs set off from Youghal quay in County Cork at low water on the second annual Y2V Blackwater river…
Sailing in Youghal Boost From Blackwater Voyage to Cappoquin
#youghal – The Munster Blackwater is one of Ireland's mystery rivers writes W M Nixon. Despite comparisons to the Rhine, it keeps much of its long and beautiful length well hidden. And even when it reaches the sea at Youghal,…
McGuinness Brothers Take Top Irish Result At GP14 Worlds
#gp14 – Three race wins were enough for Britain's Ian Dobson and Andy Tunnicliffe was more than enough to wrap up the GP14 World Championship on Strangford Lough yesterday. Although British entries took the top five places in the 100–boat…
Nantwich Crew Take Early Lead at GP14 Worlds, Ireland Lying Fifth, Sixth & Seventh
#gp14 – Normal service resumed after Monday's 'Major Rescue' for the second day of the GP14 World Championships at East Down Yacht Club on Strangford Lough yesterday with English crews occupying the top three places in the 14–foot dinghy class…
GP14 World Championships Statement on Monday's 'Major Rescue' on Strangford Lough
#gp14 – Following the 'major rescue' incident during the GP14 Worlds at East Down Yacht Club on Monday afternoon, championship organisers issued the following statement to 'reassure' members: 'Today was the first day of the event with race 1 starting…
All Sailors Accounted For as GP14 World Championship Fleet Capsizes in Strangford Squall
#strangfordlough –  There is good news from Strangford Lough after a major incident during the GP14 Dinghy World Sailing Championships this afternoon. More than 200 people have returned to shore after 87 sailing dinghies were hit by stormy weather and gusts…
GP14 Irish Dinghy Title Retained By Ger Owens & Melanie Morris
#gp14 – With the upcoming GP14 World Championships in August, this year's Irish Nationals was shortened to a two day event and held under the burgee of Sligo Yacht Club. A fleet of 41 boats (including 12 boats from the…
East Down Yacht Club Count Down to GP14 World Championships on Strangford Lough
#GP14World – There's less than a month to go before the start of the GP14 World Championships to be held at East Down Yacht Club. This biennial event will see one of the biggest fleets of single class twin crew dinghies…
Donaghdee Sailing Club Hosts GP14 Ulster Championships
#gp14 – The GP14 Ulster Championship took place at the weekend, 28-29th June, at Donaghadee Sailing Club. A fleet of 25 boats took to the water on Saturday on a cracking day for sailing - constant strong wind and sunshine…

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

Featured Sailing School

INSS sidebutton

Featured Clubs

dbsc mainbutton
Howth Yacht Club
Kinsale Yacht Club
National Yacht Club
Royal Cork Yacht Club
Royal Irish Yacht club
Royal Saint George Yacht Club

Featured Brokers

leinster sidebutton

Featured Webcams

Featured Associations

ISA sidebutton
ICRA
isora sidebutton

Featured Marinas

dlmarina sidebutton

Featured Chandleries

CHMarine Afloat logo
https://afloat.ie/resources/marine-industry-news/viking-marine

Featured Sailmakers

northsails sidebutton
uksails sidebutton
watson sidebutton

Featured Blogs

W M Nixon - Sailing on Saturday
podcast sidebutton
BSB sidebutton
wavelengths sidebutton
 

Please show your support for Afloat by donating