Greystones Solo dinghy sailor Shane MacCarthy took third overall in the Spring Cup OK Solo 2019 in Holland last weekend.

GP14 world champion Shane MacCarthy is known for his exploits across a number of sailing classes, including the Fireball dinghy, but perhaps less known is his Solo dinghy form.

MacCarthy was up against some stiff British competition at the weekend as well as a crop of top Dutch sailors in a 31-boat fleet.

British Fireball sailor Tom Gillard took the overall win in his North/Winder ship from fellow brit Guy Mayger who secured his best finish at a Solo Super Series event racing with a HD/Winder setup.

The Wicklow helmsman can be well pleased with his solid performance using a HD/Winder combination as the sole Irish sailor and there are some great clips of MacCarthy sailing in the Solo vid below (but who chose the soundtrack?)

As regular Afloat readers will recall, the Greystones Sailing Club champion has been the owner of a double-chined Solo for a couple of years for 'messing about in' since 2016 and is a regular DMYC Frostbiter.

Like the beloved Geep, the Solo was designed by Jack Holt in 1956. The Solo dinghy is sailed in the United Kingdom, Holland and Australia....and now Ireland. Perhaps McCarthy has stumbled on a new class for Ireland as the love affair with single-handed dinghy sailing continues as evinced by the recent growth in Laser Masters division racing?

Originally designed in wood, competitive boats are now widely available in Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) or composite construction (FRP hull and wood deck) as well as wood.

2006 was the 50th anniversary of the design.

Back in 2016, MacCarthy told Afloat had 'no serious Solo campaign plans but very much enjoys taking the dinghy for an evening spin'. Maybe this Dutch foray has heightened his appetite for more international Solo sailing?

More on MacCarthy's Medemblik's exploits in Yachts and Yachting here. Overall results here.

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 next month with high hopes for Greystones Sailing Club's Shane MacCarthy who won the British title last year, earning him a sailor of the month award in the process.

The full entry list for the worlds (updated to Feb 4) is downloadable below.

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 in October: O’Tiarnaigh Challenge, Purcell, Ulster’s, Leinster’s, Irish, Autumn, Hot Toddy

The 2015 Silver and Bronze leagues were very closely fought with the winner only being decided in the last race of the last event.

Download the full league file below as an excel file.

Gold Fleet Winner
Shane Mac Carthy & Damien Bracken – Greystones SC

Silver Fleet Winner
Katie Dwyer & Michelle Rowley - Sutton DC

Bronze Fleet Winner
Gareth Gallagher & Richard Gallagher – Lough Foyle YC

The prizes of free Insurance vouchers were presented to the winners of the Gold, Silver and Bronze leagues at the final event of the Hot Toddy.

The GP14 Association of Ireland President Stephen Boyle thanks CraftInsure for sponsoring the GP14 Irish Leagues 2015.