#GP14–Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough will host the Irish GP14 Championships on July 21st and 22nd.
In 2014, the GP14 World Championships come to Northern Ireland for the first time in many years, so next month's CraftInsure Irish Championship represents a an ideal way for visitors to complete some early research into local sailing.
The launch for the event was held in Belfast on Sunday 10th June beside the Lagan. The local GP14's held a short event on the river to salute Alastair Duffin for 50 years of building wooden boats (mainly GP14's) in East Belfast. Alistair Duffin's superb dinghies are sailed across the world. In the days of fibre glass boats, a wooden Duffin hull currently holds the World title.
Ballyholme Yacht Club regularly holds Regional, National and International Championships in many dinghy classes with club member Robin Gray an RYA NI Regional Race Management Coordinator.
Ballyholme YC has a long history in GP14s. Bill Whisker and Jimmy McKee from Ballyholme YC won the GP14 World Championships in Australia in the 1970 and Burton Allen won the GP14 British National Championship.