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MacCarthy & Bracken Win GP14 O’Tiarnaigh Challenge at Swords Sailing & Boating Club

16th April 2018
Hugh Gill Senior and Junior competing in the GP14 Challenge at Swords Hugh Gill Senior and Junior competing in the GP14 Challenge at Swords Credit: Patrick Wodhams

The forecast for the GP14 O'Tiarnaigh Challenge 2018 was moderate to fresh breeze for the Saturday and strong breeze and up to 30 knots of gusts for the Sunday.

OD Peter Smyth at the Saturday morning briefing made the decision to sail all 6 qualifying races instead of the scheduled 4 races on the Saturday.

The fleet of 19 set off in their own fleet starts as Peter got 3 races in before lunch on Saturday with already a few thrills and spills in the growing breeze. The fleet had a quick lunch ashore with warm drinks and rolls provided by Swords. Back on the water to similar winds for the first race but it abated a little giving a more enjoyable final 2 races. The fleet was shore after a long day.

Greystones Sailing Club's Shane MacCarthy & Damian Bracken always enjoy the bigger breezes and dominated the two days

With the 6 races sailed the 4 leaders of each fleet were decided on the Saturday with 3 races scheduled for the Sunday for the final of the O'Tiarnaigh Challenge.

Greystones Sailing Club's Shane MacCarthy & Damian Bracken always enjoy the bigger breezes and dominated the two days and take another year's succession of winning the O'Tiarnaigh Trophy.

Second overall were Royal St George's Ross Killian with crew Ger Owens followed by a great performance and third place for Newtowards SC Josh Porter and Andy Corkhill.

Youghal’s Jack Buttimer & Adam McDonagh topped the bronze fleet finishing a very creditable 6th overall

Published in GP14
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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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