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Sutton's Blay & McNally Prove Strong in Dublin Bay GP14 Frostbite Series

4th December 2021
Some very close and competitive races were held at the GP14 Frostbites at Sutton Dinghy Club
There was competitive racing among the seven boat fleet at the GP14 Frostbites at Sutton Dinghy Club

The interest in the GP14 Frostbite Series on Dublin Bay continued with seven taking to the water last Sunday morning for some very close and competitive races.

Curly Morris with Josh Porter upfront joined Sam Street and Josh Lloyd and Colman Grimes and Meg Tyrrell in making the journey to Sutton Dinghy Club.

Add in the home Clubs Hugh and Dan Gill, Peter and Stephen Boyle, Alan Blay and Hugh McNally and Kerri-Ann Boylan & David Johnston and the build-up to the World Championships for Irish crews had some cracking racing under PRO Jim Lambkin with Safety and Mark Laying managed by Club Commodore Ian McCormack.

Despite it being low water, the racing was underway by ten past 11 in 15kts of breeze. Before the end of the morning, it had reached 20kts with a few gusts to 26kts. Aside from a broken toe-strap on the Blessington boat and a visit to the drink for Kerri-Ann and David during a spinnaker gybe, two superbly competitive races were completed.

On the day Alan Blay/Hugh McNally won both races.

Race 1: Alan Blay (1), Peter Boyle (2), Colman Grimes (3), Hugh Gill (4), Sam Street (5), Curly Morris (6), Kerri-Ann (7)
Race 2: Alan Blay (1), Peter Boyle (2), Hugh Gill (3), Kerri-Ann (4), Colman Grimes (5), Curly Morris (6), Sam Street (7)

Racing continues this Sunday.

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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