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Displaying items by tag: North of Disko

#arcticcircle – The Galway to Greenland Expedition 'North of Disko' has started its return journey from high in the Arctic Circle along the west Greenland coast. The team, lead by Jamie Young aboard the 49ft Killary Flyer yacht, set sail from Galway on the 14th June and have spent the past six weeks exploring the spectacular coastline by kayak, climbing and sail, as well as through film and photography.

The expedition, run by Killary Adventure Expeditions, aims to document this changing coastline and produce a comprehensive art photography exhibition showcasing the fragile nature of the Arctic environment as well as climbing and kayaking guides to the west Greenland coast. Art photographer Daragh Muldowney of Dulra Photography is one of the crewmembers and has managed to capture some incredible images of the ice from the ice cap and glaciers to icebergs. The expedition has also been filmed along the way with the aim of producing a short documentary on the experience.

The crew are currently on their way south to the town of Sisimuit, still inside the Arctic Circle, where they will prepare the boat for their return journey across the Atlantic. They aim to arrive back in Killary Harbour on approximately the 20th August.

"The expedition so far has been hugely rewarding" according to Jamie. "We've been lucky enough to have been welcomed into the Inuit communities we've visited and it's been very interesting to hear about the social, environmental and political challenges faced by them at present".

The crew encountered three significant storms on the initial Atlantic crossing so are hoping for a less turbulent return journey. You can follow their progress through daily blogs from the crew at www.northofdisko.com or view a selection of images from the trip so far on their facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/Killary-Adventure-Expeditions. You can see examples of Daragh's previous work at www.dulra.com

Published in Cruising

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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