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GP14 dinghy sailing
Irish GP14 Dinghy Sailing News and Regatta Results
GP14s are heading for Cullaun Lake in May
2019 will be a busy year for the Irish GP14 dinghy fleet and to celebrate the progress being made in Cullaun with a new Clubhouse at Kilkishen in Co Clare and also to recognise the recent growth of GP14 sailing in…
Ding-dong in yesterday’s final race in the GP 14 Nationals at Sligo – Ger Owens & Mel Morris (RStGYC) narrowly lead Curly Morris (East Antrim BC) & Laura McFarlane (Newtownards SC)
Ross and Jane Kearney may be based in England these days, but the former Mirror multiple champion and sail-maker is always happy to reaffirm his connections with the Royal North of Ireland YC at Cultra on Belfast Lough as he…
GP14s negotiate a gybe mark at Skerries during the Leinster Championships
After many weeks of amazing summer weather, the GP14 Leinster Championships did not disappoint with Skerries producing a fantastic weekend sailing. With light winds forecasted all weekend the OD and his team had planned ahead to allow for 4 races…
GP14 Silver fleet runners-up Josh Porter & Andrew Corkill at the Ulster Championships in Donaghdee
The Irish GP14 dinghy fleet returned to Donaghadee in County Down, Northern Ireland for the 2018 Ulster Championships on a sunny Saturday afternoon last weekend. The OOD Ruan O’Tiarnaigh got the first race off at 12pm in a moderate breeze. Ger…
Hugh Gill Senior and Junior competing in the GP14 Challenge at Swords
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…
The GP14 class  is providing grants for junior boats travelling to the world championships in Cornwall this July
Five of the seven Irish GP14 fixtures this season will be on the east coast ranging from Donaghdee and Newtownards in the North to the inland venue of Blessington in County Wicklow.  The season starts on April 14th with the…
The GP14 Annual Hot Toddy event took place fleet at Mullingar Sailing Club
The GP14 Annual Hot Toddy event took place over the weekend of the 14th / 15th October 2017 on Lough Owel hosted by Mullingar Sailing Club. Racing began on Saturday on flat water and with the wind shifting in force…
The GP14 Autumn Open was sailed at Royal Cork Yacht Club. Scroll down for photo gallery
470 Olympic helmsman Ger Owens, sailing under the Swords Saliing Club burgee, continued his winning run in the GP14 Autumn Open at the weekend when he topped the 19–boat Autumn Open event sailed for the first time in Cork Harbour. The…
2017 GP14 Irish Champions Ger Owens and Melanie Morris
The 2017 GP14 Irish Nationals were held on 19th-21st August at Ballyholme Yacht Club. 29 boats competed which included one visiting team from the UK – John Hayes, an ex 470 campaigner from Southport who was sailing with Joel James.…
GP14 sailors at Cornwall from left Stephen & Peter Boyle, Fergus Burnham (Dun Laoghaire Regatta Winner), Hugh Gill and Conor Twohig
As the GP14 British Nationals moves into its final day today, the fallout from Black Flag Monday continued with many seeking and getting redress for leeward caught BFD, as the pin boat was not anchored writes Andy Johnston On the…
Moville’s McGuinness brothers with Sligo’s Keith Louden and Alan Thomson in a relaxed mood at the GP14 British Nationals in Looe
#GP14 - Defending champions Shane MacCarthy and Andy Thompson of Greystones lead the Irish charge in fourth, with Moville’s McGuinness brothers in sixth, after three days of sailing in the GP14 British Nationals at Looe in Cornwall. Meanwhile, things got…
Donegal's John & Donal McGuinness from Moville Sailing Club lie sixth at the GP14 British Nationals in Cornwall
The GP14 British Nationals got underway yesterday at Looe in Cornwall and two Sutton Dinghy Club crews on the start line. Traditionally the first day sees a practice race followed by the first of nine Championship races. Hugh Gill &…
Ross Killian and Ger Owens teamed up for the GP14 Leinsters
The GP14 fleet returned to Dun Laoghaire for a most enjoyable three day Leinster Championship at the 475–boat Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta where 27 GP14s competed, for the various honours over the full complement of 8 races. With both World…
The GP14 fleet were welcomed back to Newtownards Sailing Club for their Ulster Championships at the weekend. Scroll down for drone footage.
The GP14 Ulster Championships took place over the weekend. The fleet were welcomed back to Newtownards Sailing Club by Michael Cox who organised an outstanding event. It felt more like Barbados than the Ards peninsula as we had the most…
Get Owens & Mel Morris in the lead at the GP14 Purcell Trophy off Greystones in County Wicklow
The Purcell Trophey 2017 was hosted by Greystones Sailing Club in their east coast new harbour and clubhouse at County Wicklow. After an hours wait on Saturday morning for the mist to clear the 26–strong GP14 fleet finally launched. Race…
Greystones Sailing Club's Shane MacCarthy and Damian Bracken were winners of the GP14 Challenge in Swords
The Riocard O’Tiarnaigh GP14 Challenge 2017 was hosted by Swords Sailing Club on Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th April. 17 boats from as far north as Moville and south as Dungarvan, attended despite the challenging forecast which proved to be…

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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