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GP14 dinghy sailing
Irish GP14 Dinghy Sailing News and Regatta Results
12 Races for GP14 O'Tiarnaigh Challenge
#GP14  – The annual GP14 Riocard O Tiarnaigh Challenge took place at Swords Sailing Club on the 14th & 15th of April. This was the first of SSBC's headline events. The event was run over Saturday and Sunday with a…
Sponsor Boost for GP14s
#GP14 –  Irish GP14 dinghy sailing gets a boost this season with the support of insurance firm Craftinsure for the class national championships The firm has also been selected to handle the GP14 Association insurance scheme with effect from 1st…
Olympic Challenge set for GP14 Nationals in Skerries
Olympic 470 campaigner Gerbil Owens will challenge for the GP14s dinghy national title this weekend in Skerries. It brings fresh competition for Sligo's Sailing team of Tim Corcoran and Brendan Brogan who are undefeated in this event for the past…
O'Connor and McHaile Win Sligo's GP14  Open
As ever Rosses Point in Sligo was a beautiful spot to arrive to bright and early Saturday morning. Some may have been up at an ungodly hour, but it's well worth it to come to the top of the hill…
McCarthy and Davis Sail to a Win at Skerries GP14 National Championships
A healthy forty seven dinghies competed for the Irish GP14 National Sailing Championships title last weekend and Greystones sailor Shane McCarthy, now UK based, with crew Andy Davis took the title, winning the last four races. Class president Richard Street…
Business as Usual for Corcoran and Brogan in GP Hot Toddy Event
Started in 1982 the season ending Hot Toddy event returned to it's originating Club in Larne on 22/23 October. Twenty two boats took to the water on a damp and overcast day with a Force 3-4 Easterly blowing over the…
Olympic Effort Did Not Shift McCarthy and Davis
Eagle eyed observers will most definitely have spotted Beijing Double Olympic race winner Gerald 'Gerbil' Owens is racing GP14s these days; a newsworthy point that escaped an earlier report about last weekend's event. Here's a more detailed Leinsters 2010 Event Report…
MacCarty/Davis Win GP14 Leinsters
The GP14 Leinster Championship was held in Skerries Sailing Club over the weekend of the 25th and 26th of September, with a great turnout of 40 boats. As usual the members of SSC pulled out all the stops to ensure…
Corcoran and Brogan Best of Irish at GP14 Nationals
Newtownards Sailing Club hosted this year's GP 14 Championship of Ireland. The event attracted 46 boats from throughout Ireland and Great Britain. Race Officer Nigel Kearney set excellent courses in what was some of the most testing conditions in recent…
Dan Gill Becomes Youngest Ever GP Youth Champion
The GP14 Youth Championship 2010 was held at Sligo Yacht Club on Saturday 24th & 25th July in fresh Force 3 to 4 westerly winds with young sailors from six different clubs vying for honours. Senior sailors within the fleet…
Local Win for Sligo's Niall Henry and James Conlon in GP14s Summer Open
Sligo Yacht Club hosted the GP 14 Summer Open and Irish Youth Championships at Rosses Point on the 24th and 25th July. 26 boats lined up at the start. Gus Henry, himself a GP 14 sailor can always be relied…
Maguire/Boyle take GP14 Ulsters Title
Nearly thirty GP14 teams turned out to enjoy the Ulsters and Masters Championship of Ireland at Donaghadee Sailing Club on the 26th and 27th June 2010. The event sponsor was Ards Tourism, and officer of the day Jimmy McKee set the…
Ger Owens Leads GP14 Nationals After Day One in Sutton
#gp14 – The forecast for the day did not make for great reading with less than six knots from the north west. However as boats started arriving and getting set up for launching there was a decent breeze and hope…
Owens & Morris Confirm Irish GP14 Title at Sutton Dinghy Club
#gp14 – The final day of 2013 Craftinsure GP14 Championship of Ireland and the forecast was not good for racing. 3 knots gusting 4 is not conducive to getting in 2 races. With the day looking like it would 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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