GP's have the largest and most active two person senior dinghy racing fleet in Ireland and we can prove it, by counting active boats and fleets.
The GP is a one-design 14ft. dinghy, raced by a crew of two or cruised three or four up. It is a three sailed 'mid-performance' boat which can be sailed safely in a wide range of sea and weather conditions, by moderately competent crew or it can be enjoyed while racing on the edge with spinnaker up in force 5 and 6 winds or tactically gaining inches, in a large championship fleet in a flat calm. It is a forgiving boat, easy to learn in and tolerant of a wide range of crew weight or experience.
There are 7 national sailing events organised each year by the Class in Ireland. Each month from May to October there is at least one Open Meeting or Championship with attendances varying from 20 to 60 boats, depending on time of year, venue etc. On the water places are hotly contested by crews of the Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets from all around the country and off the water yarns and tips are just as hotly traded and good humored banter is the currency. Anyone who is even a little competitive soon gets hooked on the circuit and quickly makes new friends right across the spectrum of sailors both male and female.
The GP14 has been popular here for 40 years and currently has fleets in 17 clubs around the country, where crews of all ages enjoy racing in brand new or older fibreglass or wooden boats costing from €1000 to €12000. The International Class association keeps the GP14 up to date by continuous development and improvements, carefully designed not to prejudice older boats, while at the same time improving its appeal and ease of maintenance. Cost of ownership is kept down by a special class insurance scheme and restriction on the prices of major items such as sails and spars. Many other classes have very high costs for these items and extremely bad resale prices for boats, as fleets are small or non-existent and boats are only competitive for a season, so beware. Depreciation on GP's is very small, so not only is the boat both easy and fun to sail but it is easy on the pocket too, with no sting in its tail when you want to sell.
