Sutton Dinghy club was the host club for the GP14 Championship of Ireland, a thriving GP14 club, certainly putting on a show for the Class this year. Attracting 37 boats from across Ireland and including some stellar names from Irish Sailing with 3 Olympians including local boy Rob Dickson (Tokyo 2021) who has started to appear for the odd GP14 event, Curly Morris (Munich 1972) and multiple winner and Champions Cup holder Ger Owens (Atehns 2004, Beijing 2008 & London 2012). In addition Fireball sailor, Chris Bateman from Monkstown Bay, a former Junior Champions Cup winner returning to Sutton where he won the 2022 Fireball Ulsters to try his hand in the GP14 fleet. European Laser Master Champion Sean Craig returned to partner Stephen Boyle again, the pair having taken the Munster Championship back in early June. Back to school and college pressures along with EP and illness ultimately meant the hoped for 40+ boats didn't materialise but a top class field nonetheless.

The 3 day Championship took place over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Race officer (Jim Lambin) and his team did a fantastic job, dealing with significant tides and fog, managing to complete 8 races over the 3 days in what looked set to be a very light wind event.

Friday dawned with not much hope of sailing, Dublin bay was reflecting in the sunshine, having kept the fleet onshore for an hour postponement, they were sent out to a building thermal breeze.
After a few General recalls and the threat of a black flag, the fleet got underway in the 7-9 knot breeze. First to the weather mark was Jane Kearney and Rebekah O’Tiarnaigh, with Ger Owens/Mel Morris and Colman Grimes/Ross Gingles in close pursuit. An early gybe set from Jane/Rebekah allowed them to pull clear down the run and they sailed on to win, hot on their heels was Ger/Mel with Colman / Ross close behind. The light winds and interesting tides made for some difficult sailing, many rafts were seen throughout the day at the leeward mark, and plenty of raised voices looking for that extra bit of room to help manoeuvre their boats in challenging conditions.

In Race 2 and 3, the left side of the race course seemed to be the favoured side for the remainder of the day, leaving passing opportunities at the front fairly limited, new faces to fleet Chris Bateman and James Dwyer sailed an excellent race to showcase their talent and introduce themselves as top contenders to the championship with the race win in race 2. They held off Ger/Mel and local GP guru Hugh Gill and Richard Street after what looked like a great battle at the front.

Race 3 saw the current Munster Champions Sean Craig and Stephen Boyle round in 1st but this time the gybe set on the run didn’t work out for reasons unknown to most, with Ger/Mel and Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson making gains on the right along with 49er Olympian Robert Dickson and Adrian Lee in close pursuit. The podium places didn’t change, with the breeze starting to increase to a lovely 10 knots, the fleet certainly enjoyed the opportunity to stretch their legs a little.

Saturday dawned and their was a theme to the weekend, the non existent wind first thing allowed the fleet to wait patiently knowing that most likely the warm weather and blue skies would bring more of the same sea breeze.

3 races were again completed in lovely conditions, the race course a little further out in Dublin bay allowed for great racing conditions. Race 4 saw the familiar faces at the front again, Ger/Mel, Ruan O’Tiarnaigh sailing with sister Charlotte and Sean/Stephen battling it out at the front. It looked like a great tussle, with the above order remaining by the finish.

Race 5 saw Sean/Stephen start to find their rhythm, sailing a great race to take the bullet, from the ever consistent Ruan/Charlotte, with Robert/Adrian chasing hard.

Race 6 and the familiar battleship grey GP of Ger/Mel rounded in 1st, Sean/Stephen in 2nd and Ross/Daniel in 3rd. Unfortunately for Sean and Stephen they had a UFD and were sent home early. This left Ross/Daniel to battle it out with Ger/Mel for the win, Ger/Mel holding on and extending out to win and with it secure the event with 2 races to spare. A very impressive performance. Niall Henry and Ossian Geraghty took 3rd place with the battle for 2nd overall starting to heat up.

By Sunday, the fleet were more than confident that the conditions would be more of the same and launched into a stronger sea breeze, to the delight of the slightly heavier crews.
Race 7 and no let up from Ger/Mel, another convincing win, this time Hugh/Richard chasing hard with Ruan/Charlotte on the podium. Racing throughout the fleet was extremely tight, place changing on every leg, allowed for some epic battles.

Race 8 and the last of the championship, Ger/Mel rounding 1st, Ross/Daniel in 2nd and Jane/Rebekah in 3rd. Again a great battle, with Ross/Daniel sneaking it past on the last run to take the win from Ger/Mel with Jane/Rebekah in 3rd.

With the win already secured for Ger/Mel overall, the fight for the podium places were very open. Despite a RET in race 8, Ruan and Charlotte’s consistency in tricky conditions secured a well deserved 2nd, Ross and Daniel climbing throughout the weekend to sneak 3rd from Sean and Stephen with Robert and Adrian in 5th.

 

Greystones pair Conor Galligan & Adam Leddy continued their form from the end of last season taking 1st place in the Silver fleet and 18th overall despite it being their first event of the season. They led Sam Wray & Luke Henderson (Sligo) and Skerries stalwarts Cathal Sheridan & David Cooke onto the Silver podium. In bronze fleet Blessingtons Max Cully, fresh from his Junior Championship win in Rush 2 weeks ago took 1st place with new crew Horatio with former Class President Michael Collender & Brian Walker and Royal Norths Rory Higgins & Claire Cromie joining them on the podium.

 

The top Youth (U22) boat was Chris Bateman (MBSC), crewed by James O'Dwyer (RCYC), who justified his Gold fleet allocation with a Race win and 8th overall in his first venture into GP14. We hope to see Chris back in the fleet very soon. Top Junior (U19) this time around went to Howth Yacht Clubs Charlie Keating who sailed in Silver fleet under the Blessington burgee with Ollie Lloyd.    

The weekend saw plenty of former GP14 sailors drop by, including Pat Murphy who caught up with his Cape May Worlds crew Charlotte from 1983 where the pair finished 4th. It was an excellent event of top-notch racing, a credit to the GP14 class for such competition throughout the fleet. A huge thank you to Andy Johnston and everyone at Sutton Dinghy club for hosting an excellent event.

Next up for the GP14 class is the Hot Toddy at RNIYC on the 30th Sep and 1st Oct,