Saturday brought a westerly gale  flying into Sligo Bay between Raghly and Coney Island. A decent swell too, although a new sandbank that has only appeared in the past 18 months was taking the sting out of the waves. 

Of about 20 youth boats and 10 Auld Lads and Lassies 'ALL'  only around 10 boats launched. However, the 25 Knot breeze gusting 35 proved to be too much. Libby and I were fortunate enough to avoid certain embarrassment when our main halyard broke and we retreated to get it sorted. Some of us were more pleased than others….

We did note a nice display by Sam and Josh and David and William doing maximum speed up and down the channel kite flying as if to say, " Lads its Lovely out here, come and play"
However, on Race Officer Michael Conway's orders, the fleet retreated to the clubhouse hoping for a better go at it on Sunday.

The youth event started the Sunday in 10-15 km/h of wind in very tricky conditions. The 'ALL' were actually fortunate to watch the two races from the clubhouse with binoculars, garnering information for their own event when they would set out to take on a formidable fleet of young sailors in The Autumn Open.

While watching the Youth fleet racing, Niall Henry said he remembered a couple of decades ago when the fleet started the Youth Initiative and there were two youth helms, grabbed from the shore from their mirrors and put into the back of a GP 14.

Apologies if I miss anyone, but Tim, Norman, Brendan, Niall , Ossian, Hugh, Richard, Colman and Des, your tireless efforts to get them in boats and across to Plas Menai (under the expert tutelage of Gill and Chris Beddow and a  brilliant array of  coaches) for training has paid off in spades, with a 40 sailor strong youth fleet who are now not only top 5 in the national fleet but also up there in the world fleet. Not to be underestimated and of major value is the social side, they are having so much fun, and long may it last.

The Autumn Open consisted of one race. The westerly wind, normally stable when it blows from there was a little shifty and full of holes.

Myself and Libby started at the pin and got away pretty cleanly. We were pinned out on the left for a while by Sam Street but we stayed on after he tacked off. With a 10 boat length lead at the windward and Sam and Josh chomping at our heels for pretty much the whole race, it came close a few times. Looking over my shoulder I could see Sam (Wray) & Luke around 4th and Niall and Ossian had appeared from much further down and were closing in too, now in third.

Pesky youths were motoring too, only maybe being held back by the fact that it was getting late in the day and perhaps they had had a little too much fun the evening before. Paddy and Brendan came scuttling in out of nowhere too. So it ended well for us, only our third ever championship race win, Niall and Ossian 2nd, Sam and Josh 3rd Paddy and Brendan 4th and Youth Champions Adam and Emily in 5th, Sam and Luke in 6th.

Then the wind died, Michael had to call it a day and we all went home.
 

On behalf of the Skipper and Crew onboard That’ll Do, we would like to thank Nancy, Ossian, Niall and the fantastic team they had assembled to bring about another memorable GP14 event on Sligo Bay. 

There was a case to call it the Irish (International) Youth Championships what with the visit of Finlay, across from Budworth!

Looking forward to The Nationals in 2027.

Full Results HERE on Sligo Yacht Club Page.

August 8th to 14th

Click HERE to get access to Metasail Live Tracker

RESULTS HERE

August 8 - 14

Notice of Race 

Now Available

HERE

Irish Ferries Discount Code AVAILABLE

(as of January 2026)

Rates (below) available for those travelling from the UK to Ireland for the August events including Championship of Ireland and GP14 World Championships

Cruise Ferry rates from Holyhead & Pembroke

Rates (below) that we can offer for the Irish competitors travelling to the UK Nationals in July. These rates cover travel up to July 17th – supplements will apply for people who return from the UK after this date as it moves into our peak season

Cruise Ferry rates from Dublin & Rosslare

^Van rates are available for vehicles that do not exceed 2.6m in height and 6.0m in length but exclude any Luton/box body vans.

*Includes adapted vehicles once they have living facilities (kitchen and toilet facilities).  

. The same booking procedure and event code will apply.. See below.

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The event code that you have (GP14WC) will remain active. The rates that we have attached to the code can be used for travel UK to Ireland (which will be priced in Sterling) and Ireland to UK (which will be priced in Euro).

Bookings can be requested by email to our team at clubdeals@irishferries.com

Competitors will need to include the information below along with the event code:

• Name, date of birth and nationality for each person
• Do any passengers require special assistance
• Routes, dates and times of sailings
• Type of on board accommodation (e.g. Club Class or cabin) if needed
• Vehicle make and registration number
• Trailer dimensions (in meters), to include towbar
• Where booking for a motorhome, please include height and length of the vehicle in meters
• A contact postal address
• A contact mobile phone number

Please note that the code will not work on our website and bookings should be sent through to our team by email only

Terms & conditions: Event rates cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion, offer or discount. Special rates cannot be used if paying with Tesco Boost Tokens and should never be advertised on any public facing content (web or social media). Use of this event code will be monPlease note that the code will not worPlease note that the code will not work on our website and bookings should be sent through to our team by email onlyk on our website and bookings should be sent through to our team by email onlyitored and will be revoked if any misuse is detected. All sailings are subject to availability.