Hot Toddy - results

17-18 October Mullingar SC

GP14 Autumn Open & Youth Championships - results

Greystones SC 26-27 September

Sailing photos copyright Aaron Jones (aarjon1@gmail.com)    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jones-Productions/200262633499250
Prize Giving photos copyright Laura McFarland

Irish Youth Championship

Report by Adrian Lee

Edward Coyne of Youghal SC crewed by Colman Grimes of Skerries, was victorious in this year’s  Youth Championship raced in summer like conditions off Greystones in Co. Wicklow. David Johnson & Eanna Lawless of Sutton fought hard for second place just holding off 14 year old Sligo’s Jack Currin & Tim Corcoran who scored two seconds in the last two races and Adrian Lee & Ossian Geraghty from Youghal/Sligo who finished on the same points despite an OCS in race 3.

The first of the four race series was held in 12-16 knots with a strong Southerly tide. Ed & Colman lay down an early marker, winning from brothers Gareth & Richard Gallagher with  Peter & Steven Boyle in 3rd. Gareth & Richard bounced back to win race 2 from Adrian & Ossian and Dan & Hugh Gill in 3rd. This left the Gallagher brothers as overnight leaders counting a first and second.

Race 3 on Sunday changed things with David Johnson & Eanna Molony (last year’s youth champion) taking the win from Jack Curran & Tim Corcoran in 2nd and Samuel Wray & Alan Thompson in 3rd. Skippers Gareth Gallagher, Adrian Lee and Jack Buttimer fell foul of the black flag in this race which PRO Mark Usher resorted to using after numerous recalls due to a combination of enthusiastic starters and strong tide. In Race 4 Edward Coyne & Colman Grimes took another win again to seal overall victory with Jack Curran in second and Kevin Martyn & Norman Lee in 3rd. If there was a Hard Lesson Trophy, the heads up winners would have been Gareth & Richard Gallagher from Derry who sailed a great regatta and looked like clear favourites until they came unstuck with 2 OCS’s on Sunday while trying too hard, very unfortunate for them as they have been going so well all season.

Ed Coyne also scooped up the U18 Trophy with Jack Currin convincingly taking the U16 with 2 years to spare. Top home club team was Tom and Kevin Gillen closely followed by Grainne Allen & Neil Willis and Ciaran & Aine Keogh.

This was a really enjoyable event expertly run by hard working Greystones club members and should be the last run from the characteristic old clubhouse as Sisk have almost finished a fine new larger one situated prominently by the south harbour wall with commanding views over the harbour, the sailing waters and beyond to Bray Head, Killiney, Dalkey Island and Howth.

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Autumn Championship

Report by Niall Henry

There was a record entry of 24 boats for the GP Youth Championships hosted alongside the senior event, the Autumn Open last weekend at Greystones. With lots of sunshine on Saturday morning, a steady 15 knots of breeze a great weekends racing lay ahead.

Watching Shane McCarthy and Damian Bracken sail at the moment I am reminded of the scene in Father Ted when he (Ted) had to explain to Dougal the difference between a small cow and a far away cow. (Because either Shane and Damian are sailing a very small boat or they are very far away!)...thought some of you might have needed an explanation!

Anyway....race 1 was won by S&D with Ger Owens and Filup de Loosdan (distant French relation to Keith and Ken) with David Johnson and Eanna Molony Lawless coming in an excellent third place. The first two places were the same in race 2 with Keith de Louden and Alan Le Thompson in third place.

Races three and four of the Autumn Open were sailed in the afternoon on Sunday after two full races were sailed in the youths. JP and Caroline McCalden led at the windward mark but got into difficulty with their spinnaker and were passed by Tim Corcoran and Blair Stowaway who in turn were passed by Niall Henry and Ossian Geraghty. (When asked on shore what happened Tim said it was Blair's fault, and that he hadn't wanted to crew in the first place, but when we asked Blair, he told us that it was Tim's fault and that he was just wasn't a very good crew..?) Niall and Ossian just about held their lead to the end of the race as Shane and Damian sailing that very small boat were closing in very quickly downwind. Ger and Filp came in third.

The final race of the championship was again won by S&D (such a pity Damian's not called Maurice) with the Skerries duo of Colman Grimes and David Lappin showing great speed to come in second followed Curly Morris and Laura Thompson.

Shane and Damian were over all winners and are just one event off a clean sweep, with Ger and Filp in second place overall followed by Niall and Ossian in third spot.

The Silver fleet was won by David and Eanna with Katie Dwyer and Michelle Rowley in second and Michael Cox and Josh Porter in third.

Adrian Lee and 2015 youth champion Edward Coyne were winners in the bronze fleet with Tom and Kevin Gillen in second just ahead of Seamus O'Cleirigh and Stephen Tiernry in third.

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Overall Youth GP14 2015
1st – Ed Coyne + Colman Grimes – Youghal SC/Skerries
2nd – David Johnston & Eanna Molony Lawless - Sutton DC
3rd – Jack Currin & Tim Corcoran – Sligo YC

Youth Under 16  - Jack Currin & Tim Corcoran – Sligo YC
Youth Under 18  - Ed Coyne & Colman Grimes – Youghal SC/Skerries

Overall GP14 Autumn Open 2015
1st – Shane MacCarthy & Damien Bracken – Greystones
2nd – Ger Owens & Filip De Loosdan – RSt George
3rd – Niall Henry & Ossian Geraghty – Sligo YC

Silver Fleet 1st – David Johnston & Eanna Molony Lawless - Sutton DC
Bronze Fleet 1st – Adrian Lee & Ed Coyne - Youghal SC

Race 1, 2 and 4 winners – Shane MacCarthy & Damien Bracken – Greystones
Race 3 winner – Niall Henry & Ossian Geraghty – Sligo YC

Youth Overall Results

Autumn Overall Results

GP14 Autumn Open & Youth Championships

Greystones SC 26-27 September

Schedule

Saturday 26/9/15
Autumn Open - Warning signal for race 1 at 11:00, race 2 will start as soon as possible after race 1.
Youths - Race 1, following race 2 of Open, race 2 will start as soon as possible after race 1.
Sunday 27/9/15
Youths - Warning signal for race 3 at 10:30, race 4 will start as soon as possible after race 3.
Autumn Open -
Race 3, following race 4 of Youths, race 4 will start as soon as possible after race 3

Registration

Update - Registration will take only take place in the Clubhouse on Saturday 26/9/2015 from 08:30 to 09:30.

Update - Breakfast

Hot breakfasts will be available at Joes Café beside club from 9 am on Sat and Sun.

Update - Dart/Train Service

Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September, 2015

Due to engineering works between Bray and Greystones there will be no train service between these stations on Saturday 26th and up to 16.00hrs on Sunday 27th September, 2015.

Passengers travelling between Bray & Greystones, please note that Dublin Bus will supplement the existing 84 service and rail tickets will be accepted. A regular train service will operate between Bray/Malahide & Howth.

Entry Form

http://www.gsc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/GP14_Entry.pdf

NOR

http://www.gsc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/GP14_NOR.pdf

Youths

The age limit for Youths is 21 and under at 31.12.2015

Entry Fee

GP14 Autumn Open € 50.  GP14 Youths € 30 (Youths to do both €50)

For further details see http://www.gsc.ie/gp14-autumn-open-youth-championships/

SHANE McCARTHY & ANDY THOMPSON are Afloat.ie Sailor Of The Month For August

Great recognition of Shane & Andy's GP14s sailing achievements.  Well done guys!

Full article here on afloat.ie

"August of 2015 may well be already remembered for its decidedly mixed weather, but as ever it was sailing's busiest month, with Irish crews achieving success inshore and offshore, and at home and abroad. We congratulate all those who reached the podium – indeed, with the adverse weather quite frequently experienced, we congratulate everyone who succeeded in finishing whatever particular sailing challenge they undertook.

But in the end, Afloat.ie reckons three achievements were worthy of the highest recognition.

AFLOAT.IE SAILORS OF THE MONTH AUGUST 2015 (INSHORE)

SHANE McCARTHY & ANDY THOMPSON

2015 has been very much the year for the GP14 dinghy at the top levels of the popularity polls in Irish dinghy sailing. And it has also been the year in which Greystones Sailing Club have been flexing their muscles both as a hotbed of dinghy racing, and as a popular addition to the list of centres for keelboat activity with the new marina bedding in.

These positive themes united in the Greystones GP 14 crew of Shane McCarthy and Andy Thompson. Their sailing year started well with wins in the season's early regional events, they had their skills sharpened in the large GP14 fleet racing at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta in July, and then their campaigning really started to sing with the British GP 14 Nationals at Brixham in Devon in the first week of August.

Although only a small contingent of Irish boats travelled to this big championship, they punched way above their weight. McCarthy & Thompson led the charge to such good effect that they had the title won outright without having to sail the final race. As for the rest of the Irish group, Sutton DC's Alan Blay and David Johnston were also in the frame with two race wins. But when the lights went up for the prize-giving it was McCarthy & Thompson in the limelight, worthy Sailors of the Month (Inshore) for August."

Championship of Ireland

29-31 Aug Newtownards SC

McCarthy & Bracken Dominate GP14 National Championships

Report by Tim Corcoran

Shane McCarthy and Damien Bracken have won the GP14 Championships of Ireland with a dominant display of top class sailing in tricky conditions at Newtownards Sailing Club.

Five races were completed over three days on the northern end of Strangford Lough. 

The 37 boat fleet was made up of sailors from clubs throughout the country, including Youghal, Dun Laoghaire, Sligo, Derry, Sutton, Greystones, Skerries, Mullingar and the home club of Newtownards.

There was a large youth attendance mainly from Sutton Dinghy Club, they sailed hard and partied hard long into the night.  The fleet also included two boats that travelled from the UK, the International Class President Duncan Greenhalgh & Sam Watson who finished 2nd at the GP14 Worlds in 2014.

Race 1 on Saturday started in an 8-10 knot westerly breeze.  McCarthy and Bracken led around the first windward mark and were never in danger from the chasing pack.  There was a lot of place changes on the second and third beats due to some large shifts and variations in wind strength.  At the finish it was McCarthy & Bracken from Niall Henry & Ossian Geraghty who were closely followed by Alan Blay & David Johnson.

Race 2 was sailed in bit more breeze which had shifted round to the southwest, again it was McCarthy and Bracken showing the way at the first windward mark closely followed by Dan & Hugh Gill, Sam Watson & Nick Deveraux.  As the race progressed it was Henry & Geraghty who pulled through to 2nd with the fast charging Ger Owens and Mel Morris finishing in 3rd place.

The silver and bronze fleet competition was fierce, leading the silver fleet at the end of day 1 was Dan Gill and bronze fleet leader was young Peter Boyle crewed by his dad, Stephen.

There were three races scheduled for Sunday but the forecast was for little wind.  The fleet stayed ashore until 1pm, a light breeze brought the fleet to the starting area but it was short lived and the PRO abandoned for the day shortly after. 

Day 3 was to start at 10am in order to get a further three races in before the 14:30 deadline, a light offshore breeze of 8 to 12 knots with shifts of up to 20 degrees was the order of the day.

Pent up energy from Sunday resulted in a number of general recalls and the use of the black flag was required to keep the fleet in order.
Race 3 was again dominated by Championship leaders McCarthy and Bracken who took the gun from the returning Mark Taylor and crew Amanda Crosswaithe, Ger Owens and Mel Morris took 3rd place.

Mark Taylor’s 2nd place moved him to the top of the leader board of the Bronze fleet while the Silver fleet leader was now Steven & Jonny Nelson.

Unknown to the competitors, race 4 was being filmed by a drone operated from one of the safety boats.  The video footage can be viewed on https://vimeo.com/137921455.  The story of this race was that McCarthy and Bracken were not at the front, the front runners were Dan O’Connell crewed by Laura McFarland and Ger Owens & Mel Morris. Dan and Ger managed to put baby talk aside for a while and swapped places a number of times during the race. In the end though, Dan & Laura hit the last leeward mark allowing Ger & Mel to sail away to victory, Tim Corcoran & Brendan Brogan took 2nd with McCarthy and Bracken 3rd.

With time remaining for only one more race, Shane and Damien were crowned National Champions.  It is believed that history was made on two fronts, Shane becomes the first Irish helm to hold the title of Irish and British GP14 Champion in the same year, a remarkable achievement.  Not to be out done, Damien becomes the first Irish sailor to win the GP14 Championship of Ireland as both helm and crew.  Word has it that next year, they will reverse roles with Damien on the helm and Shane in the front?

Race 5 would determine the winner of the Silver and Bronze fleets, Dan & Hugh Gill needed to see off the challenge of Steven & Jonny Nelson to secure the win, they sailed an excellent race to finish 5th , which left them 7th overall and Silver fleet Champions.

The Bronze fleet was between Adrian Lee & Edward Coyne and Mark Taylor & Amanda Crosswaithe, Mark and Amanda sailed another good race to claim the title of Bronze fleet Champions.

The battle for 2nd and 3rd in the Gold fleet was between Owens, Henry and Corcoran.  A 4th place finish in the last race for Ger & Mel secured 2nd overall while a 2nd place for Tim & Brendan gave them 3rd overall.

The top youths were Sam Watson and Nick Deveraux who finished just ahead of Dan & Hugh Gill.

A big thank you from all the competitors to Newtownards Sailing Club for hosting the event and putting on a great event both on shore and on the water.

Gold Fleet
1st  Shane McCarthy & Damien Bracken
2nd Ger Owens & Mel Morris
3rd  Tim Corcoran & Brendan Brogan

Silver Fleet
1st Dan & Hugh Gill
2nd  Steven & Jonny Nelson
3rd Gareth & Richard Gallagher

Bronze Fleet
1st Mark Taylor & Amanda Crosswaithe
2nd Adrian Lee & Edward Coyne
3rd  Conor Twohig & Sinead Dickson

Cullaun Sailing Club Regatta

Sat 5th -Sun 6th September

Notice from Margaret Hynes, Sailing Secretary of Cullaun SC:

We are looking forward to a large number of visitors, friends from local clubs, Wayfarer, RS and GP 14 fleet friends. We especially welcome a number of the Wayfarer family from abroad who are coming to Ireland for the International Wayfarer cruise on Lough Derg, commencing the evening our regatta finishes, in Dromineer. We would be delighted if any of the GP14 fleet were able to make it for this event

Further details can be found on http://www.cullaunsailingclub.com/

Olivia Murphy

13 Aug 2015

The GP14 Association is saddened to learn of the passing of Olivia Murphy.

Notice below is taken from Sutton Dinghy Club:

It is is with great sadness the Club has heard of the passing early this morning of Olivia Murphy, following an illness bravely born.

Olivia and Pat were long time members and friends of Sutton Dinghy Club and regular attendees at Club events. Their involvement in the Club dating back to the mid 70’s when Pat was driving force in the development of the GP14 Class in Sutton. Following their circumnavigation some years ago Olivia and Pat presented many interesting talk about their experiences in our Clubhouse.

Our 75th Gala Ball in November 2014 was graced with the presence of Olivia and Pat. Olivia will be greatly missed by all her friends in Sutton Dinghy Club, Howth Yacht Club and the GP14 Class.

The Club extends its sympathies to Pat, the boys and the extended family. Rest in Peace Olivia Murphy

UK GP14 ZHIK National Championship

Brixham - 2nd to 7th August 2015

Shane & Andy are 2015 UK British National Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WELL DONE THE IRISH!

Photos copyright of BOATOGRAPHIC - http://www.boatographic.co.uk/

A few racing tactics were thrown in on the last day with Shane & Andy making sure Graham Flynn & Adam Froggatt didn't get 2 firsts on the last day as that was they only way the Irish would be stopped from taking the title.  They made that happen during the 8th race and were sailing home knowing that they couldn't be beaten.

Alan & David had a great start to their final day taking another first in the 8th race.  Not sure if they got sailed down in the last race as they took their only result outside of the top ten during the week.  Well done guys!

Day 4 - 3 races sailed

Shane & Andy have stayed in the lead with a 2, 1, 2.  Alan & David 5, 9 ,8 and have remained in 5th overall.

Friday is the last day of sailing with 2 races scheduled.

Day 4 Overall (after 7 races):
1st - Shane McCarthy/Thompson - Greystones SC

2nd - Graham Flynn & Adam Froggatt - Chase SC

3rd - Andrew Clewer & Mark Taylor - Poole YC

4th - Sam Watson & Andy Hunter - Nantwich

5th - Alan Blay & David Johnston - Sutton DC

37th - Brenda & Steve Preston - Ballyronan SC

Full results http://www.gp14.org/nationalsday4/

Day 3 - Another bullet for the Irish

Only 1 race sailed on Tuesday due to strong winds.  Another bullet for the Irish taken by Shane & Andy & now leading overall.  Alan & David took a 9th and sit 5th overall.

Wedneday is lay day even though they have already lost a race and stronger winds are forecast - a few of the fleet are not happy.

Day 3 Overall (after 4 races):
1st - Shane McCarthy/Thompson - Greystones SC

2nd - Graham Flynn & Adam Froggatt - Chase SC
3rd - Sam Watson & Andy Hunter - Nantwich

5th - Alan Blay & David Johnston - Sutton DC

Brenda & Steve Preston took a shore side day.

Full results http://www.gp14.org/nationalsday3/

Photos - Day 3 photos

Day 2

Day 2 Overall (after 3 races):
1st Flynn/Froggatt - Chase SC
2nd Shane McCarthy/Thompson - Greystones SC - took the bullet in Race 2
3rd Watson/Hunter - Nantwich

4th - Alan Blay & David Johnston - Sutton DC

9th in Bronze fleet - Brenda & Steven Preston- Ballyronan SC

Full results http://www.gp14.org/2015_nationals_day_2/

Photos - Day 2 photos.

Day 1 - Race 1 - Irish on form!

Well done guys with an outstanding start to the championship.

Race 1 - Sunday:

1st - Alan Blay & David Johnston - Sutton DC
3rd - Shane MacCarthy & Andy Thompson - Greystones SC

24th & 5th in Bronze fleet - Brenda & Steven Preston- Ballyronan SC

Full results http://www.gp14.org/nationalsday1/

Photos -  Day 1 photos