Sat 4th - Sun 5th July

Are interested in two days coaching in Mullingar the weekend before Dun Laoghaire?  It is open to Silver and Bronze fleets sailors.  A "Bring you own lunch" approach.

Entry Euro 20.

Scheduled to start on Saturday at 11am.

Sunday to start at 10am.

Lunch at 1.30 followed by two races - gun at 2.30pm with short debrief and wrap up after.

Contact Cormac Meaney (cormacmeaney@yahoo.co.uk) for further details and to see if there are any slots left.

GP14 Leinster Championship Info

GP14 has been allocated berthing at the Royal St George Yacht Club for the duration of the Regatta. Your contact will Ronan Adams, Sailing Manager, Mobile: +353 86 8900576,   

E: sailingmanager@rsgyc.ie  who will be looking after you upon your arrival to the club and during the Regatta. We would ask that you liaise directly with Ronan to advise him of your estimated arrival date and time.  

Arrival Procedure and Trailer Storage  

If you are arriving on the Thursday 9^th (1^st day of the Regatta) in advance of racing for Fri, Sat and Sun, please note that no cars will be permitted onto the forecourt of the Royal St George as the Regatta will have commenced and you will be unable to drive into the club.  We have arranged for all GP14’s to arrive and offload your boats in the (not now used) Stena terminal arrival lanes which are detailed on the map below.  You will off load your boat and trolley here, store your trailer in the west end of the harbour in the trailer compound and then wheel your dinghy onto the RSGYC forecourt where you will directed to your berthing area on the platform by RSGYC boathouse staff.   This information will be given to you again by Ronan when you make contact with him prior to your arrival.

As it will be the first time to Dun Laoghaire Harbour for many of you please click http://www.dlregatta.org/event/arrivals-visitor-berthing/ to see an aerial shot of the Regatta Venue and trailer storage area and arrival area for the GP14’s on Thursday 9^th July.   

As advised Trailers will be stored in a locked compound in the west end of the Harbour.  Ronan will advise its location and lock combination upon arrival.  We have a large number of trailers to accommodate and so when parking it in the compound we would ask that you please be conscious of this.

Sailing Instructions

SI’s will be available on the Event Website under the ‘Racing’ section approximately 2 weeks prior to the Event and will also be issued to you in your skippers cases at Registration. 

Regatta Race Office

The Regatta Race Office, Results & Jury will be situated at the rear of the harbour plaza in the building with the purple markings on it.  It will be clearly identified ‘RACE OFFICE’ .  The harbour plaza is between the Royal Irish YC/Marina and beside the Royal St George YC.   

Update for GP14 Irish sailors wanting to go to Barbados:

News on  flights is coming directly from www.gp14.org or newsletters from the GP14 Intl office (Julie Courtney).  No other information is being sent to the Irish GP14 committee so please check regularly on www.gp14.org for updates.

Containers - there will be Irish containers.  Details are yet to be confirmed.

Accommodation - you need to sort out your own.  See sites like homeaway.com for booking villas.  www.gp14.org also has a listing.

Flights:

Update 19 May - from www.gp14.org

VIRGIN FLIGHT NEWS

Details on how to book a flight with Virgin:

From Julie Courtney E-NEWSLETTER NO.19 - MAY 2015 ‏           

"Virgin Flights to Barbados for the Worlds event are now available at preferential rates through the Bridgetown office via an email request to   caribgroups@fly.virgin.com using the code GP14 in the subject box.  This event in 2016 is immensely popular and it is Easter time as well so early flight  and accommodation bookings are highly recommended whether you are booking a package or through other carriers.   Good deals are out there, I have heard this week, from those who have already booked up.
 
Just a reminder that the entry package for non sailors over 18 is £125; 12 -18 £50 and under 12 free.  This  includes you in all the Social activities, food and Happy hours over the event period."

Congratulations to Irish GP14 sailors Shane MacCarthy & Andy Thompson on wining the GP14 British Inland Championship at Carsington Water Sailing Club 9-10 May.

This makes Andy a double British Inland Champion after his successful win with Tom Gillard in the Fireball at Grafham Water Sailing Club 18-19 Apr 2015.

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/182386/Fireballs-Inland-Championship

Congratulations to Iris President Stephen Boyle - one of 3 lucky winners of a HH 30 litre sports duffel bags for his early bird entry to the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

http://www.dlregatta.org/news/2015/04/6380/

The GP14 Association is saddened to learn of the passing of former member Bob Hutton.

Bob sailed with John Walsh in Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club during the 70’s and early eighties assisting with organizing the GP Worlds in ’77 before moving to the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club in the early 80’s where he continued to sail GP14’s.

Our thoughts are with his family and son Anton who sails a GP in Lough Foyle and competed in the Autumn open in Newtonards last season.

The ideal number of 6 GPs with 12 keen sailors ranging in age from 14 upwards and from 4 different clubs participated in 3 days of coaching organised under the burgee of Youghal Sailing Club (formed only 4 months). Spring arrived on call and provided sunshine and light breezes, pretty much ideal for Troy Mc Namara our lead coach to get things going onshore at out temporary campervan club house on Ferrypoint, an ideal location in the centre of this beautiful natural harbour.

Saturday’s on the water exercises were done in the wide inner bay where the Blackwater estuary sweeps east after the road bridge and before the gravel/sandy spit which is Ferrypoint, with a break in the middle for hot chocolate and fresh cut sambos provided by Una and Ruth Lee [Greystones and Youghal] and tips and entertainment from Troy. The evening featured Pizza and soft drinks in an activities hall with debrief from Troy armed with lots of film shot during the day’s action.
Sunday morning’s sailing was done in Sand Ballast Bay just to seaward of Ferrypoint and the sunny afternoon was spent tacking in a restricted channel between safety boats and towed buoys and doing starts and triangles out in the main bay off the beach. Evenings debrief featured film from the day and pizza that went down very well once more.

Monday dawned very foggy and at base on Ferrypoint, after a few halyards were restrung, Troy gave an extended briefing and meteorological explanation while facing a thick fog bank to seaward until eventually he realised the fog had lifted sufficiently in the inner bay behind him to allow launching. Enthusiasm was so high that what was to be just a morning session on the water, got extended to coming in for a quick lunch and getting out for another hour of starts and beats. To see everybody cross the line on the gun and get to the weather mark and back in a tight bunch with smiles on their faces and lots of friendly banter, was proof of success and was just what is needed to give the feel-good feeling that will keep this gang sailing and hopefully help Youghal refocus again on the sea.

Without an existing sailing club or training centre, sailing in this historic sailing ship port is making a comeback spearheaded by schoolboy Adrian Lee, who’s passion for the sea led him to an old GP14 he kept moored in the same harbour Moby Dick was filmed in and from there, to growing a fleet of 12 GPs in 3 years and travelling to GP circuit events as far away as Sligo and Donaghadee to gain experience. GP’s have proved ideal for the kind of adventure sailing and racing done by the hardy youngsters of Youghal with their great seafaring tradition and can do attitude.

This will be a great future venue for GP class events especially if standard courses are supplemented by a longer distance race under the road bridge and up and down the Blackwater river, would the same boats still win?

2015 Membership

Need to re-new or set up your GP14 International Class Association membership?  It is easy to complete online.

The GP14 Irish committee would like to encourage you to become a member of the GP14 International Class Association.

Helms for GP14 events must be a member but we would also encourage all helms and crews to join.

For full details see the Become a Member page details

Six months after taking the helm of the Irish Sailing Association, the President, David Lovegrove has now laid out the ISA’s plans for the organisation focussed on servicing the needs of grass roots sailing enthusiasts whilst retaining the commitment to the successful High Performance programs that support our existing and aspiring Olympic athletes.

For full details see the ISA's The Way Forward Executive Summary