GP14 Irish Youth Fund

€100 towards events held outside of Ireland

Have you any old GP14 Fittings or Equipment?

Hugh Gill is in the process of restoring 8 Series 1 GP14s for Sutton Dinghy Club

GP14 Membership for 2018

GP14ers at Irish Championship - East Down 1991

GP14 Youth – Grants for under 22s for 2018 Worlds

GP14 2018 calendar is on its way to all Irish members...

Wishing all GP14 sailors and friends...

RYA Northern Ireland Present Sailing Heros Awards

Alastair Duffin

Alastair is a Boat builder in East Belfast, following his joinery apprenticeship he joined his father’s building firm and followed his father into building boats on the side. In his peak years he build many different boats including Cadets, Mirrors, Herons, Scorpions, Enterprises and Wayfarers to name but some, with his busiest year account for 25 boats, something he admits he would not like to do again.

Changing fashions have seen sailors moving from wooden to fiberglass boats, but Alastair would argue that, each wooden boat is unique, with its own character, allowing you to put your own stamp on it making it special. It’s well known that Alastair’s boats are special, having won many GP14 world Championships and his GP14s are revered across the UK and the world.

Alistair’s sailing ability has seen him at the front of the GP fleet for many years, learning first what would make the boat competitive. He has worked with the GP14 Association and been instrumental in the ongoing development of the boat.  Working in wood he had the ability experiment and introduces new design features within the class rules, making it the attractive fast high performance boat it is today. 

A testament to the quiet nature of Alastair could be seen in the protection he received from the nesting Blackbird in the eaves of his building which challenged those who came to visit him.

Another factoid that Duffin Marine followers will know is that Alastair also built a working replica of Harry Fergusons 1909 Monoplane for a BBC Documentary!

Full report http://www.rya.org.uk/rya-regions/rya-ni/news-events/pages/articlewrapper.aspx?pageUrl=/newsevents/news/Pages/sailing-heroes-receive-prestigious-awards.aspx

GP14 Ireland 2018 Events

Once fully confirmed the committee will announce the training dates for 2018

Results

GP14 CraftInsure League 2017 - results so far - just Hot Toddy to go...

Fionn Lyden is Champion of Champions 2017 - Mullingar Sailing Club - Sailed in GP14s

7th and 8th October

Full report see https://www.sailing.ie/champion-of-champions-2017/

"Fresh from winning bronze at the U23 Finn World Championships earlier this summer, Baltimore’s Fionn Lyden has won the All Ireland Sailing Championships at Mullingar Sailing Club today.

The series was decided on a knife-edge finale that saw Lyden match-race to the finishing-line with GP14 World Champion Shane McCarthy from Greystones who was denied victory by the tie-break in the series."

All Ireland Sailing Championship

Mullingar Sailing Club

Sailed in GP14s

7th and 8th October

Good luck to the sailors & Mullingar!

9 of our GP14 Ireland boats are being lent out for the All Ireland Sailing Championship hosted by Mullingar Sailing Club. 

The club are getting good press for the event - see pics below.

From Mulligar SC’s Facebook page:

“All hands are on deck at Mullingar Sailing Club as we gear up to host the Irish Sailing All Ireland Sailing Championship on Lough Owel over the weekend of 7-8 October. The All Ireland Sailing Championships have been running since 1947 and this year marks the 70th anniversary of this unique Irish competition. The aim of the event is to find the “champion of champions” – pitting all types of sailors against each other in one type of boat. Scrolling through the past winners is a veritable who’s who of sailing, from Annalise Murphy, Anthony O’Leary and Mark Mansfield to Mark Lyttle, Brian Craig, and Robert Dix. 
 

The 16 competitors who are all champions in their own class of boat, will arrive from all over Ireland to Mullingar to compete in the GP 14 (14 foot dinghy) which is the sailing boat adopted by Mullingar Sailing Club. These sailors, expert champions in their own class of boat, ranging from single handed dinghy to the larger keel boats accommodating multiple crew, will certainly be challenged and Mullingar Sailing Club will be on hand to ensure all runs smoothly.

The competitors will be split into 2 fleets and racing will commence at 10.20am Saturday and 10.15am Sunday. A dinner for all sailors will be held in the Barlow Suite of the Annebrook Hotel on the Saturday evening. Prizes will be presented by the Irish Sailing Association at the Mullingar Sailing Club to the winner on Sunday evening. The Club looks accommodating all the competitors and supporters for what promises to be an exciting weekend of sailing.”

Further details can be found on

https://www.sailing.ie/racing/all-ireland-sailing-championships-2017/all-ireland-championships/

List of Competitors

GP14 Ireland Youth Training

Funded by Exe Sails & The Howard Davis Memorial Youth Fund

10 brave sailors ascended on to the picturesque lakes at Blessington Sailing Club last weekend for some vigorous training and a bit of fun! The poor weather did little to dampen the mood and crews from Youghal, Blessington, Greystones and Rush did not delay in getting their boats rigged and on the water.

We had a nice breeze for the day and with a yellow weather warning due to spoil our Sunday it was decided to maximise the time on the water on Saturday with two long sessions. Thanks to Simon Cully, Richard Street and Colman Grimes for giving the young guns plenty of training drills and it was great to see significant progress as the day went on. Despite there being plenty of breeze at times, we did not have any capsizes (other than one man overboard footstrap snap capsize drill!). A huge improvement for this same group of sailors on last year’s training.

Tired bodies had just enough energy left in the evening to munch on a great feast thanks to the wonderful Jenny & Richard Street and Simon Cully flipping the Burgers while still blowing his whistle. Delicious!

Sunday arrived with more rain and more wind, but nothing that this young bunch couldn’t handle. The very talented Alan Blay arrived to offer his expertise. After a short briefing it was decided to get on the water as soon as possible with the wind forecast to strengthen further. The wind blew hard and Alan put the gang through varies drills, between the odd capsize. The gusts were strong and with energy levels slipping it was decided to head in for some hot showers, soup and some theory to wrap up the weekend.

Good fun was had by all and it was decided that Blessington SC should be on the annual training calendar given its safe waters, quick access to the sailing area, camping and most of all the warm and friendly welcome of its members. Thanks to the participants for showing up and giving it their all and being greats sports, to Richard and Simon for organising everything, Ellis, Lily, Libby and James on Rescue, Paul and Pat on Shorewatch and Jenny and Val for the lovely food all weekend.

On behalf of all the youths thanks to EXE Sails and the Howard Davies Memorial Fund for the continued support.

Best of luck to those heading to the Youths in Cork this weekend where we will be expecting close on 20 boats for this hotly contested event.

See you all again soon.

Colman Grimes   

Youth Organiser / GP14 Committee

GP14 Youth Training @ Blessington

Sat 9th & Sun 10th Sep 2017

Funded by Exe Sails & the Howard Davis Memorial GP14 Youth Fund

Blessington SC have offered to host the rescheduled GP14 Youth Training this September. It will be a great practice weekend for the upcoming GP14 Youth Championship in Crosshaven the following weekend.

Places are limited and we already have 7 boats booked up so if you are interested get in touch as soon as possible. If you don't have a boat or just want to get involved helming or crewing please get in touch as we should be able to pair you up with someone else.

There is a nominal charge of just €10 per person.

Blessington know how to put on a good show and this will hopefully be a memorable event for our ever growing youth fleet. Plenty of camping is available and there is a BBQ planned for Saturday night.

For further information contact

Colman Grimes (00353) 86 8689303 / cgrimes@colmangrimes.ie

Congratulations to Ger Owens & Mel Morris on becoming Irish Champions 2017

Race 1 & 5 won by Shane MacCarthy & Damien Bracken

Race 2 won by Niall Henry & Ossian Geraghty

Race 3, 4 & 7 won by Ger Owens & Mel Morris

Race 6 won by John Hayes & Joel James

Masters won by John Hayes & Joel James

Grand Masters won by Curly Morris & Laura McFarland

Junior Helm won by Peter Boyle

Youth Helm won by Gareth Gallagher

1st Lady Helm won by Katie Dwyer

Overall Fleet Placings

Gold

1st Ger Owens & Mel Morris

2nd Shane MacCarthy & Damien Bracken

3rd John Hayes & Joel James

Silver

1st Doire Shields & Andrew Sexton

2nd Gareth& Richard Gallagher

3rd Michael Cox & Josh Porter

Bronze

1st Shane McLoughlin & Rory Murdoch

2nd Geoff & Jane Murdoch

3rd Martin & Vikki Dews

Report by Irish GP14 Association

Irish GP14 Nationals 2017

The 2017 Irish Nationals were held on 19^th-21^st August at Ballyholme Yacht Club. 29 boats competed which included one visiting team from the UK – John Hayes, an ex 470 campaigner from Southport who was sailing with Joel James. Overall numbers were down a bit on previous years due to a number of mitigating factors. However those unable to attend missed a superb event with a wide range of conditions, superb race management, excellent hospitality and exceptionally close racing.

Chief measurer Jimmy McKee was in attendance on Friday night & Saturday morning to scrutineer and weigh boats. The forecast for Saturday was borderline and the fleet were held ashore initially for an hour or so to allow the wind to subside. When the fleet did eventually take to the water, the lull in conditions proved to be only temporary. Shortly after the start of race one, the committee boat began recording gusts of 30 knots. The ensuing white knuckle race saw Shane MacCarthy & Damian Bracken winning from Sligo’s Niall Henry & Ossian Geraghty with Sutton sailors Alan Blay & David Johnston 3^rd. With only 15 boats finishing and conditions refusing to abate, the race committee made the sensible decision to send the fleet home after a single race.  Once ashore competitors enjoyed a superb bar-b-que where the famous Ballyholme rib-eye steaks lived up to all of the pre-event hype.

The forecast for the second day of racing could not have been more different to the first. This time, conditions looked borderline on the light side, with even the most optimistic forecasts predicting gusts of just 7 knots. Nevertheless, with a race to make up the race committee sent the fleet out and after a hour or so floating  around the breeze did eventually appear. Niall & Ossain took first blood in the challenging conditions winning the opening race from English visitors John Hayes & Joel James.  The right hand side of the beats seemed to be consistently paying in the ebbing tide but getting out there through the various holes & shifts was’t completely straightforward!  Ger Owens & Melanie Morris found a way though, knocking in 2 bullets in race 3 and 4 from Alan Blay & David Johnsson and Keith Louden & Alan Thompson respectively.  Silver fleet sailors Doire Shiels & Andrew Sexton also had a good day, recording a 7^th and a 3^rd to take control of the silver fleet. After a long day on the water, the race committee decided the fleet had had enough after 3 races and the fleet returned home.

The Irish GP14 AGM was held on Sunday evening and saw Stephen Boyle step down after 3 years as class president. David Cooke takes over as the new president and no doubt will strive to continue the excellent progress made over the past few years as the class builds towards a 2020 World Championships in his home club. Following the AGM, many of the sailors gathered in the nearby Jamaica Inn with a surprise birthday cake for class stalwart Hugh Gill who is celebrating another  big one!

With 3 races scheduled for the final days sailing, and just 2 points separating the top four boats the championship was wide open. Race 5 saw Shane & Damien record their second race win from John & Joel. Race 6 and another race winner, this time John & Joel taking line honours with Keith Louden & Alan Thompson in second position.  So going into the final race the championship was set for one of the closest finishes in recent years with Ger & Mel holding a narrow one point lead but Shane & Damian, John & Joel and Nial & Ossian all still in with a real chance of overall victory.

In the end however, Ger & Mel held their nerve and won the last race and with it, the overall event. Doire Shiels & Andrew Sexton won the Silver fleet finishing in 10^th overall while Sutton’s Shane MacLoughlin & Rory Murdoch won the bronze fleet. Top youths were Gareth & Richard Gallagher in 12^th position overall.

Thanks to our OOD Robin Gray and his team for exceptional race management,  David Fletcher for all his hard work in organising the event and everyone at Ballyholme Yacht Club who contributed to such an enjoyable championship.

Results