Lough Erne Yacht Club

Fleets > GP 14

Fleet Captain: Matt Cody

Wednesday 9th June saw a nice dinghy mix appearing for the evening’s training and racing. There were 6 G.P.14’s, 3 Toppers and 2 Lasers. Again there were old hands and fresh faces.
Mark and Amanda decided to concentrate on race starts for the training aspect of the evening. There were 6 mini-starts for crews to practice on.
The evening finished with a mixed dinghy race and the results were:
GP14
1st Jorgen Peterson/Joe McConville
2nd James Murphy
3rd Ryan from Share
Toppers
1st F. Ghareeb
Dinghies are reminded that the summer regatta is this weekend and all will be welcome.

Matt Cody

June 2 2010
After poor winds and low turn-outs Wednesday 2nd June saw a reversal in fortunes for the dinghy classes of G.P. 14 and Toppers. A balmy evening with a light southerly breeze greeted the sailors. The attendees included “old hands” and some new recruits who were welcomed by Matt Cody and Mark Taylor. Mark and Amanda provided race training for the evening. 8 G.Ps and 5 toppers took to the water. The G.Ps got in two races with James Murphy and Steven Taylor winning the first race and the Jorgen Petersen/Joe McConville combination winning the second.
There is a program of race training set up by Mark to run for the next number of Wednesdays and all are welcome

Matt Cody



GP14’s at L.E.Y.C

“GP 14 sailing is alive and kicking at LEYC.To the uninitiated a G.P. stands for a general purpose 14 foot dinghy.It is one of the most popular and versatile boats and can be sailed in the most diverse of wind conditions. It is a two person boat, namely helm and crew. The club has a very enthusiastic following and if you are game for a laugh and a bit of fresh air then LEYC is the place to be.G.P. 14 sailing takes place on Wednesdays from 7p.m. til dusk and on Sundays during the sailing season

If you are interested why not contact the G.P. class sec. by email
"We are always on the look out for new sailors.”

Backround to Class

LEYC’s GP14 fleet is still as active today and plays an important role in development of sailing within the club. It has also allowed sailors to fine tune their racing skills so they can compete at club and national level. LEYC now annually hoists an open meeting for the GP14 association as they have built up a reputation over the years as being one of the best clubs in Ireland at organising events.
Racing
The GP14 fleet race from May to November each year, twice a week, on Sunday afternoons starting 2.30 and Wednesday evenings starting 7.30. On average there is a GP14 association event once a month over the summer months which bring sailors to clubs all over Ireland. L.E.Y.C will hoist the Irish national championships 27 & 28 August 2006. Ireland will also hoist the world championships in 2006 at Sligo yacht club
Recent event
The Fisher Engineering Supported Hot Toddy 8th & 9th October 2005 saw some of the most spectacular sailing of the season. LEYC welcomed 27 boats to the club for the two day event. It was exhausting for the competitors but entertaining for all who watched! The conditions saw even the most skilled sailors finding it a challenge to keep their boats up-right. The racing on Saturday started with a sunny start and a steady south-westerly breeze. The first race was won by Niall Henry and Ossian Geraghty from Sligo Y.C. The second race saw the breeze increase with gusts of 20+ knots, the win going to Paddy O’Connor and Tania MacHale from Sligo Yacht Club. Paddy suffered a torn main sail on Sunday morning destroying any hopes of a good overall result. The on the water lunch break brought an unwelcome shower and more breeze. Race three saw many competitors retire for the day due to the conditions. John and Donal McGuinness from Moville came through to win. Sundays weather reports had predicted a lot more wind and therefore the possibility of no racing. With this in mind race officer Matt Cody from LEYC decided to squeeze in a fourth race on Saturday to make a worthwhile series. The wind dropped for the fourth and last race on Saturday being some reprieve for the competitors still going. Curly Morris and Laura McFarland from East Antrim B.C. came through to win. Sunday morning brought a steady 15knot breeze but this was soon to change! As 17 boats made the start of the fifth race gusts reached over 30 knots and many boats retired before the finish Tom Molloy and Jay Calville from East Down Y.C. came in first. Racing was then abandoned as conditions had got too bad.
The Bronze section was won by Neil Cody and Keith McPartland from L.E.Y.C in their first GP14 event, The Silver section was won by Chris Scott and Mark Taylor also from L.E.Y.C. A consistent run of results brought Niall Henry and Ossian Geraghty out the clear winners after a difficult weekend.

History of Class

The outbreak of World War II brought many significant advances, one was waterproof plywood which could be used as a strong, light and easily worked boat building material. Around the same period there was a renewed determination that yachting should get away from being only a rich man’s sport. In 1949 Yachting World sponsored a ‘General Purpose’ 14 foot dinghy (4.27m), designed by Jack Holt for home building from plywood, complete with oars and a simple Bermudan rig and easily trailed behind a small car. The Bell Woodworking Company produced a special kit of plywood parts for the new boats and class logo became the bell shaped sail insignia.
GP 14’s Grows and Spreads

Throughout the 1950’s GP14’s were being built in great numbers, including Larne and Ballyholme. They soon took to racing and left their oars ashore to save weight. By 1961, nearly 5000 sail numbers had been issued. In 1963, so many boats turned up for the UK National Championships in Liandudno that gate starts were used for the first time. Wednesday in that championship was ‘the day for the Irish’ reported Yachting World. The first three boats home were Teredo and Jewel (W Whisker) both from Ballyhome and Ywry (P F Rowan) East Antrim. After crossing the line they waited for each other, hoisted spinnakers and sailed triumphantly back to the beach in company. This was the first time there has been Irish boats at the Championship. Two years later at Helensburgh, Burton Allen became the first Irishman to win the UK National Championship sailing Justmaidi he won comfortably and took the Bell Trophy. Irish World Success first came in 1975 when W Whisker from Ballyhome won the world title.
GP 14’s Begin at LEYC
Mean time back at LEYC at a general meeting in 1962 a preference was stated for to start dinghy racing again. LEYC did have a Snipe fleet in the 1930’s to 1950’s. At the general meeting in November a long discussion determined as to whether the GP14 or the Enterprise class would be the most suitable, it was finally decided that the GP14 would probably prove the more popular as it was easier to obtain second-hand boats. The Honorary Secretary was instructed to put an advertisement in the local press to the effect that the club hoped to form a class of GP14’s next year. In 1964 LEYC first hoisted a GP14 open meeting with a home fleet of four boats. This event was also a mile stone in the development of GP14 as it was the first event in Ireland where the new larger genoa sail was used which is still in use to day. LEYC went on to hoist many open and national meetings, then in 1993 LEYC hoisted the British Inland Championships one of the biggest GP14 events. This was also the first and only time it has been hoisted by a club in Ireland.
Irish Class Association
By 1965 Yachts and Yachting reported ‘There is are almost 200 GP’s in Ireland and that the GP Association are considering the formation of an Irish Class Association with north, south, east and west branches’ again it did happen and more boats and clubs and other open meetings were added from year to year.
There are now some 300 clubs in the United Kingdom and Ireland where GP14’s are actively sailed. Fleets are also found in East and South Africa, Nigeria, Australia, North America etc. There are over 3000 GP14 sailors throughout the British Isles. The GP14 Association can be contacted at:

THE GP FOURTEEN CLASS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
129a NANTWICH ROAD
CREWE
CHESHIRE CW26DG

Class members - click on a boat for details

Click here to view fleet photographs