2023 GP14 Championship of Ireland at Sutton Dinghy Club

by Ross Kearney 9 Sep 2023 07:05 BST 1-3 September 2023

Sutton Dinghy Club was the host club for the GP14 Championship of Ireland, a thriving GP14 club, certainly putting on a show for the Class this year.

Attracting 37 boats from across Ireland and including some stellar names from Irish Sailing with 3 Olympians including local boy Rob Dickson (Tokyo 2021) who has started to appear for the odd GP14 event, Curly Morris (Munich 1972) and multiple winner and Champions Cup holder Ger Owens (Atehns 2004, Beijing 2008 & London 2012). In addition Fireball sailor, Chris Bateman from Monkstown Bay, a former Junior Champions Cup winner returning to Sutton where he won the 2022 Fireball Ulsters to try his hand in the GP14 fleet. European Laser Master Champion Sean Craig returned to partner Stephen Boyle again, the pair having taken the Munster Championship back in early June. Back to school and college pressures along with EP and illness ultimately meant the hoped for 40+ boats didn't materialise but a top class field nonetheless.

The three day Championship took place over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Race officer (Jim Lambin) and his team did a fantastic job, dealing with significant tides and fog, managing to complete 8 races over the 3 days in what looked set to be a very light wind event.

Friday dawned with not much hope of sailing, Dublin bay was reflecting in the sunshine, having kept the fleet onshore for an hour postponement, they were sent out to a building thermal breeze.

After a few General recalls and the threat of a black flag, the fleet got under way in the 7-9 knot breeze. First to the weather mark was Jane Kearney and Rebekah O'Tiarnaigh, with Ger Owens/Mel Morris and Colman Grimes/Ross Gingles in close pursuit. An early gybe set from Jane/Rebekah allowed them to pull clear down the run and they sailed on to win, hot on their heels was Ger/Mel with Colman / Ross close behind. The light winds and interesting tides made for some difficult sailing, many rafts were seen throughout the day at the leeward mark, and plenty of raised voices looking for that extra bit of room to help manoeuvre their boats in challenging conditions.

In Race 2 and 3, the left side of the race course seemed to be the favoured side for the remainder of the day, leaving passing opportunities at the front fairly limited, new faces to fleet Chris Bateman and James Dwyer sailed an excellent race to showcase their talent and introduce themselves as top contenders to the championship with the race win in race 2. They held off Ger/Mel and local GP guru Hugh Gill and Richard Street after what looked like a great battle at the front.

Race 3 saw the current Munster Champions Sean Craig and Stephen Boyle round in 1st but this time the gybe set on the run didn't work out for reasons unknown to most, with Ger/Mel and Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson making gains on the right along with 49er Olympian Robert Dickson and Adrian Lee in close pursuit. The podium places didn't change, with the breeze starting to increase to a lovely 10 knots, the fleet certainly enjoyed the opportunity to stretch their legs a little.

Saturday dawned and their was a theme to the weekend, the non existent wind first thing allowed the fleet to wait patiently knowing that most likely the warm weather and blue skies would bring more of the same sea breeze.

Three races were again completed in lovely conditions, the race course a little further out in Dublin bay allowed for great racing conditions. Race 4 saw the familiar faces at the front again, Ger/Mel, Ruan O'Tiarnaigh sailing with sister Charlotte and Sean/Stephen battling it out at the front. It looked like a great tussle, with the above order remaining by the finish.

Race 5 saw Sean/Stephen start to find their rhythm, sailing a great race to take the bullet, from the ever consistent Ruan/Charlotte, with Robert/Adrian chasing hard.

Race 6 and the familiar battleship grey GP of Ger/Mel rounded in 1st, Sean/Stephen in 2nd and Ross/Daniel in 3rd. Unfortunately for Sean and Stephen they had a UFD and were sent home early. This left Ross/Daniel to battle it out with Ger/Mel for the win, Ger/Mel holding on and extending out to win and with it secure the event with 2 races to spare. A very impressive performance. Niall Henry and Ossian Geraghty took 3rd place with the battle for 2nd overall starting to heat up.

By Sunday, the fleet were more than confident that the conditions would be more of the same and launched into a stronger sea breeze, to the delight of the slightly heavier crews.

Race 7 and no let up from Ger/Mel, another convincing win, this time Hugh/Richard chasing hard with Ruan/Charlotte on the podium. Racing throughout the fleet was extremely tight, place changing on every leg, allowed for some epic battles.

Race 8 and the last of the championship, Ger/Mel rounding 1st, Ross/Daniel in 2nd and Jane/Rebekah in 3rd. Again a great battle, with Ross/Daniel sneaking it past on the last run to take the win from Ger/Mel with Jane/Rebekah in 3rd.

With the win already secured for Ger/Mel overall, the fight for the podium places were very open. Despite a RET in race 8, Ruan and Charlotte's consistency in tricky conditions secured a well deserved 2nd, Ross and Daniel climbing throughout the weekend to sneak 3rd from Sean and Stephen with Robert and Adrian in 5th.

Greystones pair Conor Galligan & Adam Leddy continued their form from the end of last season taking 1st place in the Silver fleet and 18th overall despite it being their first event of the season. They led Sam Wray & Luke Henderson (Sligo) and Skerries stalwarts Cathal Sheridan & David Cooke onto the Silver podium. In bronze fleet Blessingtons Max Cully, fresh from his Junior Championship win in Rush 2 weeks ago took 1st place with new crew Horatio with former Class President Michael Collender & Brian Walker and Royal Norths Rory Higgins & Claire Cromie joining them on the podium.

The top Youth (U22) boat was Chris Bateman (MBSC), crewed by James O'Dwyer (RCYC), who justified his Gold fleet allocation with a Race win and 8th overall in his first venture into GP14. We hope to see Chris back in the fleet very soon. Top Junior (U19) this time around went to Howth Yacht Clubs Charlie Keating who sailed in Silver fleet under the Blessington burgee with Ollie Lloyd.

The weekend saw plenty of former GP14 sailors drop by, including Pat Murphy who caught up with his Cape May Worlds crew Charlotte from 1983 where the pair finished 4th. It was an excellent event of top-notch racing, a credit to the GP14 class for such competition throughout the fleet. A huge thank you to Andy Johnston and everyone at Sutton Dinghy club for hosting an excellent event.

Next up for the GP14 class is the Hot Toddy at RNIYC on the 30th September and 1st October.

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat Name	Sail no	Fleet	Division	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1st	Two Belle	14256	Gold	AM	Ger Owens	Melanie Morris	RStGYC / EABC	‑2	2	1	1	‑4	1	1	2	8
2nd	Ghost Light	14215	Gold	AMM	Ruan O'Tiarnaigh	Charlotte O'Tiarnaigh	Sutton Dinghy Club/RUYC/BYC	5	‑17	4	2	2	4	3	(RET)	20
3rd		14248	Gold	AM	Ross Kearney	Daniel Nelson	Royal North Ireland YC	‑13	‑9	2	5	9	2	6	1	25
4th		14272	Gold	AMM	Sean Craig	Stephen Boyle	RStGYC / Sutton Dinghy Club	‑8	7	6	3	1	(BFD)	4	7	28
5th	Lil Yachty	13977	Gold	AM	Robert Dickson	Adrian Lee	Sutton Dinghy Club/HYC & Youghal	‑14	5	3	7	3	5	‑18	6	29
6th	Yin Tang	14275	Gold	AMM	Hugh Gill	Richard Street	Sutton Dinghy Club	6	3	‑12	9	8	‑10	2	4	32
7th	Purple Rocket	14242	Gold	AF	Jane Kearney	Rebekah O'Tiarnaigh	Royal North Ireland YC	1	8	5	8	‑17	8	‑10	3	33
8th	Curved Gold	13624	Gold	YM	Chris Bateman	James Dwyer	Monkstown Bay SC / RCYC	9	1	7	11	6	‑20	‑14	10	44
9th	Wolf	14252	Gold	AMM	NIall Henry	Ossian Geraghty	Sligo Yacht Club	4	4	10	‑16	10	3	(RET)	13	44
10th		14214	Gold	AM	Keith Louden	Matteo Louden	Lough Foyle Yacht Club	7	6	9	4	‑23	‑11	9	9	44
11th		14247	Gold	AMM	John McGuinness	Donal McGuinness	Moville Boat Club	‑21	12	‑13	10	11	6	8	5	52
12th		14144	Gold	AM	Colman Grimes	Ross Gingles	Skerries Sailing Club	3	11	‑17	6	15	12	(DNF)	8	55
13th		14235	Gold	AM	Alan Blay	Hugh McNally	Sutton Dinghy Club	11	10	‑22	13	5	7	(DNF)	15	61
14th	Trouble on the way	14219	Gold	AMM	Dr TCM Morris	MegTyrrell / Abby Kinsella	East Antrim BC & National YC	‑20	14	20	14	7	(BFD)	12	19	86
15th	Life of Riley	14241	Gold	AMM	Patrick Hamilton	Elaine Vogan	East Down Yacht Club	17	‑20.5	8	15	13	‑24	17	16	86
16th	The Wrong Trousers	14165	Gold	AM	Conor Twohig	Matthew Cotter	Sutton Dinghy Club	‑27	16	16	12	16	15	15	‑22	90
17th	Solaro	14279	Gold	AF	Katie Dwyer	Michelle Rowley	Sutton Dinghy Club	12	‑19	18	‑19	12	17.5	13	18	90.5
18th		14143	Silver	YM	Conor Galligan	Adam Leddy	Greystones Sailing Club	‑30	22	14	‑30	22	16	11	17	102
19th	Keito 2	13901	Gold	AM	Steven Nelson	Adam Torrens	Newtownards SC / Donaghdee SC	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	25	19	9	5	12	108
20th	Mojo	14260	Gold	AMM	Alastair Duffin	Andrew Corkill	Newtownards Sailing Club	18	13	19	20	18	21	(DNF)	‑24	109
21st	Enigma	14257	Silver	AM	Sam Wray	Luke Henderson	Sligo Yacht Club	25	18	21	23	‑30	17.5	7	(RET)	111.5
22nd	Acorn	14290	Gold	AMM	Patrick O'Connor	Noah Gillen	Sligo Yacht Club	15	20.5	23	18	‑25	(BFD)	16	21	113.5
23rd	Delusion	14270	Gold	AMM	Norman Lee	Alan Leddy	Greystones Sailing Club	23	15	‑27	22	20	25	(DNF)	11	116
24th	Gringer Sails Again	14225	Silver	AM	Cathal Sheridan	David Cooke	Skerries Sailing Club	26	23	11	‑27	‑31	27	20	14	121
25th	Pig	14138	Silver	YM	Charlie Keating	Ollie Lloyd	Blessington Sailing Club	10	(OCS)	(DNF)	17	29	14	29	27	126
26th	That'll Do	14274	Silver	AM	Simon Cully	Libby Tierney	Blessington Sailing Club	‑31	27	24	21	14	22	21	‑28	129
27th	Cloud Nine	13981	Silver	YM	Sam Street	Mark Stanley	Blessington Sailing Club	19	24	15	24	‑26	(DNF)	25	23	130
28th		14185	Gold	AM	Rob Lee	Stephen Lynch	Greystones Sailing Club	16	25	25	‑31	27	(BFD)	26	20	139
29th	Gorlock Eater of Worlds	14	Bronze	YM	Maximus Cully	Horatio Laurenceau	Blessington Sailing Club	24	26	(DNC)	‑29	24	19	22	26	141
30th	Smoke on the Water	14284	Bronze	AMM	Michael Collender	Brian Walker	Mullingar Sailing Club	22	28	29	‑34	28	28	23	‑30	158
31st	Robbers Dog	14224	Bronze	AM	Rory Higgins	Claire Cromie	Royal North Ireland YC	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	26	34	13	19	29	159
32nd	Heidi	14151	Bronze	AMM	David Mellor	Mike Shaw	Royal North Ireland YC	28	30	28	28	‑33	26	24	(RET)	164
33rd		13314	Bronze	YM	Eoghan Duffy	Matthew White	Lough Ree Yacht Club	29	31	26	‑33	‑32	23	28	32	169
34th	Boatzart	13865	Bronze	AF	Jennifer Bryce	Emily Torrens	Newtownards Sailing Club	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	32	21	30	27	31	179
35th	14036	14036	Bronze	YM	Riaghan Boardman	Maedbh Butterly	Rush Sailing Club	32	32	31	‑35	‑35	29	30	25	179
36th		1411	Bronze	YM	Luke Kellett	Denis McCarrick	Sutton Dinghy Club	33	29	30	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	31	RET	199
37th	Grey Goose	13459	Bronze	YF	Olivia Giblin	Malvina Woznica	Sutton Dinghy Club	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNF	36	RET	32	33	215