Choosing a boat: A beautiful GP 14 but too risky?

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A beautiful GP 14 but too risky?

Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: General
Forum Name: Choosing a boat
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URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13354
Printed Date: 04 Aug 25 at 8:05pm
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Topic: A beautiful GP 14 but too risky?

Posted By: Jeffisme
Subject: A beautiful GP 14 but too risky?
Date Posted: 28 Jun 19 at 10:13am

My wife and I are taking sailing lessons through our local group. I've taken them before out on Portland, OR. We've decided to try to find a larger dinghy that is stable, not too fast and fine for just tootling around. Neither of us is interested in racing.

The group has a boat-making school, and there was a beautiful wooden dinghy sitting out in front with a sign saying it was for sale. It's a gorgeous, wood GP14, that a member's grandfather built in 1962. It looked like it was built yesterday. We were immediately interested even though the boat was a bit smaller than others we had seen. Carrying three was a bit of a stretch; I don't think you could carry four. The boat had a been in storage for several years. A mouse had created some large holes in the jib and had also chewed up one of the drain holes in the back (which they said they would fix). The fellow said you'd occasionally see some water around the centerboard but it never amounts to much. That's it with its problems. It had a cover and small engine. The wood was beautiful. it had been varnished well; the paint on the bottom of the hull was in good shape. in other words it was a well-cared-for boat.

I've been reading through the forums and caught the warnings about old wooden boats and am sure they are all wise. Does this boat sound any different? The owner listed those two problems and said that was it. A friend who knows boats suggested I stay away that at its best the boat would be like having a Model T, you take it out occasionally to thrill the neighbors but that's it. we're looking for a regular sailer to sail around our local river and lakes. Would this boat be a mistake? thanks for any info. jeff

Replies:

Posted By: cad99uk
Date Posted: 28 Jun 19 at 10:46am

Hi, welcome to Yachts and Yachting and the world of dinghy sailing. I have been dinghy sailing for 50 years and my top tip would be to not get a wooden boat. Only go wooden if you want your hobby to be sailing and boat painting and varnishing. Dry storage in the winter is also useful.

See if you can find one of the larger rotomould dinghies.

Posted By: Gordon 1430
Date Posted: 28 Jun 19 at 10:52am

I agree avoid wooden boats especially that old as they will need more maintenance than you will get sailing. Not so sure about rotomoulded myself a 2000 or Wanderer would be worth checking out.

Go on Holiday and try a few boats in the sun and see what you like while gaining experience.

Or both of you crew for a few people to get a better feel of what sailing is about, when you have just finished your level 2 I think its risky to buy a boat until you have spent time with others learning to sail properly.

Good luck with whatever you do.

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Gordon
Phantom 1430

Posted By: Jeffisme
Date Posted: 28 Jun 19 at 11:06am

thanks for the sensical advice. that GP sure looked enticing though.

Posted By: SUGmeister
Date Posted: 28 Jun 19 at 11:49am

Guess you'll know about Willamette Sailing Club in Portland? Apparently they have a large fleet of Lido 14s.

https://willamettesailingclub.com/" rel="nofollow - https://willamettesailingclub.com/

Dimensionally this will be in the GP14 ballpark

Here's a list of boats for sail. The first is not that far from you in NorCal and offered at $1200

http://www.lido14.org/Classifieds/Classifieds.htm" rel="nofollow - http://www.lido14.org/Classifieds/Classifieds.htm

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Simon SUGmeister
I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Posted By: Jeffisme
Date Posted: 28 Jun 19 at 11:53am

You bet! I sailed quite bit with the WSC and also on the Columbia. The kids love their Lasers. I am more of a Daysailer type. We are now in upstate New York. I miss the WSC folks.

Posted By: ColPrice2002
Date Posted: 28 Jun 19 at 8:35pm

GP14s are quite capable of taking 4 adults - my best friend's dad had a wooden one on the Medway, there's enough room in the dinghy.

The real problem with them is that they do need 3-4 people to recover them!

They are a bit heavy, but well built they'll take a lot of punishment.

For less maintenance, look at a grp dinghy for less maintenance.

Rotomoulded hulls tend to be heavier than equivalent grp.

Colin

Posted By: MerlinMags
Date Posted: 28 Jun 19 at 9:37pm

I've been sailing for 30 years and still ONLY want wooden boats. You have to resign yourself to the revarnishing every so often.

Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 29 Jun 19 at 12:43am

Where will you keep it? if it can live in your garage between sailing sessions (or at least over the winter) it could well be a viable option. Old GRP GPs (and Enterprises) don't last well as they were designed to be built from flat sheets of ply which is inherently fairly stiff, thin GRP is not so joints flex and come apart. A well looked after wooden boat won't suffer from that problem.

Having said that I don't have a wooden boat but mostly 'cos I don't have access to dry storage for it and I sail all year round. If you don't mind a couple of spring weekends sorting the winter's ravages there is a joy in owning a tidy wooden boat that GRP can't fill.

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Spice 346 "Flat Broke"
Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish"

Posted By: Jeffisme
Date Posted: 29 Jun 19 at 1:03am

I think this is one case of thinking with one's heart rather than the head, and it makes sense to listen to the good advice here. We don't have a garage, and varnishing every few years and dealing with possible rot might be a bit much. We'll go back to our previous plan of either a Point Jude or a Sunfish. The place where I take lessons will be starting a community sailing program soon, so if all goes well, we can sign out a boat for short trips, provided we have enough crew.

Since that would give us access to nice sized boats, it might be fun to keep around a used Sunfish for a quick sail on the right day. On the other hand, a used Point Jude is not that much more expensive and is a nice stable boat that can be singlehanded pretty easily. It also seats three or four comfortably Nice to have options.

I've attached a photo of the GP. thanks for all the helpful advice.

Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 29 Jun 19 at 8:06am

No garage? Then definitely steer clear of wooden boats. The Point Jude looks a little like a bigger GP14, we don't see them in the UK. It's a heavy beast though at 238kg (GP is about 140 rigged and is considered heavy by modern standards). Your plan to have a Sunfish and join the community sailing program sounds a perfect compromise to me.

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Spice 346 "Flat Broke"
Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish"

Posted By: rich96
Date Posted: 29 Jun 19 at 10:23am

Don't be too hasty to comnpletely dismiss wooden boats

Modern varnishes, paints and especially epoxy can result in very durable boats.

I had a stunning wooden Albacore that was left out all year and still looked amazing after a few years.

We have plenty of wooden boats at our club that are stored outside all year.

I recently saw a Scorpion that was 11 years old and had not been re-painted or varnished.