Info wanted GP 14? or Bell Woodworking
ian
I live in Perth, Ontario, Canada (about 100km from Ottawa) and sail
dinghies on local lakes. Last year I attended an estate sale at a nearby
hobby farm. I was able to purchase what appeared to be a miscellany of
boat fittings in a box for a very small sum. Later in the same sale I
purchased a small suit of sails (main + jib). On closer inspection I
realized I had purchased a complete set of hardware and sails for a small
craft! Information in the box indicated that this was a kit shipped from
Bell Woodworking, Narborough Rd. South, Leicester. The sails have a solid
black bell on them and are made by Jeckells of Wroxham,Norfolk and
Lowestoft, Suffolk. There are no plans for the boat with the kit and
therein lies my problem. The kit was originally sent from England in March
of 1964! It may be called a GP14 but the labels are not clear if this is a
name or a part number. As my second love is woodworking I am interested
in building this boat. Any information which could be supplied about the
boat, kitmaker or sailmaker would be greatly appreciated. Naturally I will
post information about my progress with the project. Happy Sailing!, Ian
mark johnson
In article <01bc0016$48d91cc0$2828...@ianlloyd.igs.net>
ianl...@perth.igs.net "ian" writes:
> I live in Perth, Ontario, Canada (about 100km from Ottawa) and sail
> dinghies on local lakes. Last year I attended an estate sale at a nearby
> hobby farm. I was able to purchase what appeared to be a miscellany of
> boat fittings in a box for a very small sum. Later in the same sale I
> purchased a small suit of sails (main + jib). On closer inspection I
> realized I had purchased a complete set of hardware and sails for a small
> craft! Information in the box indicated that this was a kit shipped from
> Bell Woodworking, Narborough Rd. South, Leicester.
>The sails have a solid black bell on them
Definelty a GP 14
and are made by Jeckells of Wroxham,Norfolk and
> Lowestoft, Suffolk. There are no plans for the boat with the kit and
> therein lies my problem. The kit was originally sent from England in March
> of 1964! It may be called a GP14 but the labels are not clear if this is a
> name or a part number. As my second love is woodworking I am interested
> in building this boat. Any information which could be supplied about the
> boat, kitmaker or sailmaker would be greatly appreciated. Naturally I will
> post information about my progress with the project. Happy Sailing!, Ian
>
>
--
Regards
Mark Johnson
Bob Williams
In article <01bc0016$48d91cc0$2828...@ianlloyd.igs.net>, ian
<ianl...@perth.igs.net> writes
>I live in Perth, Ontario, Canada (about 100km from Ottawa) and sail
>dinghies on local lakes. Last year I attended an estate sale at a nearby
>hobby farm. I was able to purchase what appeared to be a miscellany of
>boat fittings in a box for a very small sum. Later in the same sale I
>purchased a small suit of sails (main + jib). On closer inspection I
>realized I had purchased a complete set of hardware and sails for a small
>craft! Information in the box indicated that this was a kit shipped from
>Bell Woodworking, Narborough Rd. South, Leicester. The sails have a solid
>Lowestoft, Suffolk. There are no plans for the boat with the kit and
>therein lies my problem. The kit was originally sent from England in March
>of 1964! It may be called a GP14 but the labels are not clear if this is a
>name or a part number. As my second love is woodworking I am interested
>in building this boat. Any information which could be supplied about the
>boat, kitmaker or sailmaker would be greatly appreciated. Naturally I will
>post information about my progress with the project. Happy Sailing!, Ian
>
class of dinghy well-known in UK called the GP14 and Bell Woodworking is
still operating from the address you have. You could try writing to them
by snail mail, they may be able to provide a set of drawings or a kit -
sorry, I don't know if they're on the Net :(
Good luck,
Bob
--
Bob Williams
Contessa 32 'Panache'
Brighton, UK http://www.drbobw.demon.co.uk/
chris squire
You are quite right, it sounds like a GP14 made by Bell woodworking.
Bell are at : 153, Parker Drive, Leicester, LE4 0JP, UK.
GP14 class association HQ is at 129b Nantwich Road, Crewe Cheshire, CW2
6DG phone 01270 212290.
Best of luck,
Chris.
Ian MacGregor
On 11 Jan 1997 23:23:14 GMT, "ian" <ianl...@perth.igs.net> wrote:
>therein lies my problem. The kit was originally sent from England in March
>of 1964! It may be called a GP14 but the labels are not clear if this is a
The GP14 is a popular (14ft approx) sailing dinghy in the UK and is
raced in many sailing clubs here. The black bell on the mainsail is
the emblem for the GP14 class and there is probably a GP14 UK Class
Association. I imagine the dinghy is not quite as popular as it once
was as the design goes back some years. However there are hundreds
(thousands?) of them being sailed in UK waters.
Bell Woodworking is a company specialising in the manufacture
of dinghy kits and are still based in Leicester. I built a Mirror
dinghy from a Bell kit round about 1980 and much enjoyed the
experience. As far as I can remember no plans were supplied with the
kit as all of the dinghy parts were cut to the approximate size. What
was provided was a manual which gave comprehensive instructions
on how to put the dinghy together and I imagine it is this document
that you require to build the dinghy.
Please email me if you would like me to phone Bell Woodworking for
you to try to obtain a copy of the manual. It might help if you let
me know the sail number of the dinghy which is on the sails and
probably on the transom.
Ian MacGregor
i...@netcomuk.co.uk
R Georgeson
In message <32dc0e18...@nntp.netcruiser>
i...@netcomuk.co.uk (Ian MacGregor) writes:
> On 11 Jan 1997 23:23:14 GMT, "ian" <ianl...@perth.igs.net> wrote:
> >therein lies my problem. The kit was originally sent from England in March
> >of 1964! It may be called a GP14 but the labels are not clear if this is a
<snip>
> Bell Woodworking is a company specialising in the manufacture
> of dinghy kits and are still based in Leicester. I built a Mirror
> dinghy from a Bell kit round about 1980 and much enjoyed the
> experience. As far as I can remember no plans were supplied with the
> kit as all of the dinghy parts were cut to the approximate size. What
> was provided was a manual which gave comprehensive instructions
> on how to put the dinghy together and I imagine it is this document
> that you require to build the dinghy.
I built an Enterprise from a Bell kit. Plans were supplied and
definitely needed. The deal also included the loan of formers to hold
the stringers till the hull was skinned. I guess (since the Mirror
came after the Enterprise came after the GP) plans would be needed -
I'd hate to build one without plans anyway, with no idea of whether
the shape was anywhere near right.
--
Dick Georgeson
mil...@zetnet.co.uk
01372 843577
Derrick E.Carter
Ian's account of finding that GP14 "kit" dating back to 1964
was fascinating and there will probably be a lot of response
with info on the boat itself and on Bell Woodworking.
I can help with info on the sails though. Jeckells are an old
family business of sailmakers, chandlers and awning makers and
make sails for all types of craft from racers, charters to
fishing boats. In other words racing weight to heavy duty.
If you want to contact them address your enquiry to Peter
Jeckells, at Jeckells Sailmakers, Wroxham, Norfolk,England and
you will find the company very helpful.
If you don't get much response about the GP14 please come back
to me via e-mail and I will get what info I can and send it on.
Cheers and happy sailing ....
Derrick.
Roger Eustis
"ian" <ianl...@perth.igs.net> honoured us with:
>I live in Perth, Ontario, Canada (about 100km from Ottawa) and sail
>dinghies on local lakes. Last year I attended an estate sale at a nearby
>hobby farm. I was able to purchase what appeared to be a miscellany of
>boat fittings in a box for a very small sum. Later in the same sale I
>purchased a small suit of sails (main + jib). On closer inspection I
>realized I had purchased a complete set of hardware and sails for a small
>craft! Information in the box indicated that this was a kit shipped from
>Bell Woodworking, Narborough Rd. South, Leicester. The sails have a solid
>black bell on them and are made by Jeckells of Wroxham,Norfolk and
>Lowestoft, Suffolk. There are no plans for the boat with the kit and
>therein lies my problem. The kit was originally sent from England in March
>of 1964! It may be called a GP14 but the labels are not clear if this is a
>name or a part number. As my second love is woodworking I am interested
>in building this boat. Any information which could be supplied about the
>boat, kitmaker or sailmaker would be greatly appreciated. Naturally I will
>post information about my progress with the project. Happy Sailing!, Ian
Ian Hi,
you can obtain a full set of plans for the GP14 from the Class Association
office at:
GP14 Class International Association
129b Nantwich Road
CREWE
Cheshire
CW2 7BN
Fax: (0044) 1270 583334
You might like to know that 3 clubs in Canada have adopted the GP14 as a class:
Hudson YC,PO Box 275, Hudson Heights, Quebec
Lac Deschenes SC, 3 Calville St, Kanata, Ontario
Stormont YC, PO Box 574,Longsault, Ontario
there are two Canadian sailmakers registered with the Class:
Charlie Smith Sails Ltd and Tom Taylor Co Ltd both in Toronto.
The Class Association will be interested to hear from you and indeed any other
GP14 sailors in
Canada. Did the sails you got have a number stitched on or just the bell ?
Good luck with the project. Why not attend the 1997 GP14 World Championships in
July which is to be hosted by Skerries SC near Dublin in Ireland ?
Cheers
Roger ex GP14 no 87.
--
\
{|:{ ( Helga ? Is that damned fjord STILL frozen ?)
/
Roger Eustis
"ian" <ianl...@perth.igs.net> honoured us with:
>[snip] On closer inspection I
Ian Hi,
Dublin,
Ireland !
Alister Harwood
In my limited experience, the GP sailors are lways the friendliest in
any sailing club - must come from helping each other haul the boats up
the slipway. Any other sweeping generalisations on classes?
Alister
Gerry Byrne
>
> Good luck with the project. Why not attend the 1997 GP14 World
Championships in
> July which is to be hosted by Skerries SC near Dublin in Ireland ?
>
>
>
> Cheers
>
> Roger ex GP14 no 87.
> --
> \
GP 14 sailors might be interested to learn that a limited number of charter
boats will be available for the Worlds here in Skerries between July 19 and
25. Owners just wishing to do some coastal cruising and island hopping are
also welcome and a few escorted cruises-in-company are being organised for
them.
Gerry Byrne, Skerries Sailing Club