Hi Tony,

Two answers: 1, excellent choice for your intended use.  2, depends on how the boat has been stored. Starting from the stem, the mast foot area can soften and is subjected to stress from rig tension, there is a recommended modification to overcome this.  Sometimes there are problems around the bottom of the centreboard case, perhaps less easy to rectify.  Sometimes boats are left with the transom sitting on soil or with water inside, so rot can occur around the hull/transom junction.

I’m sure Oliver, who is the chief guru, will also give you his ideas.

Good luck with the examination, if the boat is currently being raced, I would hope all should be OK.

Regards, Norman

I fully concur with Norman’s answers,  to both questions.

The boat is not a desperately old one,  so provided she has been  properly looked after and properly stored there should be no problems.    But do of course have a detailed and general look around,  and lift the floorboards to check the state of the bottom.

If you do buy her,  for your intended use it might be sensible to consider fitting a means of reefing,  preferably jiffy/slab reefing on the main,  and a good roller reefing system on the genoa;   and if the budget permits (or if you are offered the option of a good second-hand suit) it might be worth buying dedicated cruising sails.   They are cut and built differently from racing sails,  and from different cloth,  because they are designed for a different purpose;   they will usually be cut flatter,  they will be designed to set well when reefed as well as when full,  and they will be more tolerant of the rough handling that is sometimes inevitable when cruising (e.g. being crumpled up in the bottom of the boat and then sat on).   If,  either now or in the future,  you end up buying brand new cruising sails,  Edge Sails seem to be the preferred make for cruising sails,  and certainly I was very well pleased with the suit that they made for A Capella back in 2007.

You might like to consider fitting oars and crutches (rowlocks),  and even for lake sailing I would recommend that you carry an anchor.   The latter will be particularly useful for cruising,  since you may on occasion wish to go ashore for a picnic and anchor the boat off;    but do then run a trip line ashore.

You may also wish to switch the mainsheet sheeting from from a racing arrangement (most popular is the near ubiquitous split tail sheet led ultimately to the centre of the boat) to transom sheeting.   Many helmsmen feel that centre sheeting (or,  better,  the split tail system) is preferable for racing,  but transom sheeting is preferable for cruising.   It is an easy modification,  and indeed some skippers who regularly do both have their boats set up so that they can use either system,  according to what the boat is being used for on any particular occasion.

Oliver

According to my records the sail number was issued in 1974.

You will get some useful information on model and builder from the article “A Brief History of the GP14 Hull” which was published (for the second time,  at least) in “50 Years On The Water”;   scanned copy on this site.

Hope this helps,

Oliver