The 49er is a newer one-design class of small sailing dinghy. It is a double handed twin trapeze boat, meaning that it is sailed by a helm and a crew, the helm making many tactical decisions, as well as steering, and the crew doing most of the sail control. The design, by Julian Bethwaite, the son of Frank Bethwaite, (the designer of the popular Tasar and Laser 2 classes), is revolutionary. The boat is experiencing an increase in popularity due to its selection as an Olympic class starting with the Sydney Olympics of 2000. One-Design is a racing method where all vehicles or boats have identical or very similar designs or models. ... 2 GP14s, a Topper and a Graduate Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using (1) the sails and (2) underwater foils (centreboard and rudder). ... A boat, like a ship, is a buoyant vessel designed for the purpose of transporting people and possibly goods across water. ... The Laser 2 is a larger variant of the popular Laser one-design class of small sailing dinghy The Laser is a single-handed boat, but the Laser 2 is sailed by two people. ... Final results for the Sailing events at the 2000 Summer Olympics: // MENS EVENTS Sailboard (Mistral) Single-Handed Dinghy (Finn) Double-Handed Dinghy (470) WOMENS EVENTS Sailboard (Mistral) Single-Handed Dinghy (Europe) Double-Handed Dinghy (470) OPEN EVENTS Single-Handed Dinghy (Laser) High Performance Dinghy (49er) Two-Person Keelboat...

Skiff Sailing

The 49er has been an amazing feat of engineering. Based on the Aussie 18's and the International 14's, Julian Bethwaite made several changes to the evolution of high performance sailing. By replacing the spinnaker pole with an asymmetrical spinnaker system which comes straight out of the bow, it facilitates higher speeds and greater ease at flying it. The 18ft Skiff is considered the fastest class of sailing skiffs. ... The International 14 is a type or class of fourteen foot long sailing dinghy, sailed by two people. ... For other uses, see Spinnaker (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Spinnaker (disambiguation). ...

Another innovative feature is the gust response built into the rig. The deflection of the mast progressively from the top downwards due to the increase in the wind speed causes the sail to flatten, reducing the sail forces. This is an important part of the 49er design and is now used on many skiff designs.

A 49er skiff in a race

The 49er's performance is impressive: In upwind+downwind short course racing on enclosed waters in moderate to fresh winds, the best sailed 49ers will comfortably keep up with the best sailed 18ft skiffs. The 49er is only 15'8" in water line length, and has only 70% of the power to weight of the 18ft skiff. It can achieve such high performance thanks mostly to its low drag design. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x567, 154 KB) User:Gwicke and Wolf Jeschonnek competing in the Australian Nationals 2003 of the olympic 49er class. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x567, 154 KB) User:Gwicke and Wolf Jeschonnek competing in the Australian Nationals 2003 of the olympic 49er class. ...

The 49er made its first olympic appearance at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and has continued to grow in popularity ever since.

With a Portsmouth yardstick Handicap of 68.8 the 49er is the fastest two person one-design monohull dinghy. The Portsmouth yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a system of handicapping used in yacht racing. ...

The 29er is a smaller, single trapeze trainer to the 49er. It has become popular in North America, Europe and Australia as a fast exciting youth boat. The 29er is a skiff designed by Julian Bethwaite and first produced in 1998. ...

External links

• International 49er Class Association
• UK 49er Class Association

Other International Sailing Dinghies