49er (dinghy)
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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 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 in the Olympics since the Sydney Olympics of 2000.
[edit] 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 the of the bow of the boat facilitating higher speeds and greater ease at flying it.
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.
Image:49er skiff sailing AUS nationals Geelong.jpg 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.
With a Portsmouth yardstick Handicap of 747 the 49er is the fastest two person one-design monohull dinghy.
The 29er is a smaller version of the 49er. It has become popular in North America, Europe and Australia as a fast exciting youth boat.
[edit] External links
- International 49er Class Association
- Bethwaite Design - The latest in skiff design
- 29er Class Association - A youth training boat for the 49er
[edit] Other International Sailing Dinghies
| Sailing dinghies (ISAF International Classes) | |
|---|---|
| 14 Foot | 29er | 420 | 470 | 49er | 505 | Cadet | Contender | Enterprise | Europe | Finn | Fireball | Flying Dutchman | Flying Junior | Laser Standard | Laser 4.7 | Laser II | Lightning | Mirror | Moth | OK Dinghy | Optimist | Snipe | Splash | Sunfish | Topper |Vaurien | Zoom 8 | |
