29er

Current Specifications
Class Symbol
Crew	2 (single trapeze)
LOA	4.40 m (14.4 ft)
Beam	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Hull weight	70 kg (150 lb)
Mast height	7,626 mm (300.2 in)
Main & Jib area	13.19 m2 (142.0 sq ft)
Spinnaker area	16.83 m2 (181.2 sq ft)
RYA PN	924
Infobox last updated: 11 August 2009

The 29er is a two-man high performance sailing skiff designed by Julian Bethwaite and first produced in 1998.

Background

It is targeted at youth, especially those training to sail the larger 49er. It has a single trapeze and a fractional asymmetric spinnaker. The Class is a more modern replacement to Franks previous Laser 2 replacing it in the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships. A self-tacking jib decreases the work load of the crew, making manoeuvres more efficient and freeing the crew to take the mainsheet upwind and on two-sail reaches. The spinnaker rigging set-up challenges crews to be fit and coordinated, and manoeuvres in the boat require athleticism due to its lack of inherent stability and the high speed with which the fully battened mainsail and jib power up.

The hull construction is of fibreglass-reinforced polyester in a foam sandwich layout. The fully battened mainsail and jib are made from a transparent Mylar laminate with orange or red Dacron trimming, while the spinnaker is manufactured from ripstop Nylon. The mast is in three parts - an aluminium bottom and middle section, with a carbon-fibre composite tip to increase mast bend and decrease both overall weight, and the capsizing moment a heavy mast tip can generate.

The 29er is able to reach high speeds fairly quickly by having a sleek and hydrodynamic hull and will often exceed the wind speed when planing both up and downwind.

Events

World Champions

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2000, Lake Garda	New Zealand Mike Bassett Mark Kennedy	Australia Evan McNicol John Winning	New Zealand Scott Kennedy Lindsay Kennedy
2001, Kingston	Great Britain John Pink Tom Weeks	Great Britain John Gimson Simon Marks	Australia Joseph Turner Charles Dorron
2002 Sydney	Australia John Winning Evan McNicol	Australia Nathan Outteridge Grant Rose	Australia Jonathan Bonnitcha Paul Bonnitcha
2003 Laredo	Great Britain David Evans Rick Peacock	Argentina Pepe Bettini Federico Villambrosa	Great Britain Thomas Smedley Stevie Wilson
2004 Lake Silvaplana	Great Britain Tristan Jaques Alain Sign	Finland Lauri Lehtinen Miikka Pennanen	Australia David O'Connor Scott Babbage
2005 San Francisco	Australia Jacqui Bonnitcha Euan McNicol	Australia David O'Connor Scott Babbage	United States John Heineken Matt Noble
2006 Weymouth	Finland Silja Lehtinen Scott Babbage	Great Britain Dylan Fletcher Rob Partridge	United States Cameron Biehl Matt Noble
2007, Buenos Aires	Argentina Matia Eunekian Gainza Federico Villambrosa	Argentina Pepe Bettini Matías Keller	Argentina Ignacio Fernández Besada Tigris Martirosjan
2008, Melbourne	Steve Thomas (AUS)  Jasper Warren (AUS)	Australia Byron White William Ryan	Great Britain Max Richardson Alex Groves
2010, Freeport	Kevin Fisher (FRA) | Glen Gouron (FRA)	Pepe Bettini (ARG)  Fernando Gwozdz (ARG)	Lorenzo Franceschini (ITA)  Ricardo Camin (ITA)
2011, Mar del Plata	Maria Belén TAVELLA (ARG)  Franco GREGGI (ARG)	Jose BETTINI (ARG)  Francisco CAMPERO (ARG)	Francisco COSENTINO (ARG)  Tomás WAGMAISTER (ARG)
2012, Lake Garda

ISAF Youth Sailing World Champions

The 29er has been used as equipment in the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships.

29er XX

Recently, Bethwaite has been working in San Francisco with Jen Glass designing the 29erXX, a twin trapeze derivative of the 29er. It uses the same hull with some minor changes such as an extended gunwale and a rudder gantry, with a larger rig that includes a square-top main and masthead asymmetric spinnaker. The class became an International Sailing Federation recognised class in its own right in 2010.

Links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 29er

International Links

• 29er.org
• ISAF 29er Microsite

Builders

• Ovington Boats
• Bethwaite Design

National Class Associations

• German 29er Association
• British 29er Association
• North American Class Page
• Danish 29er Association
• Swiss 29er Assosiation
• (Dutch) 29er Class Organisation
• Swedish 9er Association
• Polish 9er Association

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