# 29er (dinghy)

The 29er is a two-person high performance sailing skiff designed by Julian Bethwaite and first produced in 1998. Derived from the Olympic class 49er class, it is raced in the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships. 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.

## Background

The 29er class is targeted at youth, especially those training to sail the larger Olympic 49er. The Youth Sailing World Championships has adopted it to replace the Laser 2 - which was designed by Julian Bethwaite's father Frank.
The 29er has two sailors, one on trapeze. The rig features a fractional asymmetrical spinnaker; a self-tacking jib decreases the work load of the crew, making maneuvers 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 maneuvers 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 polyester-fiberglass composite tip to increase mast bend and decrease both overall weight, and the capsizing moment a heavy mast tip can generate. Foils are aluminium or fibreglass.
The class has shown large popularity in Oceania with over 700 registered boats out of the 7000 registered worldwide

## Events
### World Championship

| Year vte | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2000 Italy Lake Garda 58 Boats | New Zealand Mike Bassett Mark Kennedy | Australia Evan McNicol John Winning | New Zealand Scott Kennedy Lindsay Kennedy |
| 2001 Canada Kingston 64 Boats | Great Britain John Pink Tom Weeks | Great Britain John Gimson Simon Marks | Australia Joseph Turner Charles Dorron |
| 2002 Australia Sydney 103 Boats | Australia John Winning Evan McNicol | Australia Nathan Outteridge Grant Rose | Australia Jonathan Bonnitcha Paul Bonnitcha |
| 2003 Spain Laredo ?? Boats | Great Britain David Evans Rick Peacock | Argentina Pepe Bettini Federico Villambrosa | Great Britain Thomas Smedley Stevie Wilson |
| 2004 Switzerland Lake Silvaplana 84 Boats | Great Britain Tristan Jaques Alain Sign | Finland Lauri Lehtinen Miikka Pennanen | Australia David O'Connor Scott Babbage |
| 2005 United States San Francisco 78 Boats | Australia Jacqui Bonnitcha Euan McNicol | Australia David O'Connor Scott Babbage | United States John Heineken Matt Noble |
| 2006 Great Britain Weymouth 105 Boats | Finland Silja Lehtinen Scott Babbage | Great Britain Dylan Fletcher Rob Partridge | United States Cameron Biehl Matt Noble |
| 2007 Argentina Buenos Aires ?? Boats | Argentina Matías Gainza Federico Villambrosa | Argentina Pepe Bettini Matías Keller | Argentina Ignacio Fernández Besada Tigris Martirosjan |
| 2008 Australia Melbourne 102 Boats | Australia Steve Thomas Jasper Warren | Australia Byron White William Ryan | Great Britain Max Richardson Alex Groves |
| 2009 Italy Lake Garda 185 Boats | Australia Steve Thomas Blair Tuke | Australia Lauren Jeffies Nathan Outteridge | Australia Haylee Outteridge Iain Jensen |
| 2010 Bahamas Freeport 35 Boats | France Kevin Fisher Glen Gouron | Argentina Pepe Bettini Fernando Gwozdz | Italy Lorenzo Franceschini Ricardo Camin |
| 2011 Argentina Mar del Plata 60 Boats | Argentina María Belén Tavella Franco Greggi | Argentina Pepe Bettini Fernando Gwozdz | Argentina Francisco Cosentino Tomás Wagmáister |
| 2012 Germany Travemünde 216 Boats | Spain Carlos Robles Florián Trittel | France Lucas Rual Kevin Fischer | Argentina Klaus Lange Mateo Majdalani |
| 2013 Denmark Kalø Vig 213 Boats | France Lucas Rual Émile Amoros | New Zealand Markus Somerville Jack Simpson | Spain Martí Llena Oriol Mahiques |
| 2014 Canada Kingston 101 Boats | Australia Kurt Hansen Harry Morton | France Brice Yrieix Loic Ficher-Guillou | Germany Jasper Steffens Tom Lennart Brauckmann |
| 2015 Great Britain Pwllheli 193 Boats | Australia Kyle O'Connell Tom Siganto | Argentina Ignacio Varisco Federico García | United States Christopher Williford Wade Waddell |
| 2016 Netherlands Medemblik 228 Boats | Australia Tom Crockett Harry Morton | France Gwendal Nael Lilian Mercier | Great Britain Crispin Beaumont Tom Darling |
| 2017 United States Long Beach 129 Boats | South Africa Benji Daniel Alex Burger | France Benjamin Jaffrezic Léo Chauvel | France Théo Revil Gautier Guevel |
| 2018 Hong Kong Hong Kong 58 Boats | New Zealand Francesco Kayrouz Jackson Keon | Australia Lachie Brewer Max Paul | France Benjamin Jaffrezic Léo Chauvel |
| 2019 Poland Gdynia 175 Boats | France Aristide Girou Noah Chauvin | United States Stephan Baker Ripley Shelley | Sweden Alice Moss Carl Hörfelt |
| 2020 Great Britain Weymouth | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 |
| 2021 Spain Valencia 190 Boats | Spain Mateo Codoñer Simón Codoñer | Spain Quicorras Urios Filippo Binetti | Denmark Jens-Christian Dehn-Toftehøj Jens-Philip Dehn-Toftehøj |
| 2022 Spain El Balís 242 Boats | Argentina Máximo Videla Tadeo Funes | Italy Alex Demurtas Giovanni Santi | France Hugo Revil Karl Devaux |
| 2023 Great Britain Weymouth 205 Boats | Ireland Clementine Van Steenberge Nathan Van Steenberge | Argentina Máximo Videla Juan Cruz Albamonte | Italy Alex Demurtas Giovanni Santi |

### Youth Sailing World Championships

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

#### Open

| Yearvte | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2010 | France Gael Jaffrezix Julien Bloyet | New Zealand Alex Maloney Sam Bullock | United States Antoine Screve James Moody |
| 2011 | Spain Carlos Robles Florián Trittel | United States Antoine Screve Max Agnese | Netherlands Max Deckers Annette Duetz |
| 2012 | Spain Carlos Robles Florián Trittel | France Lucas Rual Thomas Biton | Argentina Klaus Lange Mateo Majdalani |
| 2013 | France Lucas Rual Émile Amoros | Sweden Ida Svensson Rasmus Rosengren | New Zealand Markus Somerville Jack Simpson |
| 2014 | France Brice Yrieix Loïc Fischer Guillou | United States Quinn Wilson Riley Gibbs | New Zealand Markus Somerville Isaac McHardie |

#### Boys

| Yearvte | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2002 Lunenburg (CAN) | Australia Nathan Outteridge Ayden Menzies | New Zealand Geoffrey Woolley Mark Overington | France Guillaume Vigna Thibaut Gatti |
| 2007 Kingston (CAN) | Denmark Henrik Sogaard Søren Kristensen | New Zealand Paul Snow-Hansen Blair Tuke | Great Britain James Ellis Rob Partridge |
| 2008 Århus (DEN) | Great Britain James Peters Edward FitzGerald | Argentina Germán Billoch Gastón Cheb Terrab | United States Judge Ryan Hans Henken |
| 2016 Auckland (NZL) 25 Nations | Great Britain Crispin Beaumont Tom Darling | France Gwendal Nael Lilian Mercier | Australia John Cooley Simon Hoffman |
| 2017 Sanya (CHN) 30 Nations | France Théo Revil Gautier Guevel | Norway Mathias Berthet Alexander Franks-Penty | Argentina Santiago Duncan Elías Dalli |
| 2018 Corpus Christi (USA) 25 Nations | Norway Mathias Berthet Alexander Franks-Penty | New Zealand Seb Lardies Scott McKenzie | Australia Henry Larkings Miles Davey |
| 2019 Gdynia (POL) 28 Nations | Norway Mathias Berthet Alexander Franks-Penty | Finland Ville Korhonen Edvard Bremer | Australia Archie Cropley Max Paul |
| 2021 Al-Mussanah (OMA) 24 Nations | France Hugo Revil Karl Devaux | Spain Mateo Codoñer Simón Codoñer | United States Ian Nyenhuis Noah Nyenhuis |
| 2022 The Hague (NED) 24 Nations | Argentina Máximo Videla Tadeo Funes | Great Britain Santiago Sesto-Cosby Leo Wilkinson | New Zealand George Lee Rush Seb Menzies |
| 2023 Búzios (BRA) 30 Nations | France Hugo Revil Karl Devaux | Italy Alex Demurtas Giovanni Santi | Ireland Ben O'Shaughnessy Ethan Spain |

#### Girls

| Yearvte | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2002 | Great Britain Pippa Wilson Jenny Marks | Australia Elise Rechichi Rayshele Martin | New Zealand Rachel O'Brien Kelly Riechelmann |
| 2007 | United States Emily Dellenbaugh Briana Provancha | Great Britain Sophie Weguelin Sophie Ainsworth | Australia Hannah Nattrass Michelle Muller |
| 2008 | Great Britain Frances Peters Claire Lasko | Netherlands Annemiek Bekkering Jeske Kisters | Australia Hannah Nattrass Michelle Muller |
| 2015 | Finland Sirre Kronlöf Veera Hokka | Denmark Lærke Graversen Iben Nielsby Christensen | New Zealand Greta Stewart Kate Stewart |
| 2016 | Australia Natasha Bryant Annie Wilmot | Poland Aleksandra Melzacka Maja Micińska | New Zealand Greta Stewart Kate Stewart |
| 2017 Sanya | Italy Margherita Porro Sofia Leoni | Russia Zoya Novikova Diana Sabirova | Australia Jasmin May Galbraith Chloe Fisher |
| 2018 Corpus Christi | Norway Pia Andersen Nora Edland | United States Berta Puig Isabella Casaretto | Russia Zoya Novikova Diana Sabirova |
| 2019 Gdynia | United States Berta Puig Isabella Casaretto | Malta Antonia Schultheis Victoria Schultheis | Sweden Martina Carlsson Amanda Ljunggren |
| 2021 Al-Mussanah | Great Britain Emily Mueller Florence Brellisford | United States Charlie Leigh Sophie Fisher | Slovenia Alja Petrič Katja Filipič |
| 2022 The Hague | Argentina Amparo Stupenengo Julia Pantin | France Lucie Gout Fleur Babin | Japan Manase Ichihashi Rinko Goto |
| 2023 Búzios | Poland Ewa Lewandowska Julia Żmudzińska | France Sarah Jannin Fleur Babin | Hungary Boróka Fehér Szonja Fehér |
| 2024 Lake Garda | Poland Alicja Dampc Alicja Tutkowska | Finland Una Heinilä Silja-Sophie Laukkanen | United States Annie Sitzmann Molly Bonham |

## 29er XX and XS

Bethwaite and Jen Glass have also designed 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.
In late 2012 Bethwaite announced another new version, the 29erXS, aimed at younger and/or lighter sailors. The XS features a similar rig to the XX, but of smaller size fitted to a standard 29er hull and employing a single trapeze. The main being 4.29sqm and the jib 2.13sqm, the spinnaker is similarly downsized. The intention is that sailors can upgrade the rig when they are ready to move to full sized sails, and keep the hull, which will remain standard across all 29er variants.