# 49er (dinghy)

The 49er and 49er FX is a two-handed skiff-type high-performance sailing dinghy. The two crew work on different roles with the helm making many tactical decisions, as well as steering, and the crew doing most of the sail control. Both of the crew are equipped with their own trapeze and sailing is done while cantilevered over the water to the fullest extent to balance against the sails.
The 49er was designed by Julian Bethwaite (the son of Frank Bethwaite) and developed by a consortium consisting of Bethwaites, Performance Sailcraft Japan, Peter Johnston, and Ovington boats. The boat has been an Olympic class since it was selected by the International Sailing Federation to be the men's high performance double handed dinghy Sydney Summer Games of 2000. Its derivative featuring a re-designed rig, the 49er FX, was selected by World Sailing to be the women's high performance double-hander at the Rio Summer Olympics of 2016.

## History

The 49er's name comes from its hull length of 4.99 metres (16 ft 4 in). It incorporates ideas developed in Julian Bethwaite's 18ft Skiffs, notably the Prime Computer series of boats, which were double handers.
To handle a large and powerful sail area, the mast uses a square topped sail that causes the upper main to twist off and flatten, allowing a controllable sail with fast gust response and reducing the heeling moment. The use of solid wings, rather than tubes as on similar boats (RS800 etc.), makes it easier for the crew to run across the deck from gunwale to gunwale during maneuvers.
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 740 the 49er is the fastest two person one-design monohull dinghy.
In 2009 the boat received a new rig design, including a larger fully carbon mast (replacing the aluminum mast) and square top (roach) mainsail.

## Construction

As a one design class, the 49er has two licensed suppliers, Mackay Boats in Oceania and Ovington in Europe.

### Hull

The hull is made of Epoxy GRP and foam sandwich laminate with carbon fibre in high load areas. It includes two solid wings, also called racks, that clip into the side to increase righting moment of the trapezing crew. Its length was fixed at 4.99 metres because the ISAF brief for the high performance Olympic class dinghy called for a 5-metre boat, but Tokao Otani, a member of the development consortium, pointed out that there was a tariff in Japan for boats over 5 metres long. It has a fine entry to efficiently transition between the low speed displacement, and high speed planing modes. According to the International 49er class rules, the minimum hull weight including all permanent fittings can not be less than 94.0 kg.

### Spars

Southern Spars, part of the North Technology Group, is the licensed supplier of the 49er mast. It is a three piece male-moulded assembly made from 100% standard modulus carbon. It is 7.0 metres tall and capable of supporting a combined crew weight up to 165 kg from its dual trapeze. The mast is braced by three sets of shrouds that connect to a fitting on the side of the boat. The crew is able to adjust them by tightening or loosening them, depending on the wind speed and sea states.
The boom is made from an aluminium alloy extrusion.

### Foils

The rudder and daggerboard are made from a composite of epoxy, carbon and glass, covered by a hard gelcoat surface. The head of each class legal foil carries the embossed 49er logo and the ICA label.

### Sails

The 49er carries three sails: a mainsail, jib, and spinnaker. The main and jib combined are 20 square metres, fully battened and made of reinforced Mylar (film polyester). The main was redesigned in 2007 from a full, curved roach plan to having a square on top in order to provide more sail area and to control more shape adjustment. The spinnaker is 38 square metres in a tri-radial asymmetric shape.

## Events
### Olympics
#### Men's 49er

| Gamesvte | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2000 Sydney details | Finland (FIN) Thomas Johanson Jyrki Järvi | Great Britain (GBR) Ian Barker Simon Hiscocks | United States (USA) Jonathan McKee Charlie McKee |
| 2004 Athens details | Spain (ESP) Iker Martínez Xabier Fernández | Ukraine (UKR) Rodion Luka George Leonchuk | Great Britain (GBR) Chris Draper Simon Hiscocks |
| 2008 Beijing details | Denmark (DEN) Jonas Warrer Martin Kirketerp | Spain (ESP) Iker Martínez Xabier Fernández | Germany (GER) Jan-Peter Peckolt Hannes Peckolt |
| 2012 London details | Australia (AUS) Nathan Outteridge Iain Jensen | New Zealand (NZL) Peter Burling Blair Tuke | Denmark (DEN) Allan Nørregaard Peter Lang |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro details | New Zealand (NZL) Peter Burling Blair Tuke | Australia (AUS) Nathan Outteridge Iain Jensen | Germany (GER) Erik Heil Thomas Plößel |
| 2020 Tokyo details | Great Britain (GBR) Dylan Fletcher Stuart Bithell | New Zealand (NZL) Peter Burling Blair Tuke | Germany (GER) Erik Heil Thomas Plößel |
| 2024 Paris details | Spain (ESP) Diego Botín Florián Trittel | New Zealand (NZL) Isaac McHardie William McKenzie | United States (USA) Ian Barrows Hans Henken |

#### Women's 49er FX

| Gamesvte | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro details | Brazil (BRA) Martine Grael Kahena Kunze | New Zealand (NZL) Alex Maloney Molly Meech | Denmark (DEN) Jena Mai Hansen Katja Salskov-Iversen |
| 2020 Tokyo details | Brazil (BRA) Martine Grael Kahena Kunze | Germany (GER) Tina Lutz Susann Beucke | Netherlands (NED) Annemiek Bekkering Annette Duetz |
| 2024 Paris details | Netherlands (NED) Odile van Aanholt Annette Duetz | Sweden (SWE) Vilma Bobeck Rebecca Netzler | France (FRA) Sarah Steyaert Charline Picon |

### World Championships
#### Men's 49er

| Year vte | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1997 Perth | Australia Chris Nicholson Daniel Phillips | United States Jonathan McKee Charles McKee | United States Morgan Larson Kevin Hall |
| 1998 Bandol | Australia Chris Nicholson Daniel Phillips | Great Britain Andy Budgen Ian Budgen | United States Morgan Larson Kevin Hall |
| 1999 Melbourne | Australia Chris Nicholson Ed Smyth | Australia Adam Beashel Teague Czislowski | United States Morgan Larson Kevin Hall |
| 2000 Sonora Bay | Spain Santiago López-Vázquez Javier de la Plaza | Germany Marcus Baur Philip Barth | Finland Thomas Johanson Jyrki Järvi |
| 2001 Malcesine | United States Jonathan McKee Charles McKee | Spain Iker Martínez Xabier Fernández | Ukraine Rodion Luka George Leonchuk |
| 2002 Kaneohe Bay | Spain Iker Martínez Xabier Fernández | Great Britain Christopher Draper Simon Hiscocks | Great Britain Paul Brotherton Mark Asquith |
| 2003 Cádiz | Great Britain Christopher Draper Simon Hiscocks | Norway Christoffer Sundby Frode Bovim | Ukraine Rodion Luka George Leonchuk |
| 2004 Athens | Spain Iker Martínez Xabier Fernández | Great Britain Christopher Draper Simon Hiscocks | Germany Marcus Baur Max Groy |
| 2005 Moscow | Ukraine Rodion Luka George Leonchuk | Great Britain Christopher Draper Simon Hiscocks | Italy Pietro Sibello Gianfranco Sibello |
| 2006 Aix-le-Bain | Great Britain Christopher Draper Simon Hiscocks | Greece Thanasis Pakhoumas Athanasios Siouzios | Great Britain Stevie Morrison Ben Rhodes |
| 2007 Cascais | Great Britain Stevie Morrison Ben Rhodes | Austria Nico Delle Karth Nikolaus Resch | Australia Nathan Outteridge Ben Austin |
| 2008 Melbourne | Australia Nathan Outteridge Ben Austin | Great Britain Stevie Morrison Ben Rhodes | Ukraine Rodion Luka George Leonchuk |
| 2009 Riva del Garda | Australia Nathan Outteridge Iain Jensen | Great Britain John Pink Rick Peacock | Italy Pietro Sibello Gianfranco Sibello |
| 2010 Port Lucaya | Spain Iker Martínez Xabier Fernández | Australia Nathan Outteridge Iain Jensen | Italy Pietro Sibello Gianfranco Sibello |
| 2011 Perth | Australia Nathan Outteridge Iain Jensen | New Zealand Peter Burling Blair Tuke | Denmark Emil Toft Nielsen Simon Toft Nielsen |
| 2012 Zadar | Australia Nathan Outteridge Iain Jensen | New Zealand Peter Burling Blair Tuke | Denmark Allan Nørregaard Peter Lang |

#### Women's 49er FX

| Year vte | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 2013 Marseille | New Zealand Alex Maloney Molly Meech | Brazil Martine Grael Kahena Kunze | France Sarah Steyaert Julie Bossard |
| 2014 Santander details | Brazil Martine Grael Kahena Kunze | Denmark Ida Marie Baad Nielsen Marie Thusgaard Olsen | Italy Giulia Conti Francesca Clapcich |
| 2015 Buenos Aires details | Italy Giulia Conti Francesca Clapcich | Brazil Martine Grael Kahena Kunze | Denmark Ida Marie Baad Nielsen Marie Thusgaard Olsen |
| 2016 Clearwater | Spain Támara Echegoyen Berta Betanzos | Denmark Maiken Foght Schütt Anne-Julie Schütt | Germany Victoria Jurczok Anika Lorenz |
| 2017 Matosinhos details | Denmark Jena Hansen Katja Salskov-Iversen | Brazil Martine Grael Kahena Kunze | New Zealand Alex Maloney Molly Meech |
| 2018 Aarhus details | Netherlands Annemiek Bekkering Annette Duetz | Austria Tanja Frank Lorena Abicht | Great Britain Sophie Weguelin Sophie Ainsworth |
| 2019 Auckland details | Netherlands Annemiek Bekkering Annette Duetz | Brazil Martine Grael Kahena Kunze | Denmark Ida Marie Baad Nielsen Marie Thusgaard Olsen |
| 2020 Geelong details | Spain Támara Echegoyen Paula Barceló | Great Britain Charlotte Dobson Saskia Tidey | United States Stephanie Roble Maggie Shea |
| 2021 Wudam Al Sahil details | Netherlands Odile van Aanholt Elise de Ruijter | Norway Helene Næss Marie Rønningen | Brazil Martine Grael Kahena Kunze |
| 2022 St. Margarets Bay details | Netherlands Odile van Aanholt Annette Duetz | Sweden Vilma Bobeck Rebecca Netzler | Spain Támara Echegoyen Paula Barceló |
| 2023 The Hague details | Sweden Vilma Bobeck Rebecca Netzler | Netherlands Odile van Aanholt Annette Duetz | Australia Olivia Price Evie Haseldine |
| 2024 Lanzarote details | Netherlands Odile van Aanholt Annette Duetz | Sweden Vilma Bobeck Rebecca Netzler | Italy Jana Germani Giorgia Bertuzzi |

## Related boats

The 49er FX was developed by Mackay Boats to be a women's Olympic class. It consists of a 49er hull, wings, and foils, with a scaled down rig designed to suit the weight of an elite female crew.
The 29er is a smaller, single trapeze trainer to the 49er. It has become popular in North America, Europe and Australia as a fast youth boat. Recently the 29erXX, a twin trapeze version of the 29er, has been produced with a rig very similar to the 49er.
The 59er dinghy was put into production in Australia and the UK in 2002. It is a non-trapeze, 4.7-metre (15 ft 5 in) sailing dinghy, rigged with an asymmetrical spinnaker. It is designed for a crew weight of 145 to 180 kg (320 to 400 lb).