Design Elements

Designed by Julian Bethwaite, the 49er is an evolution of the International 14’s and Aussie 18’s. The hump-less drag curve has been refined and works better on the 49er than on the 18’s due to its length/weight ratios. The boat has very fine lines forward – meaning that the slap and thud that is normally associated with going to windward at speed is removed.

The 49er is controllable over 20 knots and benefits from easy handling, even in the most highly competitive races and tough conditions.

Bethwaite made several changes to the evolution of high performance sailing.

1. Replaced the spinnaker pole with an asymmetrical spinnaker system which comes straight out of the bow of the boat facilitating higher speeds and greater ease at flying it.

2. Built a gust response system 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 force.

The forward V is designed to ensure that bow does not pound and remains directionally stable while moving upwind at 9-10 knots. It is however full enough to give sufficient life/lift in waves and manoeuvres.

The forward chine/rail turns a substantial amount of water back downward and in that process makes the boat drier, gives additional dynamic lift and maintains sufficient reserve forward buoyancy to stave-off all but the most extreme nosedive.

The mid sections have good immersion curves and sufficient buoyancy to stop the boat developing a sinking feeling as it comes off the plane The removal of the chine in this area allows effective roll tacking without a large increase in drag.

The aft sections are the result of six years of research and development. On completion, they underwent a number of tow tests to ensure removal of any Reynolds number errors.