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International 49er & 49erFX Class Association

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One-Design Class Type: Dinghy

Was this boat built to be sailed by youth or adults? Adult

Approximately how many class members do you have? 70

Photo Credit:Ricardo Pinto

Photo Credit: Ramon Oliden

Photo Credit: Ivan Bulaja

About International 49er & 49erFX Class Association

The 49er and 49erFX are the premiere Olympic skiff. Designed by famous Australian skiff sailor / designed, Julian Bethwaite, the 49er represents the culmination of high performance sailing, remaining the gold standard for athletic competition on water and becoming a proving ground for today’s top International sailors. Using a twin trapeze, self-tacking jib, asymmetric gennaker and solid wings, the 49er and 49erFX can reach speeds of 25 knots. With the addition of the 49erFX variant, the class has opened up to younger, smaller and female sailors while still providing all the same excitement.

Boats Produced: 2200

Class boat builder(s):

Mackay Boats Ltd Ovington Boats Ltd

Approximately how many boats are in the USA/North America? 140

Where is your One-Design class typically sailed in the USA? List regions of the country:

Florida, New York, California

Does this class have a spinnaker or gennaker? Yes

How many people sail as a crew including the helm?  2

Ideal combined weight of range of crew:  350

Portsmouth Yardstick Rating:   740

Boat Designed in  1995

Length (feet/inches): 16’8″

Beam: 9′

Weight of rigged boat without sails: 275

Draft: 3′

Mast Height: 27′

Coaching or Clinic Resources

Tuning guides.

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49er 2 Pages

Catalog excerpts

The 49er is the two person one-design skiff which has transformed competitive dinghy sailing offering performance, excitement and spectacle, previously only found in 18 footers, together with the unmatched ferocity of competition only generated in Olympic fleets. Designed by skiff supremo Julian Bethwaite, the ultra light, slender hull offers minimal resistance with no noticeable speed hump. This means the 49er smoothly accelerates onto the plane and the speed just goes on rising. The most remarkable feature of the 49er at first sight is its solid wings which make the boat safe and a joy to sail. Running from wing to wing is easy helping newcomers quickly climb the "skiff learning curve". Trapezing from these wide wings, the crew members generate a massive righting moment to control the power from the huge sail area, and continue accelerating the boat. The enormous sail area means that the 49er is fully powered up in about 8 knots of breeze. The composite mast gives effective gust response above this wind speed, making control of such a large rig possible. The high boom means there is plenty of room to move around the boat, whilst a self tacking jib frees the crew is to concentrate on playing the mainsail upwind and the asymmetric spinnaker downwind. The short foot on the spinnaker and radical new style of cut means the sheet loads are kept to a minimum, allowing many shapes and sizes of crews to sail the boat effectively. For more information: Contact Dave Hall on 07719 59 49 49 or [email protected]

Overall Length Hull Weight Main & Foresail Asymmetric Spinnaker Julian Bethwaite Epoxy GRP with foam sandwich laminate for stiffness and light weight. Carbon fibre in high load areas. GRP laminate with foam core, making exceptionally light and strong dagger board and rudder blade. GRP rudder stock with vertically lifting "dagger" style rudder blade. From 2009 an all carbon mast will replace the alloy/ carbon- glass spar. Aluminium alloy boom. Composite Fully battened mainsail and jib for shape stability and long competitive life. Mylar film with Kevlar and aramid fibre weave for light...

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• Sailboat Guide

49ER is a 16 ′ 0 ″ / 4.9 m monohull sailboat designed by Bethwaite Design and built by Ovington Boats Ltd., MacKay Boats Ltd., LaserPerformance, and Nautivela starting in 1999.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

Beam with wings removed: 5.58’. Olympic class since 2002.

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The FX 

When speed, exhilaration and athleticism is the ultimate, the fx provides it all..

The FX is a smaller sail and rig configuration based on the 49er platform. Designed for female and smaller teams, it uses a twin trapeze, self-tacking jib, asymmetric gennaker and solid wings. Hold on tight as the Mackay FX can reach speeds of 25 knots! It's the boat used by Olympic and World Champions.

Find out more in the Features section below

Specifications

No of crew:                            2

Opt. crew weight:                 110 – 130kg’s

No. Trapeze:                          Twin

Hull material:                         GRP

Hull length:                            4.995m

Beam length:                        2.9m

Hull weight:                           94kg

Mainsail area:                       13.8sqm

Headsail area:                      5.1sqm

Spinnaker area:                    25.1sqm

Mast height:                          7.5M

The FX class rules stipulate that the hull, wings, foils, boom and pole must be 49er class parts.

FX Class Association website:  https://49er.org/

The FX is 16ft long and made of fiberglass and carbon fibre for optimum strength and lightweight. Weighing 125 kgs when fully rigged, its optimal length to weight ratio and very fine hull lines, help produce excellent lift in waves and maneuverability.

 The Wings

The boat features distinctive wings 9ft wide to allow the crew to achieve maximum leverage and to support the rig. The wings are designed to blend into the hull and cockpit area which optimises aerodynamics and makes it easy to move around. The wings are fastened to the hull and can be easily detached. 

The FX rig can go straight into an existing 49er boat. It is designed to produce the correct amount of power for a lighter weight crew so that they can fully power up at a similar windspeed as the men in the 49er and depower at a the same windspeed. It can compete with the 49er in many conditions.

CST became the carbon fibre tube suppliers in 2021. All tubes are QA checked plus bend and weigh tested by CST to ensure consistency.

The mast is assembled by the class builders. All mast fittings are the same on the 49er and FX so spare parts can be used for either boat.

The spreaders are built from recycled carbon. The mast join system and spreader base was recently redesigned for added strength around the trapeze area.

The FX jib sheet is allowed an extra purchase, and the gennaker sheet is allowed an extra block to increase the efficiency of the ratchet block.

The huge sail area for such a small boat means that the FX can sail faster than the speed of the wind.

The Class is moving to a new range of sails in 2022. The main and jib sails will be built by North Sails using the 3Di technology  which is a 3D full sized molding construction process that uses composite materials. The technology enables sails to be built to the desired shape and retain shape over time. This change to the “black sails” will improve the longevity and consistency while also decreasing the overall cost of sails.

The spinnaker has also undergone design changes and will be built by North Sails.

The new sails are currently under development and due to be available in early 2022.

Class History & Developments

Mackay Boats Director, John Clinton, designed the FX rig/sail which made its debut at the 2016 Rio Games.

The FX was designed after the call went out by World Sailing (then ISAF) to develop a women’s skiff event for the Olympic Games.

The FX went through 9 months of testing by the Mackay team. It was then taken to Santander (ESP) for an ISAF evaluation trial where the FX was trialled against 5 other boats. The FX was finally selected at the ISAF mid-year conference in early May 2014.

Designing the FX was done through using the North Sails suite of analysis software and optimised using the Flow program.

The size of the main and jib were adjusted to get the correct fore/aft aerodynamic centre of effort to retain the same balance as the 49er. This also makes the boat easier to sail and easier to right from a capsize.

The main sail was introduced with a wider head based on developments in the 18ft skiff and America’s Cup technology. To make the head work, a stiffer mast was required. This was achieved by raising the hounds, similar to the top 18ft skiff teams, and adding a little carbon to the middle section of the mast to ensure the mid leech stays under control throughout the wind range.

The main was designed with only 5 battens to reduce the rig weight while using rugged purpose designed skiff cloth to ensure the sails last well.

Clinton has also designed the current carbon 49er rig and 18ft skiff rigs that have won recent World Championships.

Return to main FX Boats page 

Our FX Success

The FX Development

How to do a gelcoat repair.

Small gel coat repairs are relatively easy to do. 

What is Gelcoat made up of?

Gelcoat is a polyester product that is cured by using a catalyst called MEKP. (Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide)

MEKP is a dangerous substance and should be treated as such when using, being very careful not to get any on your skin or in your eyes.

How can I get the catalyst - MERK?

We cannot ship MEKP so you will always need to buy it separately from your local marine store or fibreglass manufacturer.

How much MERK do I need?

The amount of Catalyst varies depending on the conditions you are using it in, but around 2%-3% will always work.

It is best to use a small syringe or dropper to get the required catalyst rate.

If you have mixed 100gm of gelcoat, then you are aiming for 2ml of catalyst.

Generally, polyester doesn’t stick well to Epoxy, so if you are repairing an epoxy boat, then you should source a special epoxy compatible gelcoat.

What are the Gelcoat colours?

Gelcoats colours are not always a 100% perfect match.

Colour will vary depending on the depth of the repair and the batch.

49er, VX One & Zephyr are built from Epoxy resin.

For the epoxy boats we use a product made by Scot Bader.

Grey is Crystic 253 RAL= 7035

White is Crystic 253 PA   - White 337

Does Mackay Boats supply gelcoat?

We supply a small tin (of each relevant colour) with each new boat.

Order additional gelcoat from our store, although it cannot be shipped by courier.

How do I do gelcoat repairs?

Doing gelcoat repairs is an art that improves with experience.

Making sure the surface is prepared well and keyed up is critical.

Overfill and then sanding back is a slow and time-consuming process.

Be very careful not to scratch the boat around the repair.

You shouldn’t sand the original surface around the repair with any paper coarser than 600grit.

Mask around the repair to protect the boat.

You can initially use a file or 150g to take the high parts off the filling, but don't use the coarse paper for too long or you will end up with scratches in the finished repair.

Once you have it fair with 600g, you can work your way through the sandpaper grades until you finish with 1500grit before cutting and polishing.

We would typically use 600g, then 800g or 1000g, then 1200g, then finally 1500g.

Where do I get class numbers and country flag for sails from?

Sail numbers and flag details can be found on the class website:  49er / FX Class Association

How should the wings be safely transported?

Wings must be transported with the foam blocks under each wing to stop the underside denting on the wing plinths on the deck. Make sure they are tied down well so they don’t fly away!

Place padding under the ties in the non-skid areas to protect your non-skid and stop it wearing.

Can I retrofit the FX?

The class rules clearly state what can be added and changed on the boat as part of maintenance. Blocks and ropes can be replaced with similar products by other manufacturers. Please read the rules carefully and remember, you cannot change anything unless the rule specifically allow it.

What can be customized on the FX?

The concept of the 49er is that all boats are the same. We offer the option to upgrade to EVA foam for non-skid on the wings and also offer a service to custom pack and align the centrecase.

What is included in the full FX package?

The boat package comes complete with all ropes and sheets from Robline, rudderstock, 2 x tiller extensions, gennaker pole, boom and turnbuckle set.

The Rig package comes complete with mast, wires, halyards, halyard adjusters, trapeze lines and trapeze adjusters.

***Boatbreaker and footstraps are not included and need to be ordered as extra items.

FX Tuning Tips

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The 49er and 49erFX are available as a complete boat ready to race or as a complete hull so you can add your own rig, the standard 49er rig or the 49er FX rig.

49er boat less mast and sails

• Complete hull package without rig

49er hull inc wings

• Fully fitted hull + wings
• Spinnaker pole + sock

49er hull and deck only

• 49er hull with deck fittings
• Excludes wings, spinnaker sock and pole

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North Sails Named Sailmaker for the 49er & 49er FX Classes

North sails named sailmaker for the 49er & 49erfx classes, the highly competitive one design class chose to adopt 3di, the most modern sailmaking technology available.

North Sails, the world’s leading sailmaker, was recently named the supplier of choice for the 49er and 49erFX class mainsails and jibs in the lead-up to the 2024 Olympic Games.

After an intense, months-long bid process of rigorous sail testing, North 3Di Technology was the unanimous choice of a selection panel including Olympic medalists and coaches, the 49er and 49erFX Class measurers, a builder’s representative, and the copyright holders.

The class was motivated to evaluate their one design sails by the sailors, who requested improvements in sail consistency, longevity, and durability. After months of sail-testing comparing 3Di head to head with the most current products from other sailmakers, the class chose to adopt 3Di , the most modern sailmaking technology available.

“This is a very exciting development,” says 49er Champion and America’s Cup Defender, Blair Tuke, a two-time medalist on the selection committee. “It’s a first for an Olympic Class to be able to select equipment that optimizes performance, consistency, longevity, and has a positive environmental impact, all in one package.”

After an exciting 36th America’s Cup, Tuke has become quite familiar to the power of 3Di, especially after Emirates Team New Zealand’s successful defense of the Auld Mug. Three teams (Emirates Team New Zealand, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, and INEOS Team UK) trusted North Sails tools, design expertise, and technology to power their AC75s.

The decision is a testament to North 3Di’s versatility and adaptability across a wide range of boats and sail types. Specialty-sourced raw materials for 3Di tapes and perfectly consistent shaping on a full-sized 3D mold have moved 3Di a generation ahead of the traditional paneled construction used by other sailmakers; this includes both woven sailcloth and the Mylar-based string sails. The precision engineering of proprietary 3Di molded construction makes it possible for North Sails to produce repeatable one design sails in both shape and detailing. This is both a huge cost savings and a performance upgrade for 49er programs that previously had to purchase and test multiple suits to find sail they liked.

Beyond material choice, North Sails deployed its scientific approach to understanding the baseline and then engineering an optimized solution for the one design 49er class.

49er and 49erFX teams will use 3Di mains and jibs for both training and regattas in the lead-up to the 2024 Olympic Games. For much more detail about the intensive development path North Sails took to optimize sails for the 49er and 49erFX, read the case study.

READ CASE STUDY

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North sails adds new loft in victoria, bc, sail like a girl, north sails apparel launches fw23 campaign.

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Ovington Boats

Ovington Boats is one of the world’s most successful small boat building businesses specialising in the high-performance dinghy market. We have an enviable reputation for quality and service across a wide range of products including the manufacture of the Olympic Classes 49er, 49er FX and ILCA, the World Sailing and RYA Youth Asymmetric 29er Class along with others such as the Musto Skiff, VX One, 505, Flying Fifteen, OK and International 14.

The business distributes its boats and spares throughout Europe and the rest of the World through our comprehensive network of established dealers meaning the sailors can get exactly what they need in good time. Ovington Boats are also able to build, design and develop boats to specific requirements.

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Delve into comprehensive coverage of 49er sailing competitions worldwide.

We regularly update our events page with the updated calendar regarding the 49er sailing regattas, and the new FX Open Series. 

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Join the Elite Community of 49er Sailors and Fans

We are passionate about sailing and the 49er class, and we are committed to promoting and growing the sport of sailing around the world. Join us today and be a part of the 49er sailing community!.

Latest Championships

DAY 0 | 49er & 49er FX World Championships

DAY 1 | 49er & 49er FX World Championships

Day 2 | 49er & 49er FX World Championships

🎥 LSC INSIGHTS - Lanzarote, olympic sailing paradise

Day 3 | 49er & 49er FX World Championships

Day 4 | 49er & 49er FX World Championships

DAY 5 | 49er & 49er FX World Championships

The moment Fischer and Péquin won the 2024 World Title

Odile Van Aanholt and Annette Duetz 2024 World Champions!

Lambriex falls in the water in the Medal Race!

DAY 6 | 49er & 49er FX World Championships