29er Class Investigates Jib Design to Boost Sail Longevity Ahead of 2025 World Championships

6th December 2024

Afloat.ie Team

The International 29er Class Technical Committee is testing new jib designs, aiming for enhanced longevity and performance ahead of the 2025 World Championships in Portugal

The Technical Committee of the International 29er Class, under Vice President Csaba Cserep, is actively exploring ways to enhance the longevity of the current jib design.

The primary goal is to identify cost-effective solutions that do not compromise the setup and practical handling of the 29er. Rigorous testing is currently underway in France and Italy, involving input from leading sailors and coaches.

If positive outcomes are achieved following extensive evaluations and discussions with sail makers, builders, and designers, the committee plans to submit their findings to the World Council. National class representatives will review and vote on this submission during the World Championships in Porto, Portugal, in August 2025.

Should the submission receive approval, a timeline will be established for the new jibs to be deemed Class legal, contingent upon the necessary approvals from World Sailing and the copyright holder. Notably, the earliest possible date for this change to take effect is set for January 1, 2026.

Published in 29er

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29er

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About the 29er Skiff Dinghy

The 29er is a one-design double-handed, single trapeze skiff for youth sailors.

There is an active class in Ireland, just one of the 38-countries from across all continents now racing the high-performance skiff.

The 29er is one of the latest dinghy classes to arrive in Ireland and has a 50/50 split between boys and girls.

The class like to describe the boat as "The most popular skiff for sailors who want to go fast!".

Derived from the Olympic class 49er class and designed by Julian Bethwaite the 29er was first produced in 1998.

Two sailors sail the 29er, one on trapeze.

The class is targeted at youth sailors aiming at sailing the larger 49er which is an Olympic class.

The 6.25-metre high rig features a fractional asymmetrical spinnaker; a self-tacking jib decreases the workload of the crew, making manoeuvres more efficient and freeing the crew to take the mainsheet upwind and on two-sail reaches.

The 15.00 m2 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 74kg weight hull is constructed 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-fibreglass composite tip to increase mast bend and decrease both overall weights, and the capsizing moment a heavy mast tip can generate. Foils are aluminium or fibreglass.