29er

"Thrilling high-speed sailing in an amazingly simple package."

The 29er, Sailing World's 1999 Performance One-Design and Overall Boat of the Year, introduces "…thrilling high-speed sailing in an amazingly simple package."

The 29er was introduced to get people into the pure excitement of Australian skiff sailing. The boat is smaller, simpler and less expensive than its bigger brother, the Olympic Class 49er. For example, the hull is polyester resin cored fiberglass instead of the costlier carbon fiber. The 29er's wings are built-in, providing 5 ft 7 in. width without the complexity and expense of adjustable wings. Only the crew is on the trapeze.

The 29er designer, Julian Bethwaite, also designer of the 49er, retained all the brilliant simplicity of the rig design including a carbon fiber tip on this aluminum mast which neatly unloads the top of the sail in gusts.

The vang, a tube on a sliding car, is mounted above the boom. Thus the boom is pushed down achieving the same effect as an under-boom vang but leaving the cockpit wide open for the crew to scamper across.

The spinnaker and sprit-pole are launched and deployed simultaneously with one line which snuffs the spinnaker and retracts the pole when pulled in the opposite direction. You have to see it to appreciate its blatant simplicity.

Combine that with a self-tacking jib and boom led mainsheet and the 29er achieves a rig simplicity that allows the combined crew to concentrate on speed.

The centerboard and rudder, like that of the Megabyte, but with different shapes, are made of two-part aluminum casings, foam injected.

The hull is very stiff and the rig is set up with a high tension. Every puff is translated into speed.

The 29er target weight for two is 265 to 310 lbs. The 29er, perhaps by jealous competitors, has been labeled a "youth" boat. Certainly, the 29er, with a sailing characteristic more like an ice boat than a conventional open hulled dinghy, has been marketed to attract youth to sailing. Do not, however, make that argument to Paul Heineken, MD, who celebrated his 56th birthday at a 29er North Americans and declared the 29er, considering all the dingy and large boat designs he had sailed, the "best boat ever."

Current 29er Inventory

Currently none in Stock. Please contact us for more information or to make an order.

29er Parts

Click here for our complete selection of 29er parts.

29er Specifications

Length: 14 ft. 5 in.
Beam: 5 ft. 7 in.
Depth: 4 ft (approx.)
Weight fully rigged with sails: 198 lbs.
Sail area: Main and Jib = 141.97 sq. ft.; Spinnaker = 181.15 sq. ft.

Builder: Performance Sailcraft 2000