Looking for a fun high-speed boat for junior sailors? The 29er may be the perfect fit. The 29er is a high-performance youth sailing and training boat. This ISAF recognized class has been quickly growing. Its simple design makes this boat great for all genders and ages, especially youth sailors. Not only is this boat fun and exciting, but US Sailing has identified the 29er as one of the core classes of the Olympic Development Program for both boys and girls, making it the perfect boat for junior sailors striving to compete at a high level.
The History
The 29er was introduced in 1998 by designer Julian Bethwaite who also designed the 49er. The 29er was born due to the increased need for a suitable 49er youth trainer boat. It took about two years till the 29er was officially launched, in the article History of the 29er written by designer Julian Bethwaite, he writes, “We estimate that, including the five prototypes and the pre-production demonstration boats sailing in Australia, North America, and Europe, the 29er has now had over 5000 hours of testing – a figure that 
probably has never been approached by any other boat going into production.” The original intent of the 29er was to become an Olympic Development trainer boat for youths which it became quickly; however, this class has not only become popular for that aspect but for the great class the 29er offers youth sailors. This exciting skiff has been quickly growing throughout the world since its launch back in 1998.
The Boat
The 29er is a two person, single trapeze, asymmetric spinnaker skiff boat. The boat is lightweight with a self-draining cockpit. The 29er has a fully battened mylar mainsail and self-tacking jib which allows the sailors to play the mainsheet upwind and makes gybing downwind easy for the sailors. Optimal crew weight is considered to be 270 to 320 pounds. Sailors around the world sail in mixed crews or all boy or all girl teams. The composite-tipped mast and spinnaker gives the 29er speed and acceleration downwind. With all its high-performance features the 29er is sure to give sailors a fun, fast, and exciting experience out on the water!
For More Information on the 29er class:
http://29ernorthamerican.org
https://www.29er.org
One Design Class Profile
One Design Class Profile: RS Feva
The RS Feva is an International Class that has been fast-growing around the globe. This double-handed boat brings excitement to sailing for kids wanting to race or just have fun recreationally. The RS Feva is mostly intended for kids. However, you will find kids to adults enjoying its modern style and practical features. Just this past June in Bermuda the RS Feva was featured in the America’s Cup Junior Endeavour Regatta.
The History
Paul Handley designed the RS Feva in 2002. That year they launched the class at the London Boat Show where people showed excitement towards this new class, and by May they were able to get 50 boats sailing for the UK Nationals. The growth went international within the next 18 months. By 2003 the RS Feva was given recognition from ISAF as an International Class. The class continued to grow in the 2000’s starting with the first European Championship held in Holland at Hoorn in 2005. The following year in 2006 the first World Championships were held in Lake Garda at Brenzone. They continued to host the European and World Championships alternating years until 2010 when the Worlds were held in Carnac France. Since 2010 they have held a World Championship every year.
The Boat
The RS Feva is a modern design that gives sailors a fun and safe boat, and this class is teaching sailors good habits in boat handling and racing. The Feva is growing around the globe, making it a popular boat for international racing. Not only is this boat meant for racing, but sailors are enjoying the Feva recreationally as well. The cockpit is large, and uncluttered meaning adults to kids can enjoy this boat’s experience. The rigging of the Feva is simple with an easy spinnaker system. The Feva is a self-draining cockpit and has built-in righting lines making a recovery safe and quick. The whole bow area of the boat forms a large chute. The hull is lightweight making launching and recovery very easy. All the easy to use features make learning advanced techniques fun and safe for better results and excited sailors. The RS Feva comes in three models the Feva S, Feva XL, and Feva XL Race. All three can be added to the same hull and spars meaning an easy progression and lower costs. The Feva in a three-layer rotomolded RD Competec PE3 construction making it stiff and very strong and requires little maintenance.
RS Feva S
The Feva S is a boat used for the early learners new to the boat or sailing. The controls aren’t as adjustable as the race versions, making it an easy to sail and learn the boat. The Dacron mainsail is smaller and is un-battened. The spars are the same as the XL and XL Race making it easy to upgrade when ready to get into racing the RS Feva.
RS Feva XL
The Feva XL is one of the racing versions of the RS Feva’s. It has all the same spars and foils as the Feva S but comes with a race pack of ropes and blocks. The racing pack gives the sailors more controls for racing in different conditions. The Mylar mainsail is bigger than the Feva S and comes with battens.
RS Feva XL Race
The Feva XL Race has all the same features of the Feva XL with several upgrades. The Feva XL Race uses a more upgraded high spec Dacron jib. Some of the other upgraded features include a 6:1 performance vang, performance outhaul, D12 Cunningham, webbing clew strap, and adjustable mainsheet strop.
For More Information on the RS Feva:
http://www.rsfeva.org/index.asp?Fleet=RS%20Feva
http://www.rssailing.com/project/rs-feva/
https://sail1design.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/RS_Feva_brochure.pdf
