Call for bids - 49er and 49erFX Sails
by Ben Remocker 26 Feb 2020 03:09 PST
49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17 World Championships, Auckland 2019 © Jesus Renedo / Sailing Energy
The 49er class invites expressions of interest to design and build 49er and/or 49erFX sails for the 2021-2024 quadrennial.
The 49er class welcomes world leading sail designers and manufacturers to bid on becoming our class sailmaker(s). The selected sailmaker(s) will have the opportunity to build sails for at least the four year period leading to the Paris Olympics, with the possibility to extend for further quadrennials.
The current 49er sails have been used since 2009 while the 49erFX sails have been used since 2012. The 49er class has had 3 different designs of sails over the years, while the 49erFX is coming off the original set of sails.
The class is seeking to improve consistency and longevity of the sails, to keep the costs of campaigning as manageable as possible.
Each of the two rigs, 49er and 49erFX, has been updated for 2021 already, with CST being the new mast maker for the classes. The new masts are of the same geometry and bend characteristics as the previous generation of masts. The existing class masts are expected to remain class legal for the foreseeable future.
We invite all interested parties to get the full technical requirements via email. Expressions of interest are due by March 28th, 2020.