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Royal Irish 29er Duo Norwood & van Steenberge Finish 11th Overall at Euros on Lake Garda

28th October 2021
29er Euro Champions Jens Christian and Jens Philip Dehn-Toftehoj of Denmark
29er Euro Champions Jens Christian and Jens Philip Dehn-Toftehoj of Denmark Credit: 29er class

Royal Irish's Tim Norwood and Nathan van Steenberge finished in 11th place overall at the 29er European Championships that ended on Lake Garda, Italy yesterday. 

After a consistent preliminary round that saw them as high as fourth, Royal Cork's Ben O'Shaughnessy and James Dwyer Matthews finished 18th. Clementine van Steenberge and Chiara Carra were 21st in a 50-strong Gold Fleet.

The overall lead changed many times during the championships but consistent sailing from Danish entry DEN-3 (Jens Christian and Jens Philip Dehn-Toftehoj) gave them victory. Second was FRA-9 (Keo Devaux and Enale Rio) and third DEN-21 (Gustav and Clement Asholm-Bradley).

The top female crew of the event were DEN-14 Rebekka Johannesen and Silje Cerup-Simonsen.

There was a silver fleet finish for Ireland's Lauren O' Callaghan and Fiona Ferguson of the National Yacht Club. Royal St. George's Emily and Jessica Riordan raced in the bronze fleet.

Some of the crews will be making a quick turnaround now to race on Friday at the Investwise Youth National Championships underway for other classes at Royal Cork Yacht Club from Thursday.

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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.

About the ILCA/Laser Dinghy

The ILCA, formerly known as the Laser, is the most produced boat in the world, with 220,000 units built since 1971.

It's easy to see why the single-handed dinghy has won the title of the most widely distributed boat of all time.

The Laser is a one-design dinghy, the hulls being identical but three rigs that can be used according to the size and weight of the sailor.

The class is international, with sailors from 120 countries. The boat has also been an Olympic class since 1996, being both the men's and women's singlehanded dinghy.

Three rigs are recognised by the International Laser Class Association (ILCA):

  • ILCA 4: sail of 4.70m2
  • ILCA 6: sail of 5.76 m2
  • ILCA 7: sail of 7.06 m2

29er skiff technical specs

  • Hull weight 74kg (163lb)
  • LOA 4.45m (14.4ft)
  • Beam 1.77m (5ft 7in)
  • Crew 2 (single trapeze) 
  • Spinnaker area 15.00 m2 (181.2sq.ft)
  • Upwind sail area 12.5 m2 (142.0 sq.ft)
  • Mast length 6.25m (20.5ft)

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