Who needs a hydrofoil? Flying 49er.

Sailing

Who needs a hydrofoil to fly? 

In the sailing world, it’s all about flying. Every boat imaginable is being outfitted with hydrofoils, from

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But that doesn’t mean sailing normal boats isn’t exciting! As pictured here, your average 49er can more than get your heart pumping.

Designed by Julian Bethwaite (The son of Laser designer, Frank Bethwaite), the 49er is the fastest two person, one design skiff on the water. Since it’s introduction in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the class has grown in popularity all over the world, with smaller versions, the 29er, and 49er FX classes also enjoying strong fleets. In case you’re wondering about the strange name, it’s derived from the boats length, which is 4.99 meters.

The boys sailing the 49er in question are an Austrian duo, Nico Delle Karth and Nikolaus Leopold Resch who are bound for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

They run a great little blog/website called Sail for Your Soul, and this was their photo of the week this week.