Julian Bethwaite (born 14 July 1957) is an Australian, Sydney-based skiff sailor and sailboat designer. He wrote one chapter of his father Frank's book, ''Higher Performance Sailing''.

Skiff sailing

Bethwaite started sailing 18ft skiffs in 1974 crewing on KB, before moving on to the boats 9Sports, Singapore Airline, and Mutual Acceptance. Bethwaite won his first 18 ft Skiff World Championship as crew in 1987 and again as skipper in 1990 and 1992. He held several positions relating to the 18 ft class, including secretary of NSW 18 ft Skiff Sailing League, manager of the Super Skiff Series, and Skiff Grand Prix. At this time, Grand Prix Sailing was covered on TV. Internationally, his partnership with Alex Gad developed media driven sailing events throughout Europe, the U.S., and Mexico that resulted in three Sport-Tel awards.

Sailboat designs

In 1980 based on a stretched Tasar Dinghy hull, he designed the first of the trilogy of

Prime Computer Prime Computer, Inc. was a Natick, Massachusetts-based producer of minicomputers from 1972 until 1992. With the advent of PCs and the decline of the minicomputer industry, Prime was forced out of the market in the early 1990s, and by the end of ...

18 ft skiffs. It had a crew of two rather than the usual three which made sailing the boat difficult when handling the spinnaker pole and its complex wire bracing. It was this complexity that made Bethwaite design the Prime Mk2 with a fixed bowsprit and asymmetric spinnaker. To keep the weight down, the hull was made of balsa wood and weighed just 130 pounds (60kgs). Prime Mk3 was also made of balsa wood, had a wingspan of 26 ft, and weighed just 99 pounds (45kgs). This was later used to make a plug for the standardized B18 class. In 1994, Bethwaite designed the 49er which was a new high performance skiff. In 1996, it was one of 15 entries considered by the ISAF selection competition for the upcoming

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. The Olympic committee selected the 49er. From the 2000 Olympics and onwards, the 49er sailed with country flag designs covering the entire spinnaker, making it clear which boat was which. In 1998, the smaller 29er was designed for the international youth market. The 29er has been given International Class status In 2004, he worked with Martin Billoch and Chris Mitchell to design the SKUD 18, a ballasted skiff for disabled sailors. From 2008 through 2016 this boat has been raced at the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

. In 2012, ISAF held trials for a women's high performance boat to race at the Olympics. Bethwaite submitted the 29erXX, a souped up 29er with bigger sails. Although this boat lost out, the winning entry, the 49erFX from Mackay Boats (which developed a new mast and suit of sails) does feature Bethwaite's 49er hull.

List of designs

* 1978 assisted Ian Bruce and his father, Frank, with the design of the Laser 2. * 1980 started skiff designs that included three two-handed Prime Computers designs that pioneered the asymmetric spinnaker system. * 1987 designed the B14 skiff. * 1988 designed the B18 skiff, a consumerised Prime Mk3. * 1994, designed the 49er skiff. * 1998 designed the 29er youth skiff trainer. * 2005 collaborated with Martin Billoch and Chris Mitchell to design the SKUD 18.

Awards

* 1999 awarded the

Royal Institute of Naval Architects The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (also known as RINA) is an international organisation representing naval architects. It is an elite international professional institution based in London. Its members are involved worldwide at all levels ...

Award for Outstanding Achievement in Small Boat Design (for the 29er and 49er). * 2000 awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

. * SeaHorse award for innovation and safety for KeyBall trapeze system developed with Allen Brothers.

National championships

* 1st Cherub Australian Championships 1975 * 1st Tasar Australian Championships 1977-8 * 1st Euro 18 ft skiff Championships 1992 * 1st B14 Australian Championships 1992 * 2002 – 2015 designed Trilogy, a 32 ft (11m) trimaran that won 9 OMR (Australian Multihull Regattas).

World championships

* 1st Cherub World Championships 1970. (Crew) * 1st 18 ft Skiff World Championships (crew) 1986 Entrad * 1st Grand Prix Champion (crew) 1987 Goodman Fielder * 1st 18 ft Skiff World Championships 1990 AAMI * 1st Grand Prix Champion 1990 AAMI * 1st 18 ft Skiff World Championships 1992 AAMI * 1st Grand Prix Champion 1993 AAMI

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethwaite, Julian Julian Bethwaite 1957 births Living people Australian male sailors (sport) Australian yacht designers