The 49er was designed by Julian Bethwaite (the son of Frank Bethwaite) and developed by a consortium consisting of Bethwaites, Performance Sailcraft Japan, Peter Johnston, and Ovington boats.[1] The boat has been an Olympic class since it was selected by the International Sailing Federation to be the men's high performance double handed dinghy Sydney Summer Games of 2000. Its derivative featuring a re-designed rig, the 49er FX, was selected by World Sailing to be the women's high performance double-hander at the Rio Summer Olympics of 2016.