Spitfire Sailing Video

The UK Spitfire Class made this video for the recent UK Dinghy Show. Good action.
http://www.spitfiresailing.org.uk/data/spitfiredemo_isdn.wmv
If the link does not work go to www.spitfiresailing.org.uk
Go to Photo and click on Spitfire Demo.

That is an excellent video. If it's a promotional video, I wonder why they showed all the pitchpoles at the end. Granted, it looks like they had plenty of wind that day, but they almost make you think that it's a common part of sailing a Spitfire.
Anyways, it sure makes me want the water around here to warm up another 40 degrees or so!
Jack

Agree, an excellent video. Not sure why Spitfire chose Eye of the Tiger for this video though. I mean it's a classic rockin song, but shouldn't the 'H' team get the rights to use it for their Formula boat, uh, you know what are they called. Video rivals their video from Italy a couple years ago.

Do most teams trap the crew out first? I love to drive from the wire downwind.

And ouch - double ouch on some of those pitchpoles!!! Looks like the skippers were going to be pulling batten splinters out of their mouths the way they got projected into the main trying to save it til the last. Them aint no wave-piercing hulls either man!

Make sure you watch it til the end to see some nice wipeouts.

JMac
Southern Area NAF 18 Rep
Nacra F-18 #352

Eye of the Tiger? Yeah - that was probably on purpose...i.e. who is the eye of the Tiger on?

Sweet. Pitch and pendulum--we've all been there!

I also wondered why all the pitchpoles were shown. You don't see that many when racing with these guys and girls. These people hold off top Formula 18 crews. I raced with them in strong winds and never saw any of the top crews over. I asume that they sailed in that restricted area to get the aerial shots from the bridge. The wind may have been very flukey and gusty. Also, to get good action shots, they may have been sailing tighter reaches than usual.

The class mostly races short windward leward courses and the racing is very close. If one of the crew need to go on the wire downwind, it is the crew. The helm needs to concentrate completely on his steering. Even if the crew slips,as long as the helm is sitting right back with his feet in the toestraps, it is likely that they will recover from a near pitchpole.

It is still cold on the lake, but racing starts on the 28th. I think (?) that I am looking forward to it !

I've always wanted to make a beachcat music video to the song "Elevation" by U2.

its very fitting if you see the lyrics. Also, I'm not sure why they put the PP's in too.

Always did on the Hurricane 5.9. Gives a better balance as the crew can move around more to keep the hull flying in the light stuff. I also used to Love double trap with 3 Sails up too....Now Single trap with Main and Kite on my own.....

What great images! If the Hobie Cat company still had anyone as innovative as Hobie Alter, they would be using terrific modern advertising like this. Maybe then I would have more than 2 people in my local fleet and we could put on regattas for X-boats again. (Long drawn-out Sigh)

We could even show the Spitfires how to use chicken lines.

Capsize: fall down, go boom. Pitchpole: now there's real beauty.

Ahh, the pleasant pitchpole. The slow elevator ride to vertical or nearly so. The sinking realization that you are no longer cool not to have recognized the limit and not to have backed-off in time to prevent the inevitable. The echo of one's dear departed Mom in the overconfident gray cells saying, "You're gonna kill yourself on that thing." (She had long since dropped the "Just wait 'til your father gets home" appendage to the admonition.) Helplessly you ask yourself "Why didn't it rubber band back like it does, sometimes?" How smart you are, you tell yourself, up to your chin in salt water, that you stuck out your arm in order to prevent your noggin' and/or ribs from banging into the mast (big bruise already on that arm). Mere moments before a gorilla on a wire and now simply a wet monkey at the level of fishbait, plankton, and other simple or no-minded creatures among the flotsam. The alpha male reigned in by the Alpha Cat. You da man. It was wonderful; which is kinda hard to explain.

Dermot,

I too was at the dinghy show on sunday and thought that video was great, what I found really encouraging is how many kids were gathered around it, including my own 5 and 6 year olds. My son watched it about half a dozen times and thought it was the best thing at the show. I have always vowed not to push them into sailing but he now thinks its great.

Hey dacarls...

Did you know that Hobie Alter has not been part of Hobie Cat since the mid 80's. Since then... have you heard of the Hobie TriFoiler, Hobie Wave, Hobie Getaway, Hobie Bravo, Hobie 21 Sport Cruiser, Hobie Mirage kayaks? The Hobie 20? In the French factory... The Hobie Tiger, Hobie Fox, FX1 and many others? Hobie Cat has many very innovative designs since Hobie Alter. Sure, many are based on other designs, but what cat isn't really.

I think you have that wrong, Videos? Heard of Sharing the wind? That was a professional movie... not just a video. Hobie Cat France has been making professional videos of the major Worlds events for years. Have you been to the Hobie Website to see all of the videos that are available for download?

Can't imagine why you think videos are new or innovative, but we have learned over the years to stay away from stuff that scares people like a bunch of crashes and capsizes. That stuff is fun for us to watch, but probably won't sell any boats.

Know what? We (I) have a video system for creating rigging and marketing videos here. I have completed a DVD package this winter that dealers used at shows and will have in their stores. It includes all of the latest promo videos and copies of the 16 and Tiger Worlds movies and the Hobie History Movie. We'll let you know when it becomes available to the public.

..

Matt,
Like most of the commentators above, I wouldn't include the crashes at the end in a promo video; something you seem to agree with. It is a fact, however, that this is a very cool video, one that could attract adventure oriented people. I have a copy of "Share the Wind" and it is very cool and very well done. However, you must realize that it is painfully dated (the 70s). Interesting, but too dated to be useful as a current marketing tool. There seems to have been a paucity of video offerings from Hobie over the years, but maybe that is changing, as your comments seem to indicate. I'm guessing that Hobie already has the footage needed to create promo videos (5/10 min. in length) for any level of intensity and any focus (recreational or racing) of sailing on their cats. Put them together and make them available to dealers and fleets; that's good grassroots marketing.
David
H20
H16

I love it when people assume that Hobie is a huge thriving company that has Microsoft-like funds from which to undertake activities such as those mentioned above :P

I mean, they could be in post-filming production of a video when hobie up and cancels a boat from production, screwing the pooch on the whole vid! :P

(read the above paragraph with abundant amounts of sarcasm please)

No offense, but...
Innovative designs to be sure, but the only one that was inspiring to me in that list was the 20. Although the Wave has made its place in a way. I suppose when I see a Wave or Getaway in the heavy surf ala Sharing the Wind I'll change my mind...

Mentioning the Euro Hobies only drives the point home for me. I remember seeing the Euro boats on the web (varients on the 21, Pacifica, Dragoon, etc.) and thinking "why can't we get or build those boats here?" It seemed that it took awhile for the US market for the Tiger to even be recognized. Now it's catch-up time. It's great that the Euro boats are there to import now. But the blame is placed on the open class.

Sorry if it all sounds negative, I'm just raw-dumping my feelings I guess. I'd like to see Hobie succeed, and in way that grows all of cat sailing. Just like I like to drive but would be upset if all I could buy was a Chevy.

Of course, my faith would be restored if Hobie-USA came out with an affordable and competitive A-Cat, non roto-molded...

I no longer own a Hobie, but have had just about every model other than the H16. My dad has owned a Getaway since they came out. I'll tell you what, that boat really is wonderful from a standpoint of usability, friendliness, and fairly performance oriented. If it were a little tougher (we have had hull cracking problems on the x-bar openings) I'd give it a 10.

Hobie is not going to drop the H16 all of the sudden, so that boat is staying until they have a viable phase out program in place. The Hobie 20 was very popular for a while, and the Formula boats have stolen it's thunder now. Hobie was nice enough to bring back the H17 for another year, although I have not seen one newer than 1994.

The problem is not the companies, although HCA's demands are not condusive to catamaran sailing as a whole. The bigger problem is new sailors. Where are they? Hobie and Performace can come out with all the boats they want to. In ten-twenty years, who will buy them?

Both companies really have to think about taking a page from surfing and windsurfing. Companies like Billabong and Quicksilver are always backing movie makers. If you want to be an "Action Sport" you have to show the action to the younger people. Market freedom and excitement. When I was 14, I could not wait to jump on my Hobie 14 because I would be out on my own away from my mom and dad. We found that boat for $750. Cheaper than most good surfboards.

The only thing most people know about Hobie is surfboards and clothes. Performance is even worse... I get looks like I am from outer space.

So moral of the story. Boat design means nothing if you don't have anyone to sell to. In the future, the way things are looking, their will be less sailors. That equates to less money for the boat companies and the end of sailing organizations.

Keith,
I think that I am right in saying that the Hobie 20 is a licenced copy of the Hurricane 5.9, designed and built by the Spitfire co-designer and builder, Reg White.

Gareth,
My two sons are now 26 and 24. The eldest was always interested and was my full time crew from the age of 12, until he got his own Dart 18. He now races a Spitfire. The second was more nervous ("Put it down dad" if I flew a hull)and was 15 before he asked to crew. He crewed for me on a Dart 18 and after that for three years on the Hawk. He is now a senior sailing Instructor.
I don't think that you will have to do any pushing !

Dermot,
Don't know, so I'll agree!

But it may be why I always thought the boat/design was due for a Tornado-style update, ie self tacking jib, fat-head main, spinnaker. A little one-design class rejuvenation/resurrection and excitement builder.

Dermot,

Almost correct. No license involved though. The Hobie 20 Miracle is nearly a Hurrican, but has a different bow, keel line, deck, boards, crossbars and rig. It is also built completely different.

Matt,
I knew that there was some link, not sure what.

Keith,
The Story of the Hurricane 5.9 is that Reg and Robert White cut up a Tornado hull, put in a bit more buoyancy forward and a few more mods. Gave it an 8ft beam, twin trapeze new rig and "Bob's your Aunt"

Keith
Check out www.hurricane59.com and see how they have upgraded the 5.9 There is now a Hurricane 5.9 SX three sail model.
By fitting a smaller jub they have kept the same SCHRS handicap number, even with three sails. Might be the upgrade you are looking for !

Here is a little Hobie innovation history...

Innovation is not just about performance.

We knew we had to focus on getting new sailors into the sport; this is how Hobie Cat decided to do it. Build inexpensive, fun and durable boats. It is working and these people will be turned on to sailing and start moving to bigger and faster boats over time.

In the early 90's we recognized that we had been selling to the same group of sailors for years and that we had minimal new customers. This was after years of building a bigger and faster boat every few years. 14 then 16, 18 and so on...

We KNEW we needed new sailors. The 16 was our entry-level boat and it was getting more expensive to build. We had to get a less expensive and easier to sail boat. We took about three years to design and fully test the Wave and it has now been a HUGE success for multihull sailing and us. They are everywhere as rentals, club boats, cottage boats and personal boats. We have replaced nearly all of the other sailboats that these clubs used to have. Hobie Waves are seen by millions of vacationers around the world. They are seen as fun, fast and simple to sail.

We then started the next phase... a bigger boat again... the Getaway. Then we also went the other way last year and came out with another smaller entry-level boat... the Hobie Bravo. A truly simple multihull that is full of innovation. The Bravo has become a huge seller as well. The Bravo comes from the original 1970's Hobie Mono Cat, but is rotomolded and has a furling mainsail. An “A” frame structure rather than shrouds holds up the mast. You can be on a trailer, then sailing in about 5 minutes. We have applied for patents on the mast a sail system. We also just came out with a new rudder system which patents will be filed for. The new rudder system will replace the 2 casting and cam system that Hobie patented long ago. It has been released on the Bravo this month and will likely be on the Wave and Getaway soon after some further testing. The rudder system is another effort to make sailing simpler for entry-level sailors.

We now have a full range of truly entry-level boats. We let Hobie Cat France concentrate on the tech side. We brought in the Tiger, Fox, and FX1. The Tiger has been selling well, but nothing like the entry-level boats.

I think we made the right design and marketing decisions and that will be good for the sport over time.

I watched the end of that video several (more like "countless" times) and the more I did, the more I thought..."Wow, that boat can take a freakin' beating". While at first I did, I am not so sure that is such a bad idea to include that footage - it got the kid's attention!

Dean kinda hit at the nail (I think). I race catamarans to be closer to the edge - to get all I can out of the boat before playing submarine. My philosophy in my sailing can be summed up by this: "the existence of a limit can only be determined by exceeding it occasionally". I watched the end of this video again and again because I liked it. Grrrrrrr. chest pounding man style.

Maughan,

Have another listen to the lyrics to Elevation........

Now imagine a beautifull woman and what she dose to a man

I'm thinking some other kind of vidio

We have made a personal video of our Tornado (ALIVE) to the tunes of POD Alive.

I also think the following would make a great music cat sailing vid.

Incubus - Wish you were here
Metallica - Stone Cold Crazy
Peppers - Sir Psycho
Van Hallen - Dreams and Jump.
Megadeath - Eye of the Tornado

Anybody have any more.

Prindle 19
Hurricane 5.9
and
Hobie 20 (Miracle)

Are all tornado ripoff although none of the builders will ever confirm this.

Wouter

To answer all those who asked "why put in all the Pitch Poles" You've all really answered the question already, it gets people talking and makes others interested. The video was produced for a boat show and most of the people who saw the "action" watched the whole video again to see it a second time. Sure these were particularly violent (as well as doing the editing for this video, I was helming #74) but I believe it adds to the excitement of sailing catamarans. Most people who sail have some craving for adrenaline.

In reality the Spitfire doesn't pitch pole very often, it has quite a lot of volume in the nose, however we were sailing in extreme conditions. Although you can't see it on the video, it was gusting from 10knots to over 30knots in split seconds and the wind was shifting 90 degrees at times. The water was extremely flat because we were sailing up and down narrow shipping waters where we could film from a bridge.

--James
British Spitfire Class Association
http://www.spitfiresailing.org.uk/

ronstan released an ausi 18 video a few years ago. you want to talk about crashes and pitchpoles? this was brutal.

****!

Be honest, did you just hum along with the tune or watch the wrecks over and over?

Sail fast,
Take chances,
Safety third.

I'm with you on that one Dave.

It's actually refreshing to see someone show the truth in advertising. They pitchpole, them catamarans. Them's the hazards!

Great video!!! Can't wait for the freakin' spring!!!

Great Video! need more of them out there. I don't think the pitchpole scenes will deter anyone from buying a boat like this, maybe even help. Makes great stories at the bar. If you race, you push it, you have pitchpoled - fact of life. Can't imagine anyone buying a boat like this and not racing. The scenes at the end kind of reminded me of a group of out-takes or bloopers they show at the end of a movie. Maybe not the individual's finest moment, but entertaining just the same. How many of you have pitchpoled and would have loved to have had it on tape? I've pitchpoled every cat I've owned except my Nacra 6.0. That includes my Stiletto 23, and ARC 22.

Keep the pointy side up.

No.

I believe It's a rip off......

Secondly, the Hurricane 5.9 was not just a cut down Tornado with twin wires and a little more up front....

It shares the Centreboards and rudders and that is a about it.......

It was designed by Reg / Robert white and another I cannot remember as a 8 Foot wide boat with Similar performance to a T. but a little more forgiving in the 'big stuff' - It has had a Mylar mainsail since inception and a Dacron Jib. The SX version looks like an interesting innovation and if I had the spare cash I would Buy a 5.9 as a second / long distance race boat any day. It's wat got twin wire cat sailing going in the UK and at one time it was the boat to have in the UK. It's now probably the 2nd fleet behind the F18 in Europe. I owned two and as I said I would buy another one if I had the Cash...

I think your mixing up innovative with smart marketing. Henry Ford was smart by saying lets build as many cars as we can as cheap as we can so everyone can have one. Enzo Ferrari was innovative by design. Developing cats that are cheap and reliable is not innovative or groundbreaking by any means. Sure a new rudder system took thought to manufacture and maybe you can setup and sail a Wave in minutes, but i have yet to see a COMPLETE performance cat made and designed by HC USA. It's almost like trying to justify why Ford has failed to make a true performance car but the taurus is selling great, to a populous who mainly drives BMW's.

Design For Manufacture (DFMA for short) has been considered a huge innovation in the entire manufacturing community. Hobie was ahead of the curve on this one. This is a concept that is integral to the design process.
Had Hobie Cat not developed catamarans that were available and sailable for your average guy on the street cat sailing would be about twenty years behind where it is today.

That certainly does not apply to Europe !

1.A racing sport WITHOUT the crash threat? No one would watch, no one would join. They’re not selling Getaways to Ozzie and Harriet. To omit the dramatic pitch potential would be a lie to new sailors. How would a customer feel if they bought one and discovered the undisclosed pitch threat themselves? In the USA they would sue in a heartbeat!

Actually they are trying to sell these toy's to people with families. Because your younger folks (not married no kids) can't afford the damn things! So including the crashes could spook your kid or/and put off the wife. I guarantee you my wife doesn't like an unplanned trip to the end of the snuffer pole. Tends to make for an unpleasant day!

As for people sueing... It's going to happen not matter how much education you ram down someone throat. People refuse to take responsibility for there own actions! It's always someone elses fault. And when they do F'up they expect to be saved!

2. Did you miss the clip of them righting the boat? The video shows it taking about 3 seconds (riiiight!) to recover from the dramatic pitch event. This crafty video lures you to the speed and intensity, frightens you by the potential of a violent pitch, and then offers you a quick fix to show how the pitch wasn’t fatal and is easily recoverable.

That's not what I was thinking! I was thinking “I wonder what they broke that time”. Cha Ching!

3. As for attracting new blood to join this thrill sport, face it. Speed is the addiction but you wouldn’t do it without the constant threat of destruction. Jake is right, “I watched the end of this video again and again because I liked it. Grrrrrrr. chest pounding man style.” The sixties folk song says, “You must barter your life to make sure you are living.” If you don’t agree, don’t sail a fast cat.

Okay, there is certianly two different camps here. I race my boat, and I certianly push it and me to our limits, but I aint doing it for sole purpose of beating the odds! I'm just trying to get in front or stay in front! Pitchpoling aint the fastest way to get to the finish line! I sure as hell want to focus on other things, like finding the preasure and getting there before my buddy, not how the hell do I keep the f'in nose up!

Happy pitchpole! NOT!

In reply to David Parker,
With all due respect, I have to disagree with your general proposition as I see it expressed in the quotes following: "Speed is the addiction but you wouldn’t do it without the constant threat of destruction." And further, "The sixties folk song says, 'You must barter your life to make sure you are living.' If you don’t agree, don’t sail a fast cat." And lastly, "This is a testosterone sport…that’s why so few women are around. Stupid, reckless men do this stuff and like it."

I raced motorcycles in the 70s on sports car tracks up and down the east coast; going from fast amateur to novice and then expert level professional. I watched many amateur riders come into the sport with the above notions; if they were lucky they simply spent themselves out of the sport with the costs of fixing their crashed motorcycles. If they were unlucky they paid a serious price in the form of a lifelong injury for what was to be a "recreational" endeavor. When real danger is on the line, blind machoism doesn't get it; it tends to lead you to try to ignore physics, which will not be ignored--especially the part about kinetic energy.

Its true, when one wants to go faster, one needs to find the edge. The challenge in motorcycle racing (since there are no spinouts in that sport) is to "nibble" away at that edge, so your transgressions over are small and recoverable. The same principle applies in cat sailing. The closer to the edge you go, the faster you go (assuming conditions call/allow for such an approach). But you don't win races by crashing, even if its not as dangerous and paiinful as in motorcycle racing.

The genuine thrill of cat sailing (as it was for me in motorcycle racing) is to have the level of skill and control to run at that edge and to have your personal edge (because it is different for people of differing skills) further out there. It is the exercise of great control, finese, and precision in the midst of violent forces--being calm and precise in controlling these forces that gives great pleasure. In motorcycle racing, scaring oneself was for amateurs and macho men who didn't last long. When one is doing it right, one never scares oneself; one just enjoys exercising the control while playing on the edge. Winning, of course, helps. Just some thoughts of an older guy.

David N
H20

Cat sailing is fun, but the majority of new boat buyers are buying the Getaway which without some moderate wind isn't super fast. There are 250,000 Hobie 16's sold out there that are slow compared to a lot of modern and some older boats. The speed thing is realtive and really not a huge issue to the majority (which do not race).

Besides, this is a moot point. It doesn't matter if in 10-20 years there are half as many sailors to buy a boat, maybe even less. You have to get younger people with disposible income interested. They watch TV. They read Cosmo and Maxim. They go to clubs/bars.

Face the facts... no matter how "manly" you make sailing, if no one knows about it, they don't care. The only ads I ever see are the back of Murrays and Hobie catalogs. The only video I see is off obscure websites. (Until a typical person on the street knows to go to Hobiecat.com to see sailboats in action, it is obscure).

In reply to flounder

250,000? Where did you get that figure? I would say its less than half of that. Remembering that Hobiecat often print sail numbers without actually building a corresponding boat. They do that for Worlds, Europeans, some National events and people ordering new sails. So the numbers are more than they should be anyway. They also skip blocks of numbers, so they assign 90000-95000 to South Africa for example, but only 1000 of them are used.

I would agree they have sold over 100,000 boats but not 250,000

--James

Imagine a boat that performs like an F18, but is as small, and lighter than a Hobie 16 on the beach, tacks like a dinghy, doesn't rip out your biceps after an hour and leaves a smile on your face for the rest of the week.
That's the Spitfire!
I wish i'd got one earlier!

Chris
Scotland and north of England Cat Class Association
www.snecca.org.uk

Great comment Chris. Same could be said for the Stealth, Taipan, Blade, ie all the F16 boats. I'd love to see the Spitfire here in the States (unfortunately it's a pricey proposition).

If they got the currency exchange rates sorted out, you wouldn't be so badly off. It seems loaded in our favour at the moment!

Chris

That's exactly the problem, Chris.

Great work James! I can't stop re-viewing this excellent film. Today I looked up the song in the second half (after the Eye of the Tiger, first half). "touchin you, touchin me" turns out to be a song by OMD called I Believe In A Thing Called Love.

I had never heard of it (the song, not the actual emotion ) so it was very exciting for me to hear it during those fabulous visuals. A love song about catamaran sailing; that's my kind of film!

Here's the lyrics to the song by Orchestral Manuevers in the Dark, OMD. Very exciting music with the vocalist extending to falsetto and indeed, absolutely screaming out the words. Pardon my excitement here, but not having ever heard it, combined with hearing it while looking at the best cat video I've seen, .... is just purely terrific!



Here's the movie:
Spitfire Demonstrational Video - OMD song is in the second half of the film.
GARY

Which is no bad thing (for me) as I may be buying a new boat next year (I17R If I can get one in the country before anyone asks).

Exchange rates and their changes are an 'interesting' discussion and you can spend hours debating what they should be VS what ther are. [runs and hides as I work for an investment Bank in the City of London]

Actually, it is by 'The Darkness' off 'Permission to Land'. The title is 'I believe in a thing called love'. The video is straight from the Hair-band days. Funny stuff.
We actually won tickets to go see them back in the Spring but it was cancelled because of some construction problems with the venue.

That song was really popular when it first came out then just sorta fly off the face of the earth.

http://www.thedarknessrock.com/

Tracie