The Spitfire is a high-performance catamaran used for training and racing. It was designed by two Olympic gold medalists in the Tornado class, Reg White and Yves Loday.
In the UK, the Spitfire is the RYA Youth Catamaran as well as a successful racing class with National Championships held annually. The youth squad sailors compete at the class events like open meetings and nationals as well as some 'youth only' events such as the RYA Youth National Championships and youth squad training events.
Overview The Spitfire, at 16 ft, is relatively small in comparison to the other main catamaran racing classes in the UK (F18s, Tornados, Hurricane 5.9s, Dart 18s and Sprint 15s). The Spitfire is a competitive racing class at handicap events, Spitfire events or in club races and is regularly seen in pole position at UK catamaran events. The British Spitfire Class Association provide the latest Spitfire news via their Facebook page and organize Spitfire events such as the inland and nationals championships. The Inland Championships are raced for the Jess Eales Memorial Trophy, in memory of one of the classes best and most well respected sailors.
Youth Squad The Spitfire was selected to replace the Hobie Dragoon as the RYA Youth Catamaran and since then it has become a top youth class. After the 34th Americas Cup which was held on AC45 and AC72 Catamarans, the numbers of sailors not only in the youth squad, but in the class in general, reached record numbers and at the 2016 RYA Youth Nationals, 13 entries were recorded (almost twice the number of entries in 2014). The UKCRA Youth Squad use the Spitfire as their training platform and their main racing class however the squad also attend events in other classes such as the SL16 World Championships and the Red Bull Foiling Generation.The Red Bull Foiling Generation The Spitfire was replaced as the RYA Youth Multihull in 2017 by the new Nacra 15.
Champions European Champion
Year Nation Location Helm Crew 2002 Locmariaquer Sailing Club Fabrice Berranger Stephane Berranger 2003 Netley Sailing Club Stuart Gummer Chris Rashley 2005 Royal Cork Yacht Club Chris Sproat Georgina Burke 2006 Yaverland Sailing Club Chris Sproat Georgina Burke 2007 Locmariaquer Sailing Club Jonathan Loday Arnaud Gautier 2008 Ostend Sailing and Racing Club Chris Sproat Georgina Burke
UK National Champion
Year Location Helm Crew 2002 Whitstable Yacht Club Stuart Gummer Chris Rashley 2004 Stokes Bay Sailing Club Mike Scantlebury Dave Harris 2005 Worthing Yacht Club Jonathon Loday Ellen Forshaw 2006 Pagham Yacht Club Jonothon Loday Mike Windle 2007 Pagham Yacht Club Stuart Gummer Hannah Burke 2008 Brightlingsea Sailing Club Chris Sproat Georgina Burke 2009 Minnis Bay Sailing Club Alex Farr Marcelle Newbold 2010 Brightlingsea Sailing Club Henry White Ed Redfearn 2011 Minnis Bay Sailing Club Rupert White Nicola Boniface 2012 Brightlingsea Sailing Club Rupert White Nicola Boniface 2013 Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club Gary Smith Lynn Whitmore 2014 Brightlingsea Sailing Club Paul Limpus Oli Greber 2015 Stokes Bay Sailing Club Jack Butters Sam James 2016 Brightlingsea Sailing Club Jack Butters James King 2017 Stokes Bay Sailing Club James Stacey Catherine Elson 2018 Brightlingsea Sailing Club Tom King James King
UK Inland Champion
Year Location Helm Crew 2001 Grafham Water Sailing Club Yves Loday James Bird 2002 Grafham Water Sailing Club Stuart Gummer Chris Rashley 2005 Grafham Water Sailing Club Alex Farr Marcelle Newbold 2006 Grafham Water Sailing Club Chris Rashley Elizabeth Jury 2009 Grafham Water Sailing Club Henry White Ed Redfearn 2010 Grafham Water Sailing Club Henry White Ed Redfearn 2013 Grafham Water Sailing Club Grant Piggott Megan Smith 2014 Grafham Water Sailing Club Tony Stokes William Smith 2015 Grafham Water Sailing Club Jack Butters James King 2016 Grafham Water Sailing Club Matthew McRobbie Molly Desorgher
UK Youth National Champion
Year Nation Location Helm Crew 2011 Hayling Island Sailing Club Rupert White Nicola Boniface 2012 Pwllheli Sailing Club Andrew Sinclair Joshua Potts 2013 Largs Sailing Club Tom Britz Abbie Hewitt 2014 Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy Sam Barker Ross McFarlane 2015 Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy Sam Barker Victoria Akhurst 2016 Pwllheli Welsh National Sailing Academy Jack Butters James King 2017 Hayling Island Sailing Club William Smith Abigail Clarke
Notable Sailors Chris Rashley: International Moth UK National Champion 2015
Rupert White: SL16 ISAF Youth World Championships Bronze Medal (Helm) 2011 and SL16 ISAF Youth World Championships Gold Medal (Helm) 2012
Nicola Boniface: SL16 ISAF Youth World Champion (Crew) 2011
Tom Britz: SL16 ISAF Youth World Championships Gold Medal (Crew) 2012
James Henson: SL16 ISAF Youth World Championships Bronze Medal (Helm) 2013
Oli Greber: SL16 ISAF Youth World Championships Bronze Medal (Crew) 2013
References
http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/class/Spitfire https://www.spitfiresailing.org.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spitfire-Sailing-UK/127859340600800 https://www.youthcat.org.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/UKCRAyouth