THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 14, 1996 TAG: 9607120213
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 178 lines
THE LURE AND allure of sailing, moving silently through the water driven only by the wind, can be sublime. While difficult to explain, that first voyage under sail has caused many a confirmed landlubber to be bitten by the bug.
Romanticized in poetry and prose since man first ventured down to the sea in ships, sailing persists as an art form, an avocation, an ideal, even in an era of gasoline and diesel engines, nuclear propulsion and jet skis.
In the late '60s in Southern California, a surfer and surfboard manufacturer had a better idea. Hobie Alter wanted to build a sailing catamaran, a twin-hulled vessel considerably faster than a traditional monohull design, that was lightweight, affordable and could be sailed right off of a beach. Using the foam and fiberglass he had used to build surfboards (some of which were sold here in Virginia Beach), and a lot of trial and error, the Hobie 14 (because it was 14 feet long) was born.
By 1969, Trafton Marine was selling them at the Beach. Fast, inexpensive and easy to master and maintain, being mostly fiberglass and aluminum, they caught on like wildfire. By 1971, the Tidewater Hobie Cat Association was formed, with Dick Berry as its first commodore.
The Hobie Cat ushered in a new era in sailing. Interest spread quickly and more groups sprang up, offshoots of the original association. On March 12, 1974, Hobie Fleet 32 was officially chartered in Virginia Beach. Bob Taylor, former commodore and author of ``Hobie Fleet 32, The First 25 Years,'' writes: ``For years the sport of `yachting' was viewed as an elitist activity, one to be enjoyed only by the fortunate few . . . .it was clear from the start that the `yachting' community was not about to embrace this new upstart catamaran. It was also clear that those individuals being attracted to sailing by this exciting new craft were not at all interested in being a part of any crusty old yacht club. With that, the Hobie `Fleet' and the `Hobie Way Of Life' was born.''
``It's a lot of fun,'' said Chris Merrell, who first took to the water in a dinghy on a lake in New York and now sails and races Hobies here. Last year he was commodore of the fleet.
``With racing, there's the thrill of competition. It's a progression from day sailing, out with the wind and the water. You get out with a couple of others and decide to see who's fastest. There's the camaraderie. You get to know other guys in the fleet,'' Merrell said.
A lot of sailors were getting to know each other recently during the Virginia State Games sailing regatta sponsored by the fleet. Merrell was one of them, working on the committee boat.
Bill Mills, a retired Navy SEAL, and his wife, Debbie, were among the others. The couple, who have a Hobie 16, were ``working'' the race: She on the committee boat and he riding the chase boat/crash boat, moving the markers as necessary and shuttling visitors to and from shore.
``We're cruising sailors,'' said Bill Mills. ``But we work to support the races.''
Current commodore Buck Huff raced that day in a Hobie 17. (There are currently six basic Hobies: the 14, 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21. The 14 and 17 are designed for single-handed sailing the others are designed for two-person sailing.)
``I bought my first Hobie, a 14 Turbo, in 1987,'' said Huff. ``I traded it for a 17 in 1989 and joined the fleet that year. The day I bought my 17, Steve Howse (commodore in 1990) was here and said there was a race that weekend. `Come out and race.' A couple of weeks later, he dragged me to my first fleet meeting.'' Huff joined in July, entered his first rookie race in August and competed nationally for the first time in 1991 in Tampa, Fla.
After several years of declining membership, Huff reports that membership in the fleet is increasing. In 1995, there were 31 dues-paying members. This year, it's up to 54, with members from all walks of life - lawyers, government workers, sales people, housewives, carpenters, plumbers and Navy personnel.
Despite Alter's original concept, it's not what you would call an inexpensive hobby. According to Merrell and Jack Eure, commodore in 1992, a new Hobie will run between $4,000 and $9,500 or more, although a good used one can be picked up for around $1,500. A trailer is about $700 more and a new set of sails can easily set you back $1,500 (the best are made of mylar and kevlar). Insurance is in the $150- to $200-a-year range. And, of course, in the Hampton Roads cities, there's personal property tax every year on the boat and trailer.
Eure, a Suffolk lawyer, still enjoys sailing his Hobie. But his wife Mary Ann, decided she'd had enough.
``She used to crew on the Hobie,'' said Eure, ``but she got off in 1975 and hasn't gotten back on since.''
The Eures provided the committee boat for the Virginia State Games, anchored at the starting line. The ``Captain Latane'' started its life in 1944 as a 60-foot, 30-ton, Chesapeake Bay oyster boat. The diesel-powered former workboat now serves the Hobie fleet with equal vigor, and a high degree of creature comfort for those working or watching the races.
``About 75 percent of the fleet members are racers,'' said Eure.
Eure is a veteran of five Worrell 1,000s, the classic catamaran race run between Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Virginia Beach, from 1976 to 1989. It was originally a 24-hour-a-day event for the four to five days it took to cover the course. Later it was made a leg-sailing event, from checkpoint to checkpoint. Still, this ``Tour de France'' of sailing, as Mike Worrell has called it, was, to put it mildly, a maritime marathon. In 1987, only six out of 17 entrants finished the course.
Worrell, a member of Hobie Fleet 32 (he was commodore in 1980), was at the group's July cookout at Chick's Beach Sailing Center, discussing plans to start the race up again in the spring of 1997. He had just gotten off the phone with Hobie Jr., Alter's son, and has already had interest expressed from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Holland and the United Kingdom, he said.
``I ran the event for 12 years,'' said Worrell. ``I expect an estimate of 25 to 30 teams would be realistic. I raced four years. I was first three times, and came in second in 1979. I wouldn't think twice about sailing it again, but I can't run it and sail it.''
John and Pam Klavenski, a husband/wife team, probably won't sail it, but, then again, there's always that possibility. He got into Hobie racing before she did, in part because she's not a strong swimmer, but now, said John, she's become the more competitive of the two.
``I did it first,'' said John Klavenski. ``I first learned to sail at 13, in a small monohull. I've been sailing Hobie 16s for 11 or 12 years. I'm on my third one now. I bought a new one in 1994. I think I like the racing, competing.''
Pam Klavenski recalled, ``I was quite apprehensive at the beginning. I found it a great deal of fun and found my competitive edge. We travel to various races, at least half a dozen a year out of state and all local races. The biggest is the Low Rent Regatta. It's a wonderful community event. I almost always crew and very rarely skipper. One time, I skippered in the Raven Rookie Race. It was the only time the boat tipped over,'' she added.
What started as sailing's offshoot of ``The Endless Summer'' for the laid-back '60s surfer crowd has now become a multi-generational part of the establishment scene.
``We've got several second-generation Hobie sailors,'' said Huff. ``Danny Koch: his dad was a Hobie sailor. And now we're getting their kids. You might say we're getting to be third generational.''
Wally Parolari, who was commodore in 1990, has a Hobie 16 in addition to a Boston Whaler. He's had three other 16s and 17s over the past 10 years.
``It works like this,'' said Parolari. ``When you have a two-person boat, you always need a crew. So you sell it and get a single-handed boat. Then you get someone who wants to sail with you all the time.
``You never have too many toys,'' he added. ``No matter how many you have, you always want something else.'' MEMO: Monthly meetings of Hobie Fleet 32 are held at Worrell Brothers
Restaurant, 1910 Atlantic Ave., at 7:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of
each month. Membership in the fleet is open to anyone with a catamaran,
whether it is a Hobie or not. For more information, contact Buck Huff at
481-3514, or buckhuff(AT)norfolk.infi.net on the Internet. ILLUSTRATION: Photos, including color cover, by L. TODD SPENCER
Hobie Fleet 32 racers work to get to the front in the Virginia State
Games competition at Little Creek Amphibious Base. ``About 75
percent of the fleet members are racers,'' says Jack Eure, past
fleet commodore.
David and Peter Gundlach put their Hobie in the water in preparation
for the Virginia State Games. Surfboard-maker Hobie Alter created
the catamaran in the late 1960s to be lightweight, affordable and
sailed right off of a beach.
ABOVE: Starters on the committee boat raise different colored flags
to let the racers know how much time is left before the start.
LEFT: A racer checks his watch, looking to hit the start line just
at the right time.
Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Jack Eure, a Suffolk lawyer, provided the committee boat - the
``Captain Latane'' - for the Virginia State Games. Eure is a veteran
of five Worrell 1,000s, the classic catamaran race run between Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., and Virginia Beach, from 1976 to 1989. Some are
making plans to bring back the Worrell 1,000 in spring 1997.
Graphic
[Box]
HOBIE HAPPENINGS
Here are some upcoming local events for Hobie Fleet 32. Events
are in Virginia Beach unless otherwise noted.
July 18 - Thursday Night Race
July 20 - Mid Summer Multi-Hull Regatta
July 25 - Thursday Night Race
Aug. 10 - Ocean View Race
Aug. 24-25 - East Coast Surfing Championships
Sept. 1 - Low Rent Regatta
Sept 21-22 - Ron Anthony Memorial Regatta (Fleet Championships)
Call Buck Huff at 481-3514. by CNB