Get ready for some exciting sailing action captured by filmmaker Franklin Tulloch in his 60-minute feature “SKIFF 18, the Future of Sailing is Extreme.”
Tulloch spent five years crisscrossing the globe to capture these Skiffs in exciting races in some of the most challenging sailing areas in the world.
Shot on location in California, Australia and Italy, Tulloch’s film shares the amazing story of the reemergence of the 18-foot Skiff class through dramatic race scenes and stunning scenery.
“The 18-foot Skiffs is a class of boats which were created in the late 1880s in Australia,” said Tulloch. “The fleet used to go out in these little boats to pick up cargo and they started racing them basically. They added sails and built these boats out of heavy wood.”
More than 100 years later, much has changed from the days of the heavy wooden 18-foot Skiff.
Filmmaker Franklin Tulloch catches some intense Skiff 18 racing action.
“Considered by many as the fastest mono hull sailboats in the world, the 18-foot Skiff has been a mainstay on Sydney Harbor starting in the early 1900s,” said the filmmaker. “These days however, the 18s have grown into super fast, ultra light-weight carbon fiber sailing machines, sometimes reaching speeds of up to 35 and more knots, casting no doubt in most viewers eyes that they truly are the future of the sport.”
Just watching this class on the waves gets ones blood running, Tulloch added.
“These boats are carbon fiber sleds now that three people sail,” he said. “It’s all about physics and weight distribution and they’re the fastest mono hulls out there today. It’s all about team work and balance and trust.”
Tulloch spent four years making the film, travelling between the sole U.S. race area in San Francisco Bay to Lake Garda, Italy, and the home base of Skiff 18, Sydney, Australia.
“They tried to introduce these Skiffs in the U.S. in the 1980s and they didn’t go over that well,” said Tulloch. “Then they tried again in 2000 and this is the five year story of bringing the Skiffs to the U.S. Now there is a regatta in San Francisco Bay and they started their own league.”
Tulloch was initially hired to just film a short promotional video about the Skiff 18, but the project quickly grew, he explained.
“I just got blown away by the boats and the crews,” said the filmmaker. “I really wanted to capture these boats in races and the film just grew out of that. The races and the whole Skiff 18 class are just amazing.”
Tulloch is screening “SKIFF 18, the Future of Sailing is Extreme” at Skinny Legs on Saturday night, July 14, at 7 p.m. and at 420 to Center on Sunday night, July 15, also at 7 p.m.
For more information about “SKIFF 18, the Future of the Sailing is Extreme,” check out http://www.earthboundstudios.com/earthboundstudios.com/skiff18.htm.