Hurricane 5.9

Hurricane 5.9SX

Development
Designer	Reg White
Location	Brightlingsea
Year	1980s
No. built	≈500
Builder(s)	White Formula
Name	Hurricane 5.9SX
Boat
Crew	2
Displacement	192 kg (423 lb)
Hull
Type	Cat
LOA	5.9 m (19 ft)
Beam	2.43 m (8 ft 0 in)
Sails
Mainsail area	17.50 m2 (188.4 sq ft)
Jib/genoa area	4.56 m2 (49.1 sq ft)
Gennaker area	21.00 m2 (226.0 sq ft)
Racing
Rating	1.030
RYA PN	695

The Hurricane 5.9 is a one design racing catamaran. It was designed by Reg White in Brightlingsea in the 1980s in response to a Tornado catamaran owner's request that White Formula design a cat with equal or superior performance to the Tornado of roughly the same boat length and sail area that did not need to be dismantled for trailing, this was to be the Hurricane 5.9. When the first Hurricane 5.9s began racing, as their numbers were few, they would race alongside the Tornados to increase the racing numbers in one combined fleet.

Now the SX rig has modernised the platform and opened the class out to a wide range of sailors and it's low cost competitive racing in the UK

Design

Each hull is 5.9 metres long and 2.43 metres (two feet less than that of the Tornado) wide. A second trapeze was added to for the helmsman, this was to make up for the lost righting moment with the narrower boat. At the same time, the rear of each of the 5.9 hulls was reduced to give less buoyancy than that of the Tornados to make the boats less susceptible to pitch polling when sailing downwind. The sail and spar design was also heavily updated from the Tornado's rig that had hardly changed since its launch in the 1970s.

Hurricane 5.9SX

During the 2000s the platform was given a new rig option - the SX. Moving the mainsail to a square top Pentex sail with a higher boom fitment, a smaller self tacking jib and a new asymmetric spinnaker shape with a solid chute and evolved layout. Paired with smaller evolutions to blocks and rope systems this modernised the Hurricane platform and made the boat suit a wider range of sailors.

Hurricane 4.9

Reg White additionally, on the back of the success of the 5.9, took the older designed 16 foot Condor catamaran and redesigned its sails, mast and boom and this new re-rigged Condor was given the name Hurricane 4.9.

Performance

The 5.9 is designed to give Tornado-like performance coupled with smooth predictable handling. In many conditions the 5.9 will actually outpace the classic Tornado. The boat is equipped with kick up rudders and centreboards which ride up on impact, reducing risk of damage. The PET film main sail gives long life and low maintenance with less frequent need for replacement. Now with the introduction of the SX rig (3 sail) the performance has been enhanced further.

Data

General

Boat Data*
Sails	Mylar/Dacron
Construction	Foam Sandwich
Mast	Adjustable Pre-bent
Trapezes	Twin
Crew	Two
Rudders	Kick-up
Blocks	Harken
Transport	Trailable complete

Technical Data*	Hurricane 5.9	Hurricane 5.9 Sport	Hurricane 5.9 SX
Length Overall	5.9 metres	5.9 metres	5.9 metres
Beam	2.43 metres	2.43 metres	2.43 metres
Sailing weight	180.5 kg	191.5 kg	192 kg
Mainsail	17.5 m2	17.5 m2	17.5 m2
Jib	5.9m²	5.2m²	4.563m²
Spinnaker	n/a	21m²	21m²
SCHRS	1.009	0.997	1.007
Portsmouth Yardstick			65

Champions

European Champions

Year	Venue	Winning Team	Home Club
1989		Robin Smith Lisa Gatton	Marconi SC
1990		Robert White Ian Newman	Brightlingsea SC
1992		Robert White Huw Reynolds	Brightlingsea SC
1993		William Sunnucks Rob Gutteridge	Datchet Water SC
1994		Erwin Kerstens Jorgen Kerstens	Catclub Zeeland
1995		Robert White Graham Eeles	Brightlingsea SC
1996		Jorgen Kerstens Ward Groot	Catclub Zeeland
1997		Tim Reid Trevor Hewitt	Mudeford SC
1998		Jason Smith Julia Plumstead	Stokes Bay SC
1999		Andy Webb Finley Humphreys	Harwich Town SC
2000		Robin Smith Lisa Gatton	Grafham Water SC
2002	Skinias	Andy Webb Finley Humphreys	Harwich Town SC
2003		Sean Ward Jo Ward	Lymington Town SC
2004		Ashley Machin Julia Machin	Datchet Water SC
2005		Ashley Machin Julia Machin	Datchet Water SC
2007		Grant Piggott Greg Windle	Weston SC
2024	YC Carnac	Alex Farrall Alex Warrington	Thorpe Bay YC

National Champions

Year	Venue	Winning Team	Home Club
1989		David Williams Ian Rhodes	Seasalter SC
1990		Robert White Huub Lambriek	Brightlingsea SC
1991		Tim Reid Trevor Hewitt	Mudeford SC
1992		Tony Wetherall Jeremy Mitcham	Beaver SC
1993		Robert White Graham Eeles	Brightlingsea SC
1994		Tim Reid Sally Fisher	Mudeford SC
1995		Tim Reid Trevor Hewitt	Mudeford SC
1996		Tim Reid Trevor Hewitt	Mudeford SC
1997		Tim Reid Trevor Hewitt	Mudeford SC
1998		Will Sunnucks Rob Gutteridge	Brightlingsea SC
1999	Starcross YC	Andy Webb Paul Gray	Harwich Town SC
2000		Andy Webb Paul Gray	Harwich Town SC
2001	Mayflower SC	Andy Webb Paul Gray	Harwich Town SC
2002	Minnis Bay SC	William Sunnucks Mark Self	Brightlingsea SC
2003		Andy Webb Finlay Humphries	Harwich Town SC
2004	Pwllheli SC	Andy Webb Paul Gray	Harwich Town SC
2005	Harwich Town SC	Andy Webb Paul Gray	Harwich Town SC
2006	Stone SC	John Ready Ryan Crawford	Stokes Bay SC
2007		Grant Piggott Gred Windle	Weston SC
2008	Stokes Bay SC	Neil Connelly Buster Tickner	Stone SC
2009	Stone SC	Neil Connelly Buster Tickner	Stone SC
2010	Thorpe Bay SC	John Ready Ryan Duffield	West Mersea SC Nedlands YC
2011		Richie Hanmore Stevie Pyman	Stone SC
2012	Brighltingsea SC	John Ready Jamie Bolingbroke	West Mersea SC
2013	WPNSA	John Ready Nahid Gaebler	West Mersea SC  Kieler Yacht-Club
2014	Harwich Town SC	Grant Piggott Adam Piggott	Weston SC
2015	Thorpe Bay SC	Jack Tindale Hugo Bull	Stone SC
2016		Neil Connelly Trevor Bawden	Stone SC
2017	Pagham SC	Neil Connelly Trevor Bawden	Royal Corinthian YC
2018		Neil Connelly Trevor Bawden	Royal Corinthian YC
2019	Canvey Island SC	Paul Palmer Robert Palmer	Thorpe Bay YC
2020	Event cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Thorpe Bay SC	Jack Tindale Hugo Bull	Stone SC
2022	Stone SC	Jack Tindale Hugo Bull	Stone SC
2023	Harwich Town SC	Ben Harris Izzy Smith	Weston SC Starcross YC
2024	Bridlington SC	Jack Tindale Hugo Bull	Stone SC
2025	Paignton SC	TBC	TBC

*Data from UK Hurricane Class Association

External links

• Yachts and yachting Hurricane-5.9-SX class page