It's not my best video, by any stretch (new firmware caused some stability problems, and the wind was pretty wicked) but it's a neat example of the unique perspective we can get with these ships! Heavily stabilized in FCP X (blech...sorry).
Oh yes, no giant waves that day. The way it works is they wait for a very specific set of environmental factors to appear on the forecast, then they'll "call" Mavericks, and the competitors will converge from around the world. The opening is the beginning of that process, and is celebrated in a really cool manner. More info is here: http://mavericksinvitational.com/story/
Yeah, I actually had to hover over my squirrelly landing pad for a moment before I realized that it might not end well for either the boxer or the Cinestar. Climbed back up to a safe altitude and hollered for somebody to grab the dog.