Steve Piche and Aaron McCulley Take Lead on First Day
[Day One] [Day Two] [Day Three] [GT300 Site] [Day Four]

Latest Update, late Wednesday

The results from the first day racing are as follows, this will also
be the starting order for tomorrow:

Finish Pictures by Sean Stevens:

Team Name Elapased Time Corrected Time
Nauti Gear 8:28:00 13:34:06
Ruff Riders 8:49:27 14:08:29
Sailboat Shop 8:52:38 14:13:35
Tybok Racing 8:59:16 14:24:13
Sofa King Fast 8:47:50 14:50:06
Chums 1 8:49:03 14:52:10
Corpus Christi 9:20:00 14:57:26
Fly Boys 9:19:43 15:43:52
Dallas 9:20:42 15:45:32
Poison Girl 10:00:04 16:51:55

All the teams have taken chow and drink and are set up on the beach
for the overnight here on Mustang Island. The temperature is mild,
the wind is 10 knots and steady and the bugs are awful. There is
lot's of good conversation about the day's effort and the tactics for
tomorrow.

Have a great night and will update in the morning!

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First to finish was Steve Piche and Aaron McCulley of Team Nauti Gear. Times are still being calculated and will be posted to the www.GT300.com site later this evening.

The day started with light winds gradually freshening through the day to about 10 – 15 knots this evening. The surf has remained mild at 1 to 3 feet all day. The race started promptly at 10 AM from the beach behind the Tiki Condos in South Padre. Racers were spotted on the horizon at about 6 PM from the beach at Mustang Island State Park, with the racers finishing between 6:25PM and 7:45PM. All racers are now off the water and reported an enjoyable day.

Team Nauti Gear was able to sail close to the beach and run their spinnaker the entire day from South Padre. This gave them a finish of a little more than 20 minutes ahead of the next finishers in uncorrected time. There were equipment problems on the water with Team Tybok losing their Spinnaker tackle at the top of the mast, and John Tomko’s team reported blowing out two spinnakers. These teams are working furiously this evening to get their boats repaired and ready for the start tomorrow at 10AM.

The weather will be much the same tomorrow as we look forward to our start and the sail up to Matagorda!

And They Are Off

Without much ado, the fleet easily got off the beach. With NautiGear getting a nice jump, but Sofa King Fast later developed the lead, but was then passed by Chums, who now has the lead.

Picture of the start by Sean Stevens:

Start in a Few Minutes.., Stand By

The Great Texas starts today with a 91 nautical mile sail from South Padre Island to Mustang Island. Ten boats are rigged and ready to go at 10 am central.

Here is report straight from Steve Piche:

The forecast is light south wind initially off the start. The wind will switch to the southeast and build as the land heats up during the day. This will be a typical seabreeze effect because land heats and cools seven times faster that water surfaces. We expect to be finishing in a 10-15 knot breeze. It is a little difficult to predict when we will be finishing; however, I will venture a guess of some where between 5-8 pm.

If it is light, we may try to call in using a satellite phone to give updates from the course. However, if it gets windy, I have promised my crew that I will sail the boat rather than “playing around with that satellite phone” so we may not have a lot of updates from the water today. There are no roads along the section of beach that we are sailing today so the ground crews will not know where we are until we sail into the finish.

The first leg is a 91 nautical mile run due north from South Padre Island to Mustang Island. The land curves westward north of South Padre. In the middle of the course, the rhumb line is located 20 miles off shore because of the bend in the coast.

This leg is typically the most strategic in the race. The breeze kicks up along the shore allowing those that follow the shore to sail faster; however, those on the shore sail more miles than those teams off-shore. So where is the optimal lane between more distance and more speed? The teams that make the right call on where to be are usually well rewarded on this leg. Personally, I like the speed (beach) and I am willing to sail the extra distance. I don’t like to get hung off shore in light air. However, if the wind is great off-shore, the rhumb line can be the fast lane. We’ll see….

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Great Texas to Start Tomorrow

There are ten teams ready to rumble up the Texas coast from South Padre Island to Galveston Island. The weather is looking good for the 10AM start tomorrow. Stay tuned to this site and also check the official Great Texas site at www.gt300.com for updates and results.

The fifth annual Great Texas Catamaran Race, which is a 300 mile long beach catamaran race sailed in four separate legs, starts in South Padre Island, Texas on Wednesday, June 13th and ends at Galveston Island, Texas on Saturday, June 16th.

The race, organized by Great Texas Fleet of Austin, Texas, will include stops at Mustang Island State Park
(arrive June 13 and leave June 14), Matagorda Beach (arrive June 14 and leave June 15) and Surfside (arrive June 15 and leave June 16).

In five years, the Great Texas Catamaran race has developed into one of the premier long distance, open ocean, beach catamaran race in the US. The race is sailed on high speed, light weight, 20 foot beach catamarans. Each leg of the race starts at 10:00 a.m. when two sailors on each of the competing teams push their boats off the beach and sail through the surf line. The sailors then race up the Texas coast for up to 110 miles per leg, reenter the surf line and cross a finish line on the beach to complete the leg. The sailing team with the lowest overall cumulative time for the four legs wins the race.
Because of the challenges of the race, only qualified beach catamaran sailors are allowed to participate.

“Last year’s race was held in near ideal conditions allowing us to complete the 300 mile course in just under 24 hours,” said John Tomko, 30, of Team Ruff Rider and winning skipper of the last year’s Great Texas Catamaran Race. He continued, “Conditions look good for another run up the coast – we are excited and hope for another good run.”

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The following is a summary of the expected schedule.

Wed, June 13 – Leg 1: South Padre to Mustang Island State Park, 100 miles
Locations: Start in front of Tiki Condominiums. Finish on beach at Mustang
Island State Park.
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. – Race official and participants available for interviews.
10:00 a.m. – Start of Race
4:00 – 9:00 p.m. – Expected finish of the leg.

Thursday, June 14 – Leg 2: Mustang Island State Park to Matagorda Beach, 110 miles
Locations: Start on beach at Mustang Island State Park to Matagorda Beach.
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. – Race official and participants available for interviews.
10:00 a.m. – Start of Race
4:30 – 9:00 p.m. – Expected finish of the leg.

Friday, June 15 – Leg 3: Matagorda Beach to Surfside, 55 miles
Locations: Start on beach at Matagorda Beach and finish at Stahlman Park.
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. – Race official and participants available for interviews.
10:00 a.m. – Start of Race
1:00 – 4:00 p.m. – Expected finish of the leg.

Saturday, June 19 (Father’s Day) –
Extensive coverage of the race will be available on-line at this site, including
race results, estimate time of arrival and inside stories.

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Here is a list of the teams registered:

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2007 Great Texas Site Location Information
The Information Booklet, available in early June, will have driving directions to the
sites.
South Padre Island – June 11-14
Official Site: The Tikis Condos
6606 Padre Blvd
Phone: 1-800-551-8454
Web Site: www.thetiki.com
Great Texas Group Rate: $99 for one bedroom. $185 for two bedroom
Rooms reserved for Great Texas Group from Sunday, June 10th to June 13th.
Reservations are guaranteed for the group until mid May.

Mustang Island – June 13-14
Official Site: Mustang Island State Park – Camping on the Beach
Park phone number 361.749.5246
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/mustang/index.htm
Activity Use Fee Per Person (day or overnight) $2
Entrance Fee Adult (13 and over) $3
Camping Fee: $7 for a group of up to 8. Gate closes at 10 pm.
There are several hotels in the area although most people camp on the beach.

Matagorda Beach – June 14-15
Official Site: Matagorda Beach – Camping on the beach
Matagorda beach is an open beach for recreational use. A $6 permit is required.
Nearest hotels are in Bay City about 30 miles from the site.

Surfside – June 15-16
Official Site: Surfside Motel
330 Coral Court, Surfside Beach, TX. 77541
Phone: 979-233-4585.
$60-$110 per room. No minimum stay.
Web Site: www.surfsidemotel.biz
This is a small hotel and will fill up quickly so make reservations early. There are also
hotels near by in the Freeport area.

Galveston – June 16-17
Finish Location: East Beach, Galveston
Official Hotel: Inn at the Waterpark
2525 Jones Rd at Scholes Field. Located near Moody Gardens
409-740-1155
Group rate at $99.95 for Saturday night only stay (limited number of rooms). Other
rooms available for $99 but require two night stay (Friday and Saturday). Rooms are also
reserved for June 16th. Group rate only until mid May.

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