From GT300.com
Wednesday, June 16th – Day One – South Padre Island to Mustang Island

The day started off with a 9 AM Skippers’ Meeting at a 10 AM start from the beach. The winds and the surf were light, so chutes popped open on most of the boats before they even left the beach. Most teams had very little difficulty making it through the surf, but TCDYC were slower getting out into it. By 10:15 all teams were out and on their ways to Mustang Island.

All seemed to be going well, until a storm was spotted on the radar, and those of us on the beach were concerned about the number of teams that would be caught in it. As we patiently waited, the first team was sighted around the Corpus Christi Jetties between 5:30 and 6:00 PM. Team RuffRider hit the beach first, followed by Team Velocitek about 8 minutes later and Team TCDYC about 30 minutes later.

The storm we saw on the radar finally hit us on Mustang Island and brought with it heavy winds and quite a bit of rain. The temperature also cooled off and after the storm passed, the wind died down significantly. Team Yost limped their way across the finish line with no boom or main sail and a hole in their spinnaker, followed a little over 30 minutes later by Team Salva Vida Vela. Team Poison Girl came in about 20 minutes after that. Team Rudderless made it in around 9 PM, with you guessed it, one rudder. Steve Piche said that they came up on the back side of the storm and that’s when things got nasty. Team Chums hit the darkened beach about an hour and half later and Team Jack Flash finally arrived about 35 minutes after that.

During the early evening, the Race Committee and some team managers also received phone calls and text messages speaking of trouble and difficulties out on the water. Per their team manager, Team Corpus had some torn sails and made it into the beach on the other side of the Jetties. Fortunately, they were safely picked up there by their team manager.

Unfortunately, Team Pacmen and Team Quiksilver both turtled their boats and required Coast Guard rescue. But the main thing is that both these teams are safe and sound on dry land.

This morning we are headed out to the beach to see what damage the daylight reveals.