I'd encourage anyone who's feeling nostalgic or restless to give the GT300 a serious try. It is far away. It is in the Gulf. The hotels aren't as big or posh. I know. But it's happening and I think you guys would be surprised (I was) how much of the feel is still there. My worry is that, like the Hog's Breath, the Worrell and the Tybee, it is sustained by the passion of one guy, and the numbers seem to be shrinking. One guy can't maintain it - the rest of the matches in the pack need to catch fire. It really is no logistically harder to do than the East coast races were. The hotels are far less expensive.
It would be a salve to my soul to see a Worrell reunion, no doubt. Some Queensberry stories? Neil's dry humor. Chuck's down-home wisdom served in dollops of white gravy. And the slew of sailors carried out by the tide and returned home on the waves, changed.
Yep.
I've done the GT, so I'm speaking from the experience of sailing in it. I didn't feel the same connection to the Worrell or the Tybee that you must feel reporting on it. Otherwise I would be doing it every year. It's a great race, I enjoyed it immensely (mostly Thanks to Lee) but not the same. Logistically it is more difficult, especially for east coasters. Unless you want to camp on the beach, the hotels are a ways away for the first couple of legs, and you best have 4 wheel drive to get on and off the beach. It's an awesome race, much more isolated, but different than the Tybee or Worrell was. I truly hope Steve and company can keep it going.
