Leg 2 of the Great Texas 300 saw more of the typical epic Texas Gulf Coast sailing conditions with breeze fluctuating between 10 and 20 knots, with flat seas along the entire 90-mile course. John Tomko and Ian Billings of Two Wire sailing hit the beach handily in first place, 17 minutes ahead of Team Sailboat Shop consisting of Mike Roher and Chris Holt. Team Sailboat Shop and the Team Quicksilver duo of Mike Beuerlein and Philippe Bettler fiercely battled for the second spot, which resulted in Team Quicksilver finishing less than 1 minute later to take the third spot. Steve Piche and Juke Ball of Team Monkey Business hit the beach in 4th.
Rounding out the fleet the final three boats finished less than two minutes apart from each other. Team Yo Baby!, made up of Shannon Galway and Jonathan Atwood took the 5th spot, while Lee Wicklund and David Cerdas aboard the Nacra 20 took 6th. Filling the 7th position was Team Ki-Hara consisting of Ingrid Bakker and crew Aaron McCulley. Team Ki-Hara was able to get their ailing rudders in slightly better tune, and had better luck on course during Leg 2.
In typical catamaran beach sailing style, Team Quicksilver sent the fleet to bed fat and happy the most tasty Gumbo ever prepared on Texas sand. Gumbo chef Mike Beuerlein and a crack crew of master gumbo chemists toiled over a hot burner on the beach for hours, and let me tell you, no one left hungry!
Leg 3 will finish up on Surfside Beach, with the fleet predicted to arrive sometime in the late afternoon. Catch all of the action from the starts and finishes on the GT300 Justin.tv channel, and see real-time updates on our Facebook page.
