Top 10 List for Day 4 of the Great Texas by Steve Piche, skipper of the Team Great Texas 300:
1. Four minutes is not enough! It came down to the final leg and Team 2 Wire Sailing, John Tomko and Ian Billings, were able to overcome their four minute deficit to win over the team of Quiksilver, Mike Beuerlein and Philippe Bettler. Team Quiksilver had a 35 minute lead after the first day but the 7 time champ ground them down bit by bit and managed his 8th win in 12 Great Texas events. Team Quiksilver made a good run but came up short in the end.
2. Off the Horizon: How did Team 2 Wire Sailing do it? They got out front early and just kept building the lead. Pretty soon, they were a speck on the horizon as Team Quiksilver was left to battle it out with the rest of the fleet. The wind was light off the start but the sea breeze built. It started out downwind and shift to double trap reaching.
3. So fast they beat the Dashers: The Dash teams started at 9 am and hour before the GT boats. Despite the hour head start, 2 Wire Sailing still managed to beat the entire Dash fleet. They sliced through the entire Dash fleet like a hot knife through butter.
4. Good to see the Dashers: It really is fun for us GT sailors to be joined on the last day by the Dash sailors. Most of the GT sailors served as pushers for Dash boats. I pushed for Mike and Janet Hardy who won the non-spin division. It must have been my great push that helped them win!
5. Fleet Racing: We left the sweep duties to Chris Green and Aaron McCulley today and decided to join the fray with the rest of the fleet. We fought it out with Teams Yo Baby, Quiksilver, and Blackburn Marine. We were never more than 100 yards apart all day. (Chris and Aaron were in the mix too until their spin pole stay broke and they had to drop their spin.) In the end, Yo Baby got honors. Blackburn just nipped us out in the last quarter mile as we got hung in some weeds and had to do a quick clear. It was really fun fleet racing.
6. Thanks for the Dogs! When we finished at Galveston, the Bolivar Yacht Club served hot dogs to the fleet. After eating power bars for lunch the past few days, it was great to have some dogs for lunch!
7. Party, party, party tonight: We are off to Cat Alley for the awards banquet tonight. We will have shrimp dinner. I have a feeling John and Ian may be enjoying some rummies tonight.
8. Double Trapping Spin Reach: Most of the run today was a double trap spin reach in relatively flat seas. It is my favorite point of sail and was a really enjoyable day of sailing except for the weed patches which required frequent clearing by Juke.
9. Thanks to everyone that helps: There are so so many great people that help on this race. Thanks to the officers of the fleet: Billy, Terri, Mike Rohrer, Shannon, Ann, Kate, Trey, Andrew and Melissa. We could not do it with out their.
10. Next Year: We will be back next year with the 13th running of the
Great Texas starting in South Padre at 10 am on the Wednesday before Father's day. Hope to see you there!