Great Texas June 18-20

PRE-RACE TOP 10 List by Steve Piche, Founder of the Great Texas 300 and Skipper of Team Great Texas, Follow us at gt300.com
The 13th annual Great Texas 300 is set to start on Thursday, June 18th at 10 am in South Padre Island! Due to Tropical Storm Bill, we have postponed the start by one day and combined the last two legs to allow us to sail the full course.
Back by popular request, I will be writing my top ten list for each day of the event (if not too tired and beat up). I am throwing in a bonus pre-race edition top ten here that gets you ready for all of the excitement of this year’s Great Texas. So, here we go, the first top ten list for the 2015 Great Texas.
1. Can John Tomko and Ian Billings Repeat? John and Ian have won four of the last five Great Texas 300’s which is a pretty impressive record. They are odds on favorites to take line honors again. However, there are nine other teams in the hunt ready to pounce if John and Ian should run into a bit of bad luck. (In 2009, John and Ian broke their mast on the second leg which opened the door to Chris Green to claim the victory.) We have some wily old vets (like me) who are chasing fame and glory and some first-timers who are ready to take on the wild Texas coast. Whoever wins, it will be an interesting battle.
2. Welcome to our Playground! The Great Texas 300 takes place on the biggest, most glorious playground in the entire state of Texas. Many people come to see our playground. They put their toes in the water - some wade out into the surf to enjoy a swim, but few, very few keeping going beyond the surf. Beyond the surf is a magical world devoid of human presence – a world of wind and waves. (Fishermen rarely venture on our playground – we rarely see any boats over the first two legs of the race.) Out in this world, for four (three this year) days each year, I get to play with my best friends. We all play the sailing version of King of the Hill.
3. What’s New this Year? We are exciting to announce that we will have satellite tracking of all boats during this year’s event. You can go to GT300.com to get the link to the live tracking. Since much of the race is run well off-shore, we need to use satellite tracking rather than the more common cell phone tracking. Our trackers are set up to send a message every 2 minutes so we hope to have near real time tracking.
4. Bill: Mother Nature is throwing us a curve ball by sending a tropical storm across our playground. The sailors unanimously agree to delay the start by one day and combine the final two legs (although we are stopping at Cat Alley rather than East Beach). The weather looks good for the next three days – we will have a good strong breeze which hopefully will allow us to make it to Galveston in three days. The legs are going to be long and tough (105 miles, 101 miles and 85 miles) but that is what sailing the Great Texas is all about.
5. Welcome to the Travelers: We welcome Team Chiindi from Arizona and Team Wisconsin from well you know, Wisconsin. It is always good to have some out of staters come join us for our run up the coast. Each boat of the out of state boats has a rookie and a veteran aboard.
6. Work, work, work: Everyone is out in the heat of the day working on their boats. We do a lot of special modifications for this race. We add a doubler to our spinnaker sheet, add ratcheting blocks, a mast rotator, etc to the boat. And then there is the safety gear – it takes hours to get it all set up and ready for the race. Everything has to be charged up, checked and re-checked. On-line accounts need to be updated. The list goes on and on. Welcome to boat prep for the race.
7. Play, play, play: One of the best feelings in the world is finally pushing off the beach on Thursday morning. After weeks of prep, you are finally sailing and what a sail it is! The run from South Padre to Mustang Island is my favorite leg. Typically, it blows from the southeast and it is a beautiful downwind run. (However, with the funky weather this year, it may be a bit different.) Finally, we sail right on to the beach at Mustang Island and Andrew Tatton of Triple Threat BBQ has food waiting for us!
8. Lupe Tortilla: Speaking of food, we are seriously happy to have Lupe Tortilla on board as a Gold Sponsor. They will be catering the awards banquet in Galveston. Lupe Tortilla serves up world class Mexican food throughout the state of Texas. They are also the title sponsor for John and Ian’s team. By catering the final dinner, we were able to shift money from the banquet to the tracking. Lupe Tortilla’s sponsorship literally makes it possible for you to follow us up the coast.
9. Organizers: We would be remiss to not recognize the tremendous amount of work that has gone into this event. Terri Reuwsaat, our Commordore, keeps the gears greased and the machine going. Thanks to the many other officers and PRO. A special thanks to our new beach captain, Carla Cardini, who has done a great job setting all the hotels, parties, etc as we travel up the coast.
10. Come Join Us! If you are not flooded out (and we are not flooded out), come join us! We love spectators, follower and fun people. Join us on the coast this week!

We’re going racing today! After postponing the race by one day, we leave the beach today at 10 am. We will be sailing from South Padre Island to Mustang Island – due north for a bit over 100 miles.
Due to some high tides on Mustang Island, we moved the finish location two miles south. We will be finishing just north of the Peckery Channel off Newport Pass road.
The wind is already blowing 15 knots out of the southeast. The surf is moderate and should be relatively easy to blast through.
We will have our trackers on so you can follow at http://kws.kattack.com/GEPlayer/GMPosDisplay.aspx?FeedID=1438
We have a bit of an experiment going on with these trackers today – we hope they all work correctly. They should be updating every two minutes.
Other information can be found at www.gt300.com

To follow the latest information, like our facebook page at www.facebook.com/greattexas300

Tomko's track makes sense to me, why is everyone else going so far offshore?

How do you get the tracker website to auto update? Page refresh is getting old quick.

Mine does it on it's own. I don't think the trackers are updating as frequently as advertised. Typical tracker issues.

Looks like Jack Flash had a bit of a tumble and have come off the throttle a bit. Geebus John and Ian can push a boat!

Damn, it looks Jack Flash is stopped again!

which browser are you using Ding?

Mozilla Firefox on a Linux box. Works the same way for IE on windows 8. The page only refreshes when there is an update from one of the trackers or at least it appears to be working that way.

It should auto refresh every two minutes. If you click on the "Elapsed Time" box twice, it will show you how long until next refresh. Also helps to set it to "Fleet View" (Click "Course View" twice).

Glad to be on the other side of the fence.

I did that. The next refresh time continues to get bigger/longer. FF for me does not refresh at all. I'll try chrome or IE.

Update: IE works fine.

Is Tortilla back on the phantom for this race?

no, I believe they're back on the capricorn.

They are on their C2.

Jack Flash is out!

From the GT300 FB page:

Team Jack Flash suffered injuries and is out of the race. EPIRBs were activated and Collin Casey along crew Josh Grissom were rescued by The US Coast Guard. Collin is being treated at the hospital in Brownsville for a possible concussion. More details when they become available

Great. Probably a java issue with the browsers you are having issues with.

Hope everyone is alright!!!

Me too!

The tracker doesn't come close to the order the boats are finishing on the beach. . . .

Jack Flash Update from FB:

Team Jack Flash has been reused by the Coast Guard Collin Casey has a concision or so we think waiting on CT results then to head to salvage the boat got word it had washed ashore already hope to see every one tonight in mustang island

Top 10 List for Day 1 of the 2015 Great Texas by Steve Piche of Team Great Texas
Whew, we actually got to go sailing today after having to postpone the Great Texas by a day to let the ruminants of tropical storm Bill clear out of the south gulf. So, here is my top 10 list for our 103.5 mile run from South Padre to Mustang Island. (First draft – no editing.)
1. The Champ can take a Punch: Beach launches are always exciting as we have to bash through the surf before heading off on course. Today, the surf gremlins got John Tomko and Ian Billings, defending champs of the Great Texas. One big wave stopped them, the second wave started to move them backwards and the third broke their rudder. The champs had to head back to the beach as the fleet sailed off to Mustang Island. Fortunately, for the champs, Team Great Texas (formerly sailing under team Rudderless), had a complete set of rudders (from Mike Beuerlein) stashed in their trailer. A quick ten minute fix and the champs were back on the course slicing through the fleet with abandon. A ten minute deficit turned into a 23 minute lead over the second place boat by the end. They pulled up with smiles on their face and a big thank you to Team Great Texas and Mike Beuerlein for getting them out a jam!
2. Coast Guard to the Rescue (Part I): It was lumpy, bumpy and windy out on the course today and it was easy to go down the elevator shaft and not come back up. Team Jack Flash flipped over shortly into the race and skipper Collin Casey hit his head. Due to Collin’s condition, they decided to ask for Coast Guard assistance. The Coast Guard helicopter rescue Collin and he was taken to a hospital. He was checked out, found to be OK, and released. The team later found the boat washed up on shore. A tough break for a great sailor and friend.
3. Big Wind Makes for a Fast Run: Lupe Tortilla (John and Ian) finished the course in just over 6 hours – over 100 miles. Do the math – they were flying today. It was a big downwind run in good size seas with a nice south breeze of around 15 knots. It was game on from the beginning to the end. A good day to put your crew out on the wire and floor the boat! Ah, it was fun. I mean really fun. Hee, hee, hee!
4. Coast Guard to the Rescue (Part II): Team Chiindi came to the wild shores of Texas to get a wild bull ride and they got one today. Unfortunately, the bull tossed the crew part way through the leg and we had a Man Over Board incident. The skipper was able to keep the boat up right but could not find the crew in the big waves. A coast guard helicopter located the crew which allowed the skipper to pick him out of the water. I bet these guys will be using their safety lines tomorrow – I know I always do!
5. Three time’s a charm: Team Yo Baby pitchpoled 3 times today but yet still managed to finish in second! When they were up and going, they were going fast! Maybe pushing the limits a little too much!
6. Texas BBQ: Wow, did we fill our bellies with sailing and BBQ today. Thank to Andrew and Stephanie of Triple Threat BBQ for the outstanding BBQ on beach. The ribs were incredible and we finished it all off with peach cobbler.
7. What a Ride: The waves got pretty big today and it was quite a ride down the face of some of these monsters! It was pretty technical sailing today. When got on the backside of a wave the boat would slow down and you had to power back up. You would then start to get a good run going until you surfed down the front side of the wave at which point you had to head deep to keep from crashing into the next wave. Next, you would slow down on the backside and start the whole process over. Obviously, John and Ian are better at this game than the rest of us.
8. Kids on the Beach: The sailors are playing like kids and the kids are playing, well, like kids. John, Ian and Juke have their kids (and wonderful) wives along for the ride. When we showed up at the beach today, all five kids (Dillon, Ryan, Lauren, Lux and little Lorelei) where playing in the water having just a fantastic time. They had big smiles as well as their daddys – the moms looked like they were having fun too.
9. New Beach: Due to problems at our beach scheduled for the finish, we tried out a new beach today. We went just north of Peckery Channel and it worked out just fine. A big, big thank you to Corey Harding and Andrew Tatton for finding us a new beach for the finish yesterday. At one point, we did not know if we could go because we could not find an open beach. However, we pulled it off and made it to Mustang Island.
10. Off to Matagorda: We have another 10 mile leg tomorrow – no rest for the weary. It is always a tough leg as we typically go from a downwind ride to a wild reach. The weather looks good – we start at 10 am. You can follow us live at www.gt300.com

Day 2 of the Great Texas: Mustang Island to Matagorda, 101 miles. Wind is forecasted to be out of the southeast at 10-15 knots.

It looks to be a fairly good run to Matagorda. We will be on a reach most of the way. We probably will set the spinnakers early in the day and then ride them down to the beach after which we will go on a jib reach.

You can follow us live starting at 10 am at

http://kws.kattack.com/GEPlayer/GMPosDisplay.aspx?FeedID=1439

or at www.gt300.com

Awesome job, as always, Steve!

I hope the Coasties are kind to you after the race is over...

Mike

Looks like things are starting to turn soft. Forecast for this afternoon looks unpleasant in a sit and wait kind of way.

Taco and Ian are still in front of the F20c it in what appears to be softish conditions.

Think of the f20c as more of an inter/nacra 20

The tracker display on my screen shows lupe doing 29 knots.
14-16knots has been the norm, so maybe it's a glitch.

Who's sailing what kind of boats?

Top 10 List for Day 2 of the 2015 Great Texas by Steve Piche of Team Great Texas
Enjoy my top 10 list written stream of consciousness (first draft, no editing, too tired to do that):
1. Team Lupe Tortilla has to work for the win: John Tomko and Ian Billings of Team Lupe Tortilla did not get anything free today – they had to work for their first to finish today. The race started in light winds off the beach and they put up the kite and took off with Yo Baby. They paced away but then the wind filled in from behind and the fleet caught back up. On a good double trap spin reach, the fleet tore up the miles until a rain storm crossed over the fleet. The rain storm sucked the air out of the atmosphere and everyone compressed together. John and Ian got out first followed by Yo Baby, Chums, Sailboat Shop and our team – Carbo-Link got hung up after having a good first half of the day. John and Ian were able to work back out to a lead and came in 7 minutes ahead of Sailboat Shop. It was a good job of sailing in some variable conditions.
2. Hanging out with my good friend Juke: I spent the entire day hanging out with my friend Juke – I mean really hanging out, on a trap. No better way to spend a day with a great friend than riding waves, flying spinnakers, and trying to beat your friends on a 100 mile leg down the Texas coast. You need to hang out with your friends more often!
3. Sailboat Shop was Awesome: A big congratulations to Team Sailboat Shop, Mike Rohrer and Chris Holt, on an awesome sail today. They had a great start off the beach, set the chute and then BANG – their spin halyard block blew up! Back to the beach they went for a repair. They gave everyone a ten minute start and then pulled a John Tomko. They flew through the fleet and then almost won the leg. In the end, they came up seven minutes short but they looked like the fastest boat out there today.
4. Double Trapped Spin Reach Nirvana: About a third of today was spent in what I call beach cat sailing nirvana – a smooth double trapped spin reach. There is nothing more fun than running down the beach with the spin up and both of us out on our traps. Once double trapped, we try to run the same compass heading – 48 degrees most of the day. As the puffs roll in and out, I work the traveler trying to keep the windward hull flying and going the same compass heading. When it all works well, as it did much of today, it is just a wonderful form of sailing!
5. Team Managers Rule: As I write this top 10 list, I am once again reminded why Team Managers Rule! I have to admit that my brain and my body are jelly right now. I am wasted from pushing the boat all day long. The only reason I can write this top 10 list is because my Team Manager, Tom Meyer, has been so helpful. He is running around getting food, charging batteries and even helping with my family that just returned from Sweden. There are nine other team managers that working their butts off this week and we could not get up the Texas Coast without them. Thank you so much Tommy!
6. Zhik Trapeze Harnesses Rule too: I spent much of the day hanging from a wire and that wire is attached to a harness. Now when you are in a harness all day, it becomes really, really important that that harness fits well or else your day is basically hell. I have been using a Zhik harness for the past year in my buoy regattas and decided I would switch out my old and very trusted harness which has done two Worrells and 12 Great Texas’ for the Zhik. I was a bit nervous about this decision but damn it worked out great – what a comfy ride. Thanks to Mike Krantz at Zhik for hooking me up.
7. The Billy Washing Machine: Tropical Storm Bill delayed our start and dumped a lot of rain on Texas and that rain had to go somewhere and that somewhere was out the Port O’Connor cut. Now, when a lot of water exits into the gulf, well, it is pretty darn turbulent – basically a big washing machine of turbulence. As we sailing by the jetties near the cut, it got totally wild. We were in sailing nirvana one moment (see point 3) and in Billy’s washing machine the next. We had huge waves gong every direction. We were double trapped running the kite and all of the sudden we were getting pounded by waves. We quickly dropped the chute and jib reached through the mess. We got out the back side and went back to sailing nirvana (see point 3)!
8. We Miss Beuerlein: Damn it all, Matagorda was where Mike Beuerlein always served us the world’s greatest Gumbo each year! Unfortunately, Mike could not make it this year and we were left Gumbo-less (is that a word?). We miss you Mike – you need to join us next year!
9. Cat Alley F16: Good job to team Cat Alley F16, Matt Parker and Nick Maudlin, on hanging in tough today on their F16. I spent the first hour of the day trying my hardest to pass those boys but they had the Mojo going and I just could not get them. Finally, the wind came up and I was able to sneak past them. However, when we hit the rain storm, they came rolling back up out of nowhere and almost smoked past the whole fleet. They also sailed very well today.
10. Another Long Leg: No rest for the weary (and I am the weary). We jump of the beach tomorrow and do a combination leg to Cat Alley in Galveston. We have about an 85 mile run down the beach – a bit shorter than our two 100 mile legs. It will be tough but somebody has to do it!

The F20c is as similar to the N20 as a Hobie 18SX is similar to a Hobie Tiger.

Let me say it differently then. There isn't an f20c racing. It's a nacra 20.

Top 10 List for Day 3 of the 2015 Great Texas by Steve Piche of Team Great Texas
Enjoy my top 10 list for day 3 of the Great Texas (Matagorda to Galveston Island – Cat Alley):
1. 17 hours and 45 minutes: How long does it take to sail from South Padre to Galveston Island? Yep, 17 hours and 45 minutes to cover the 300 mile course if your Team Name is Lupe Tortilla! Can you believe it? That is some serious flying! They did it faster than anyone ever has in the history of sailing on the Texas Coast. Yes, the defending champs took a punch on the starting line with a broken rudder but once they were back in the ring, they tore the coast up. Congratulations to John Tomko and Ian Billings. Amazing job!
2. Sailing Nirvana All Day: Wow, we ripped off 85 miles today in just over four hours. It was full on double trap spinnaker reach all day. We never dropped below 15 knots. It was, dare I say it, the most perfect sailing leg ever in the Great Texas. It was just nirvana. You will not be able to get the smile off my face for a year. You, yes, you need to come experience this! If you can sail a cat, get your boat here next year. If you don’t sail, learn how and come join us! I guarantee ear to ear grinning fun!
3. The Race for Fourth: We enter today in fourth place with a 1 minute 12 second lead over Team Carbo-Link, Luke McCallum and Aaron McCulley. We were determined to keep our lead no matter what it took and it took a lot! We zoomed down the beach to Bryan Point side by side for 30 miles. Team Carbo-Link got a small lead going into the point but we decided to roll the dice and cut the corner at the point. This was extra dicey because this is where the Brazos River comes out and we knew it would be nasty (waves, shallows, logs and debris). We managed to work our way through the shallows with one rudder pop up and hit a few small float logs. However, our strategy worked and we were able to gain a small lead. We then got in front of them and covered them to the line. We were 10 feet from the line when one of our dagger boards dropped and we stopped. Team Carbo-Link got line honors but only by a few seconds. Mission accomplished, we hung on to 4th. Now, that was tight racing. One minute separate us after 300 miles!
4. Chums takes the Open Class: Congratulation to Team Chums for taking a first place in open class. They proved that Wings lead to a victory. Good job Lee and David!
5. The F18 Battle: John and Ian sailed off the horizon once again but our team, Sailboat Shop, Yo Baby! and Carbo-Link all battled it out in a very tight group. We became obsessed with covering team Carbo-Link while Team Sailboat Shop and Yo Baby battled for second. Team Sailboat Shop got an early lead but then Chris Holt got knocked off the boat. Bungee lines broke and they could only use one trap on a double trap day. Yo Baby rolled over them in the last few miles and secured their second in the regatta. Again, less than 2 minutes separated these two boats. Really good job!
6. Wisconsin and Arizona: We want to thank Team Wisconsin, Todd Bouton and Tyler Gruen, and Team Chiindi, Brett Johnston and Anthony Acquilla/Jose Cerdas, for joining us! They had a great time playing with us this past week and we had a great time meeting them and their team managers! We hope to see more teams from the Midwest and Arizona next year!
7. AnnStrong: I sailed the entire race on with my AnnStrong yellow bracelet. Ann Apel had previously served as a race officer on the Great Texas. Unfortunately, she got cancer and it has knocked her out the last couple of years. However, she is a survivor and was just recently pronounced cancer free. She has one more round of chemo and then hopefully she is all done. We all sailed with AnnStong on our wrist this year. We are very, very fortunately to get to do what we do. Thanks Ann!
8. Our Organizing Committee: Thanks so much for our awesome organizing committee. We had some very tough decision to make this week and our organizing committee did a great job navigating some tricky waters. Hats off to Billy, Trey and Terri who keep this whole show moving up the beach.
9. Awards Banquet: We will be handing out awards this evening followed by a catered dinner from Lupe Tortilla. Those that won deserve their trophies but everyone deserves their food. Thanks Lupe Tortilla and Cat Alley for hosting us.
10. Wednesday before Father’s Day Next Year: This my last top ten list for this year’s Great Texas. I know y’all have a tear in your eye but fear not, I will be back pecking away at my computer in a few weeks when I am in Kiel Germany for F18 Worlds (July 14-18). As I finish all my final top 10 lists for the Great Texas, I invited you, yes you, to join us at the 2016 Great Texas. Come as a sailor, team manager, volunteer or spectator. We start at 10 am on the Wednesday before Father’s Day in South Padre Island! See you in SPI next year!

Awesome job Steve! Love those Top 10 lists!

Mike

Great work Steve. You make the 300 miles seem almost tolerable. Definitely takes a particular type to bash along for days with a grin on your face...

Why did you think there was an F20c? Two 20's, both Inters.

David, you should come over and do this race next year. It's a hoot!

It was one wild and crazy ride!

I saw the picture of the F16 bow and mistook it for the F20c then a little tunnel vision took over.

Mr. MacDonald and I are giving it serious consideration. Team dinasour just might have to saddle up before the sand in the hour glass runs out.

And here I thought a few rummies and some sweet talk was required... you've done talked yourself into it all on your own. So that's it... Texas bound it is.

Mr. Piche, there will be an F18 from Florida on your beach next year! (Is drinking allowed on the beach in Texas)?

Everything is allowed on the beach in Texas. Even some things that shouldn't...

I'm not going to lie Mike that stings a little bit.

Hee, hee, hee!

Can't wait to see you. You can enjoy our beaches to their fullest extent! I suggest a starting with a Margarita at Clayton's beach bar at the starting line!