Wednesday, June 20, 2018

2018 Summary

“Sometimes you have to sail 4,800 miles to win a 300 mile race.” That’s the feeling skipper Steve Piche (founder of the race) and crew Juke Ball of Team Great Texas 300 had after they won the 16th Great Texas 300 and finally have their names on the trophy as well! From 13-16 June 2018 this Long Distance race was held and has a long tradition in the Formula 18 class. 
The Great Texas is known for its 4 day long distance sailing along the cost of Texas. Blue water, nice temperatures and often very good winds are the perfect combination for some nice catsailing. In 2014 the US Formula 18 Nationals were held in the same are and hosted by the Corpus Christi Yacht Club, for many US sailors this area is well known. Steve Piche makes a top 10 with highlights on a daily basis, we used this to make a summary of the event.
Day 1 (87 nautical miles from South Padre to Corpus Christi)“Should we stay or should we go? That was the question that was put forward to the sailors after a two and a half hour delay of the start due to very light wind and good sized surf. Should we wait for better wind the next day or go risk it in light wind start in good size surf. Ultimately, we decided to go after the wind filled in at 4 mph straight on the beach. We choose to go. For a while, we all doubted we made the right decision. We all bobbed in the surf getting pounded by waves unable to make forward progress. It took us 10 minutes to get through the first shore break. We finally got through that and had to get through a larger second break. Eventually, we rolled the dice and locked down the rudder and dropped the daggers – a very dicey thing to do in big surf. We finally got a little forward movement in the boat and caught a lull in the big sets. We popped out of the surf at the same time as team Mikey Likes It! Chris Liked it even better as team TCDYC got clear five minutes ahead of us. We all eventually made it out. Once out, we set spins and did a rhumb line reach until the wind got too big and pushed us off the rhumb line. We were single and double trapping. After the initial wait and the pounding surf, it ended up being a great day on the course. Congratulations to Chris Green and Chris Reuwsaat for taking line honors. They got out the surf first and never gave up the lead throughout the day. It was tight racing.
Day 2 (94 nautical miles from Corpus Christi to Matagorda)“No wind and big surf: Even tougher than yesterday was getting out of the surf today. The second break was relentless and the wind was damn near nothing. We were just boxed in and getting pounded by waves for a good half hour. Finally, the wind came up enough and we got a flat wave section and finally got through the second break. When we finally broke thought with nothing broken, Juke and Steve let out a big cheer. However, when we got out, it was very light. We were able to put up a spin and sail on a tight reach. Team Cat in the Hat popped out first, us second, team DBB third and then team TCDYC and team Mikey Likes It. There was an incident between TCDYC and Mikey Likes It in the surf and there is some discussion of redress. In the light wind, we got a back fill and Mikey Likes It was able to catch us. We also caught up with Cat in the Hat.
For the next 8 hours, the Austin boys, our team and Mikey Likes It battled it out. After catching us, Mikey Rohrer decided to drop his spin first. His plan worked and he was able to jump in front of us. I thought double trapping spin reaching was faster but Mikey proved us wrong and jumped out in front of us. Big shout out to team DBB from Casper, Wyoming. Despite tough, tough conditions, they have hung in there and finished the legs. Today, they came in after dark for the second day in a row. They had the fun of flipping 3 miles from the finish. They are seeing how big Texas really is. I simply cannot describe how physical brutal the last part of the day became today. Being trapped out for hours upon hours, constant waves hitting you, your competitor right in front of you driving you on. It just is undescribable how brutal it is. My neck hurts from holding my head up while trapping. You have a back support but no neck support. The fact that you are nearly delirious from the physical effort and still can keep going is a testament to the human spirit and competitive nature. After Mikey showed us jib reaching was the way to go, we had to chase him. We had a traveler problem that required some repair. Once that got fixed, we went gunning for them. When the wind came up, we were catching them but they were damn fast. We double trapped jib reached for hours making small dents in their lead. Eventually, they got us by 2 minutes.”



Day 3 (60 nautical miles from Matagorda to Surfside)“Once again, we got to take on devastating surf! We had moderate wind but it was straight on shore. We all took our shots at the surf for thirty minutes just getting pounded. We could not even make it into the first break. It was impossible. We kept trying. Finally, we got pushed to the shore and noticed that the wind had shifted and picked up due to an off-shore cloud/thunderhead. We jumped on port tack and caught a few breaks with waves and got out! We cheered once again and started to sail away while everyone else was still on the beach! Mikey Likes It! flipped in the surf and ripped their main sail. TCDYC was busy fixing a rudder problem. The DBB was late to start and still fixing problems from yesterday. Cat in the Hat was also on the beach (not sure why). We took off on a single trap jib reach. We kept looking back to see if anyone was going to join us but could not see anyone going out. Eventually, we just sailed off on our own left to wonder if anyone else got off the beach. It was a nice sail. Not too brutal after some tough days. We saw huge breakers on Bryan Point.
Yesterday, there was an incident in the surf where Mikey Likes It ran into the back of TCDYC. Both teams went ashore and asked for 21 minutes of redress. After the race today, there was a hearing to determine the response from race committee. Team TCDYC was granted 21 minutes of redress. In addition, Team Mikey Likes It was given 21 minute of redress but also a 15 minute penalty. Thus 6 minutes was subtracted from their time. So, at the beginning of the day they had roughly a 5 minute lead over our Team and an 8 minute lead over TCDYC with the redress and penalty included. (I think my math is about right here but far from official.) We hit the beach with a big, big lead. It was fun. We put roughly 30 minutes on Mikey Likes It and Team TCDYC. Thus, when results show up later tonight, we will be sitting in first with something like a 20-25 minute lead over Mikey Likes It (again, if my math is right). It is a good lead but we have seen bigger leads slip away on the final day on the race course. We just need to get out there tomorrow and race hard. It would be nice to not have challenging surf just once in a start. It is nice to see all the Dash boats on the beach in Surfside! The Dashers will sail the final leg of the Great Texas but start one hour ahead of us. Thanks to Roger Howard and Joshua Grissom for organizing the Dash this year!



Day 4 (40 nautical mile from Surfside to Galveston)
Congratulations to Team Great Texas 300!!! Team Great Texas 300, Steve Piche (oh that is me) and Juke Ball win the Great Texas! Mikey Likes It! takes second, TCDYC finishes in third, followed by Cat in the Hat and the DBB. All I can say? Yessss, yess, yess. Finally, after 16 years of sailing the race and being the bridesmaid (more seconds than I can count) we were finally the bride and took home the prize. Best quote of the day: “Sometimes you have to sail 4,800 miles to win a 300 mile race.” – Andrew Tatton in wishing me congratulations. Yes, indeed, sometimes that is what it takes. Just huge, huge recognition to Juke and his contributions to making this happen. Cat sailing is a team sport and you have to have the best skipper and crew to win! Juke just sawed on the main all day today in jib reaching conditions and would not let Mikey Likes Itget away!
Keys to Success: The Great Escape off the beach yesterday, consistent speed throughout the week, no flips and no equipment breakdowns. It is hard to not break down or flip in the violent conditions we often are subjected to. It takes meticulous effort to avoid breakdowns. I spent hours and hours of effort going through the boat to try to fix any weakness in the boat prior to the race. It paid off – no breakdowns this year. Today’s sail was incredibly stressfull. Before the start, Juke and I were just super hyped up. We wanted to go. Once on the water, we were about even with Mike Rohrer when a wave washed me off the back of the boat. I dragged in the water and the boat tacked. We barely avoided a flip. We got going again and started to catch back up to Mike. However, in the middle of the course, the wind died and Mike started to sail away. We were down to 5 knots and had been doing 12 before. We bobbed around in sloppy conditions and then the wind finally filled back in and we were able to chase Mike again. When the wind died, we thought we were dead. I did not believe we had actually won until we cross the finish line. The Dashers had good wind and actually all of them with their one hour head start beat the GT boats to the finish. We were jib reaching so no spins were used today. Good job Dashers.
Thanks Billy, Terri and Trey: At the heart of the GT is Billy, our PRO, Terri, our Commodore and Trey, our safety officer. They have had a long week with some late finishes on the first three days. A big huge thanks to their hard work on a tough year.”

2018 Day 4 Top 10 List

Top 10 List by Steve Piche, Team Great Texas 300!
1. Congratulations to Team Great Texas 300!!! Team Great Texas 300, Steve Piche (oh that is me) and Juke Ball win the Great Texas! Mikey Likes It! takes second, TCDYC finishes in third, followed by Cat in the Hat and the DBB.
2. All I can say? Yessss, yess, yess. Finally, after 16 years of sailing the race and being the bridesmaid (more seconds than I can count) we were finally the bride and took home the prize. Best quote of the day: "Sometimes you have to sail 4,800 miles to win a 300 mile race." - Andrew Tatton in wishing me congratulations. Yes, indeed, sometimes that is what it takes. 
3. Juke the Rock Star: Just huge, huge recognition to Juke and his contributions to making this happen. Cat sailing is a team sport and you have to have the best skipper and crew to win! Juke just sawed on the main all day today in jib reaching conditions and would not let Mikey Likes It get away!
4. Keys to Success: The Great Escape off the beach yesterday, consistent speed throughout the week, no flips and no equipment breakdowns. It is hard to not break down or flip in the violent conditions we often are subjected to. It takes meticulous effort to avoid breakdowns. I spent hours and hours of effort going through the boat to try to fix any weakness in the boat prior to the race. It paid off - no breakdowns this year. 
5. Stress Beyond Stress: Today's sail was incredibly stressfull. Before the start, Juke and I were just super hyped up. We wanted to go. Once on the water, we were about even with Mike Rohrer when a wave washed me off the back of the boat. I dragged in the water and the boat tacked. We barely avoided a flip. We got going again and started to catch back up to Mike. However, in the middle of the course, the wind died and Mike started to sail away. We were down to 5 knots and had been doing 12 before. We bobbed around in sloppy conditions and then the wind finally filled back in and we were able to chase Mike again. When the wind died, we thought we were dead. I did not believe we had actually won until we cross the finish line.
6. Dashers: The Dashers had good wind and actually all of them with their one hour head start beat the GT boats to the finish. We were jib reaching so no spins were used today. Good job Dashers.
7. Thanks Billy, Terri and Trey: At the heart of the GT is Billy, our PRO, Terri, our Commodore and Trey, our safety officer. They have had a long week with some late finishes on the first three days. A big huge thanks to their hard work on a tough year.
8. Fellow Competitors: I want to thank all my fellow competitors for joining us in the race. I especially had fun competing against Mikey Likes It! and TCDYC - both skipper by former GT winners! Competitions pushes you to places you never thought you could go. 
9. Hardware and Banquet: I am about to head off to the award banquet where Juke and I should pick up some pretty special hardware. Thanks to Andrew and Stephanie for cooking. Thanks to Shannon for the place. It should be fun.
10. Two Dolphins: About 1 mile from the finish, two dolphins surface right in front of us. It was a good omen - as if they knew we were about to accomplish something special and they were saluting us.

2018 Day 3 Top 10 List

Top 10 List for Day 3 of the Great Texas (by Steve Piche, Skipper of the Team Great Texas 300):
1. The Great Escape: Once again, we got to take on devastating surf! We had moderate wind but it was straight on shore. We all took our shots at the surf for thirty minutes just getting pounded. We could not even make it into the first break. It was impossible. We kept trying. Finally, we got pushed to the shore and noticed that the wind had shifted and picked up due to an off-shore cloud/thunderhead. We jumped on port tack and caught a few breaks with waves and got out! We cheered once again and started to sail away while everyone else was still on the beach!
2. Back on the Beach: Mikey Likes It! flipped in the surf and ripped their main sail. TCDYC was busy fixing a rudder problem. The DBB was late to start and still fixing problems from yesterday. Cat in the Hat was also on the beach (not sure why).
3. Lonely Sail: We took off on a single trap jib reach. We kept looking back to see if anyone was going to join us but could not see anyone going out. Eventually, we just sailed off on our own left to wonder if anyone else got off the beach. It was a nice sail. Not too brutal after some tough days. We saw huge breakers on Bryan Point.
4. Back to Yesterday: Yesterday, there was an incident in the surf where Mikey Likes It ran into the back of TCDYC. Both teams went ashore and asked for 21 minutes of redress. After the race today, there was a hearing to determine the response from race committee. Team TCDYC was granted 21 minutes of redress. In addition, Team Mikey Likes It was given 21 minute of redress but also a 15 minute penalty. Thus 6 minutes was subtracted from their time. So, at the beginning of the day they had roughly a 5 minute lead over our Team and an 8 minute lead over TCDYC with the redress and penalty included. (I think my math is about right here but far from official.)
5. First to the Beach: We hit the beach with a big, big lead. It was fun. We put roughly 30 minutes on Mikey Likes It and Team TCDYC. Thus, when results show up later tonight, we will be sitting in first with something like a 20-25 minute lead over Mikey Likes It (again, if my math is right). It is a good lead but we have seen bigger leads slip away on the final day on the race course. We just need to get out there tomorrow and race hard. It would be nice to not have challenging surf just once in a start.
6. Dashers: It is nice to see all the Dash boats on the beach in Surfside! The Dashers will sail the final leg of the Great Texas but start one hour ahead of us. Thanks to Roger Howard and Joshua Grissom for organizing the Dash this year!
7. Families: It is so nice to travel with some great friends and their families. Of course, I have been hanging out with Juke's wife Jonna Rose along with their kids Lux and Lorelei. Also, it has been fun to hang our with Chris and Karen Green's kids including Jessica who has been hanging with us. Finally, my wife, Cathy, and my kids Tessie and Eliza have joined us. So much fun at the GT.
8. Team Managers: Big thanks to my Team Manager, Jorge Trevino, for all his help this week. Team Managers are critical to the success of the team and I thank Jorge and all the team managers for their help in the race.
9. TCDYC: Hey, while giving thanks, also hats off to the TCDYC crew for hosting the spaghetti party this evening at Colin Casey's place!
10. Galveston, Oh, Galveston! Dashers take off tomorrow at 9 am and the GTers go at 10 am. A big day for our team tomorrow. We are psyched! You can follow it live at gt300.com

2018 Day 2 Top 10 List

Top 10 List for Day 2 of the Great Texas (by Steve Piche, Skipper of Team Great Texas):
1. Blurry: First of all, please excuse typos and everything other mistake in this top 10 list. After two brutal day, I am putting in the final .1% of energy left in me today. I am beat up and tired. Brutal two days of sailing.
2. No wind and big surf: Even tougher than yesterday was getting out of the surf today. The second break was relentless and the wind was damn near nothing. We were just boxed in and getting pounded by waves for a good half hour. Finally, the wind came up enough and we got a flat wave section and finally got through the second break. When we finally broke thought with nothing broken, Juke and I let out a big cheer. 
3. Lighty Wind: However, when we got out, it was very light. We were able to put up a spin and sail on a tight reach. Cat in the Hat popped out first, us second, DBB third and then TCDYC and Mikey Likes It. There was an incident between TCDYC and Mikey Likes It in the surf and there is some discussion of redress, however, I don't know the details. In the light wind, we got a back fill and Mikey Likes It was able to catch us. We also caught up with Cat in the Hat.
4. The Battle Begins: For the next 8 hours, the Austin boys, our team and Mikey Likes It battled it out. After catching us, Mikey Rohrer decided to drop his spin first. His plan worked and he was able to jump in front of us. I thought double trapping spin reaching was faster but Mikey proved us wrong and jumped out in front of us.
5. Joe and Ian: Hey, big shout out to team DBB from Casper, Wyoming. Despite tough, tough conditions, they have hung in there and finished the legs. Today, they came in after dark for the second day in a row. They had the fun of flipping 3 miles from the finish. They are seeing how big Texas really is.
6. Physically Brutal: I simply cannot describe how physical brutal the last part of the day became today. Being trapped out for hours upon hours, constant waves hitting you, your competitor right in front of you driving you on. It just is undescribable how brutal it is. My neck hurts from holding my head up while trapping. You have a back support but no neck support. The fact that you are nearly delirious from the physical effort and still can keep going is a testament to the human spirit and competitive nature.
7. The Battle Ends: After Mikey showed us jib reaching was the way to go, we had to chase him. We had a traveler problem that required some repair. Once that got fixed, we went gunning for them. When the wind came up, we were catching them but they were damn fast. We double trapped jib reached for hours making small dents in their lead. Eventually, they got us by 2 minutes.
8. Surfside: Super happy for a nice short 60 mile leg tomorrow. These 100 mile legs are tough. It also so much fun to see all the Dasher in Surfside. Finally, my family plans to be on the beach to meet us.
9. T-Shirts: Got to give a shout out to Aaron McCulley and Dan, Dan the T-shirt man for the great T-shirts. We all love them.
10. Pray for Wind and No Surf: Can we just have a normal start tomorrow? Wind and little surf! Please!

2018 Day 1 Top Ten List

Back by popular demand, here is day 1 top 10 list! (By Steve Piche, skipper, Team Great Texas 300)
1. Should we stay or should we go? That was the question that was put forward to the sailors after a two and a half hour delay of the start due to very light wind and good sized surf. Should we wait for better wind the next day or go risk it in light wind start in good size surf. Ultimately, we decided to go after the wind filled in at 4 mph straight on the beach. We choose to go.
2. Surf Hell: For a while, we all doubted we made the right decision. We all bobbed in the surf getting pounded by waves unable to make forward progress. It took us 10 minutes to get through the first shore break. We finally got through that and had to get through a larger second break. Eventually, we rolled the dice and locked down the rudder and dropped the daggers - a very dicey thing to do in big surf. We finally got a little forward movement in the boat and caught a lull in the big sets. We popped out of the surf at the same time as Mikey Likes It! Chris Liked it even better as TCDYC got clear five minutes ahead of us. We all eventually made it out.
3. Rhumb Line Run: Once out, we set spins and did a rhumb line reach until the wind got too big and pushed us off the rhumb line. We were single and double trapping. After the initial wait and the pounding surf, it ended up being a great day on the course.
4. Leopard Stingray: What a magical place the ocean is. Juke had the honor of seeing a 6 foot leopard spotted stingray. We missed it by 3 feet when we were going 16 knots.
5. Chris Likes It: Congratulations to Chris Green and Chris Reuwsaat for taking line honors. They got out the surf first and never gave up the lead throughout the day. It was tight racing.
6. Everybody Makes It: All boats are in. We did not have to trailer the boats to Packery Channel which was one option which was discussed this morning when we had no wind!
7. Thanks to PRO: Thanks to Billy for letting the sailors work together to come up with a solution to the delay problem. He more or less walked away and let us figure out what we wanted to do. Real proud of all the sailing teams on how we worked together to come up with a solution. 
Eventually, we all decided that we wanted to take a risk and sail even if it meant finishing in the dark.
8. Chris Reuwsaat: A week ago, he was supposed to be the Team Manager for Team Great Texas 300. Now, he is crew on the first place boat. Chris Green needed a crew and I suggested that he use Chris Reuwsaat. It appears to be working out so far.
9. Prayer: The teams did a prayer for wind led by Juke Ball and Mike Rohrer at noon today. It appears to have work.
10. Matagorda tomorrow: Off to Matagorda tomorrow. Pray for wind for us!!!

Sunday, June 19, 2016

2016 Great Texas

Congratulations to Team Yo Baby!, Shannon Galway and Jonathan Atwood, on winning the 14th annual Great Texas Catamaran Race.  They managed to hold off second place Team Great Texas 300, Steve Piche and Juke Ball, by 4 minutes.   Yo Baby also won the F18 Class.  Fastest elapsed time was won by Team Buoy 44, Brian Lambert and Will Rottgering.  They also won the open class.


The first two legs of this year’s Great Texas were run in breezy conditions while the final two legs were conducted in lighter conditions.  The strong breeze on day 1 knocked out two teams, Sailboat Shop (broken mast) and Jack Flash (ripped main).  Fortunately, the other 8 boats were able to finish the 300 mile course.


Off the water, we had great parties in South Padre (sponsored by Silver Bullet Racing), Mustang Island (Triple Threat BBQ), Surfside (TCDYC), East Beach in Galveston (Bolivar Yacht Club) and Galveston awards banquet (Carlyle Homes).  As you can see, we kept everyone well feed during the event.

Thanks to the many, many people who help with the event!

Top 10 List for Leg 4 of the 2016 Great Texas

Top 10 List for Leg 4 of the Great Texas
Surfside to Galveston, 45 miles
By Steve Piche, skipper Team Great Texas 300

Here is your final top 10 list....

  1. Who won?  Ahh, wouldn’t you like to know.  We are not announcing results until the awards banquet tonight.  However, my team needed to beat Team Yo Baby by 2 minutes and 50 seconds and that did not happen so it is not us.  Now, it is not so easy between Yo Baby and Buoy 44 as math is involved here.  Buoy 44 is on a faster boat and did finish ahead of Yo Baby but was it enough.  All I know is that Yo Baby’s math left them with a smile on their face.  We will have to see in a couple hours.
  2. Kites Up:  What a great start to the race.  A number of us put our kites up right off the start and powered through the surf in a modest 6 knot breeze.  Once through the surf, we sailed downwind with a number of us working the beach pretty hard to get the downwind headers and surf action until the wind shifted off-shore and that game would not work anymore.  I know Duane Darling had the drone out so there should be some great coverage of the start!
  3. Awards Banquet:  We are headed over to Cat Alley for the awards banquet.  It should be a pretty special evening at their place.  We are having a huge shrimp boil that is being provided by Joe Carlyle!  Thanks so much to Joe and his family for providing dinner.  Also, once again thanks to Tripp Burd for the keg!
  4. Dashers!  Everyone is welcome to sail the last leg of the Great Texas!  Those that join us are officially part of the Dash race which is run by the Great Texas fleet.  We had about 15 boats sail in the Dash today and they will also be getting their awards at banquet this evening.
  5. Had my chance:  I took my shot at winning the Great Texas today.  I needed to get away from Team Yo Baby who had a 2 minute 50 second lead over me and keep up with Team Buoy 44 who I was virtually tied with going into the day.  The day started out good for me as I was able to work the beach well and tag along with Team Buoy 44 while putting distance on Team Yo Baby!  However, the breeze remained light and Team Yo Baby started to reel me back in.  Then, the breeze came on and Juke and I jumped on our traps and started to motor.  We do really well in double trap conditions and we had smiles on our faces.  But then, the wind fell away for good and we just could not keep Yo Baby from reeling us back in.   Good job by Yo Baby not letting us get away.  They did a nice job of tracking us down after getting in a hole early.   
  6. Trackers:  Did y’all like the trackers.  I have heard that a lot of people have been following the event.  Because of the remoteness of the Texas coast, we have to use satellite tracking devices with 2 minute pings to the satellites.  Not only do the devices allow you to follow the race, but it allows our race committee to know where everyone is on the race course.  Ultimately, it provides another level of safety for the race.
  7. Sponsors:  Putting on this race is not cheap.  In fact, the cost of the trackers alone is over $2,000.  It takes a lot of sponsorship to pull this event off and we have had some very generous sponsors this year including our Diamond Sponsor, Carlyle Homes.  All I can say is a big thanks to everyone that stepped up to support this race.
  8. Last Bit of Wind:  About four miles from the finish, the wind really backed down and it got very light.  We got very nervous as it is easy to lose a lot of time in a race when the wind goes so light.  A lot of the Great Texas teams were bunch close together however if the wind died, there could be big differences in time even though we were close together.  However, as luck would have it, the breeze turned back on right about the time Buoy 44 finished.  This was good for us and Yo Baby but not so good for Buoy 44.  It certainly made the finish very interesting.
  9. Hot Dogs and Beer:  Once we finished, the Bolivar Yacht Club served hot dogs and beer on the beach.  Nothing like having a dog after 300 miles of racing.
  10. You!  We want to see you at the Great Texas next year.  Come as a racer, a dasher, a volunteer, a team manager or just for the fun of it!  We start at 10 am in South Padre on the Wednesday before Father’s Day!  See you in South Padre!

PS:  My record remains intact.  I have completed every leg in the Great Texas over the past 14 years.   Could not have done it without Juke and Jorge!