Sunday, June 16, 2013

Day 3 Top Ten List for 2013 Great Texas

Top 10 List for Day 3 of the 2013 Great Texas

For everyone that had to work today, I’m sorry but you missed a gorgeous day out on the gulf!  Tomorrow is Saturday so I hope you are going sailing!  Here is my top 10 list for today!!!!

1.  I Love the Beach!  Like most people, I love the beach.  I love the beach because that is where the wind is!   Today, we started out in light slightly downwind conditions.  The fleet got pushed off shore.  The sailors that headed back to the beach early did OK.  Those that did not, got hung out to dry.
2.  Tomko, the master, Part II:  Ok, this is getting redundant.  He is killing the fleet.  We need someone to come play with him like John Casey did last year.  Hey, one of you top dogs needs to be here next year.  Let’s work a deal and get someone that can give the guy a challenge!  He is checking out on the rest of us!  We’re good sailors but he is just simply one another level.  (Team Chums on the I20 has been able to challenge him at times but the other F18’s are not keeping up.)
3)  Sailing with Ingrid:  We spent most of the day sailing within a few hundred yards of Team Ki-Hara.  Ingrid and Aaron did a great job of making a Tiger go fast!  (The Tiger was sailed by me 5 times in the GT and Shannon sailed it once so it has some miles on it.)    Ingrid and me yo-yoed back in forth throughout the day.  I finally got a good puff and got past her with 10 miles to go.  I was then able to hold them off to the finish line – I got them by about 1 minute.  She is a great sailor and we had fun playing with Team Ki-Hara today!
4)  Lollipop Day:  Yesterday was brutal.  Today was a lollipop ride.  Yesterday, when we got to the beach, I hurt and was seeing stars.  Today, I felt refreshed after laying on the tramp all day driving downwind in little seas.  As my old friend Phil Buck use to say, it was a lollipop ride.
5)  Waterspout Spotted:  It got a little weird early in the day.  Shannon Galway and Mike Beuerlein reported that there was a waterspout out on the course.  Mike said it followed him but never got him!
6)  Dash, Dash, Dash!  Tomorrow, we will be joined by an additional 17 teams that will be sailing the final leg of the GT.  These teams will be participating in the Dash!  They will be starting at 9 am , one hour before the GT boats.  The beach was full of people setting up for the Dash.  We will have 24 boats heading out tomorrow!
7)  Quentin Ball:  The Great Texas has so many fantastic sponsor that make it possible to bring the race to you.  I want to give a special shout out to a sponsor that stepped up big to help out the race this year, Quentin Ball, who is the sister of my crew Juke Ball.  It is people like Quentin that makes it possible for us to keep this race going!  Thanks Q!
8)  TCDYC Feast:  We are now all gathering at Collin Casey’s beach house for a big feast that is sponsored by the Texas City Dike Yacht Club.  We have had a sponsored dinner every evening this year and it has been so much fun to feast and party with our friends!
9)  Juke Ball Rules:  OK, we got Quentin, why not Juke.  Juke is the best crew ever!  I said ever.  He rules!  I love sailing with Juke.  He is so damn tough and has the greatest gung-ho attitude always.  It is just fun being around people that are having fun and that is Juke Ball.  Juke is also a major sponsor!  Finally, his wife Jonna Rose also completely rules.  She is great and such a pleasure to have on the race.  She keeps us fed and going!
10)   The First Woman Skipper: One more leg and we will have had our first woman skipper finish the GT!    Ingrid may not be winning the race but she is a great inspiration to others.  We hope others follow in her footsteps.  Ingrid is having a great time and definitely wants to come back next year.  We hope she does and we hope you come to join us as a sailor, crew, ground crew, volunteer, dasher or spectator!



No comments:

Post a Comment