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.
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.
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