GBCA Discussion Forum

With the exception of Beatrice on the bow, the entire crew was from Houston, Mike, Jay Lutz, Kevin Taylor, Brad Griffin, Dave Whelan, PK, Vince and Janet Ruder.  If you ever wonder about the quality of Texas sailors, Antilope, the GS 43 who we battled for 4 days, is a very well sailed boat that has won many major european regattas in the last year.  Bouwe Bekking of VOR fame was calling tactics.  This was a  true hammer and tongs contest that was not decided until the last race. 

Bil

Proper boat measurements are the foundation of a "measured" rule.  Unless they are done to an agreed standard you will get into the same situation as with PHRF.  It may have cost an arm, a leg, and two winch handles but the endorsed IRC has been the best rating we have raced under.  If you want to go ORCi or ORC Club full on, we are going to need to get some sort of measurement standard and measurers in place, and make sure it is done at a reasonable cost.


Bill

I can only offer an opinion on the spin a/b side of the fleet.  I have  been racing since 2005, and it was the rum races, both on Lake Pontchartrain and subsequently Galveston Bay that allowed us to break into the sport at our own pace.  Then having a reasonable selection of W/L races allowed us to work on our skills and improve as a team.  Having a fleet of similar boats certainly makes it more interesting.  My best memories on the bay are of the close racing in the level 70 fleet with our 36.7 and then the constant battle with Gambler and Hot Ticket for the past two years with our J122. 

When you are investing in a program Otra Vez and want to compete at a high level you are going to have to travel the boat some and race on the bay some, and when the top of the fleet is so small, the fleet can almost disappear for extended periods just from schedule conflicts.

At this point, I think the bay is still suffering from some post-Ike issues, and from a natural rotation of owners and interests.  GBCA, LYC, HYC, still run great races and I don't think PHRF is the reason for the decline.  Otra Vez has a CSA, IRC, ORC and PHRF rating.  Each has it pluses and minuses but at no point did I feel we had no chance of winning under any of the ratings.  If I had a vote, I would say IRC as I have seen that work across a wide range of well sailed boats but it is CRAZY expensive to get rated.

The rum races (or any fixed mark race with a social component)  are the key to getting big boats out on the race course and their owners bitten by the racing bug.  I would really make an effort to get new boats out racing this summer and then find a way to bridge the gap from the rum to the icicle series.

Otra Vez will be back from the Caribbean sometime in the next two years and will look forward to racing amongst friends on the bay.

Bill Coates

Does anyone know where the big boat w/l course will be set.  If its by the club I was thinking of moving OV up there for the weekend.  Which of course begs the question, is there enough water in the harbor for a J122 drawing 7.2 ft.

The NOR seems to indicate the space in the harbor is limited so any advise would be helpful.

Bill

The companionway padeye is part of the standard builder specification and is meant to satisfy the ORC requirement.  I believe its a Wichard 6506 padeye with a breaking load of 9000 kg.

Bill

On the J122's (Otra Vez and Gambler) there is a large padeye mounted on the companionway bridgedeck specifically to meet the ORC regs as noted above. 

Bill

Otra Vez is spending the summer in the Northeast and there are a few low key (i.e. rum race) regattas that I have entered.  The first is next Saturday, July 11th and the course is a roughly 20 mile circle around an island in Narragansett Bay.  As I have exhausted the "regatta in style" budget (NYYC and BIRW were not cheap) this is a decidely low cost affair.  If anyone is interested and finds themselves in Newport next week I would love to field at least a partial Texas crew.    I don't have a house rented or anykind of crew accomodation organized but OV will be race ready and in competitive trim.

Dock time is 08:30 on Saturday morning and with a 10:30 start.  The first round of mudslides after the race is on me.

If you are interested in sailing next weekend just send me an email or call my cell 832-213-9732.

Thanks

Bill