HYC Offshore

[John Swanson]

I thought it was a great race, good people and well-run. Being tired, short-handed and fighting for every inch we got, both events got a bit tedious towards the ends, but we'll definitely be in it next year.

[billvanrav]

The Thursday night social at Willie G's in Galveston was highly civilized and we got to meet some of the competitors before the race.  We got very lucky with the weather, almost perfect (could have used a bit more wind from our perspective).  The full moon was an excellent feature at the party, and we saw some great sailing.  I'll put some more detail out after the dust settles (I'm still collecting IOU's for dinners in Freeport...).  As a regatta organizer I highly recommend Scottie's Lounge to any of you all planning to do an event down there.  They kept ALL their promises, the food was superior and they kept it coming until everyone was full.  Their young DJ did a great job of getting people dancing and having fun.  They decorated their back patio area with lights and palm trees to create a festive atmosphere.  The folks at the Brazosport Yacht Club set a new standard for hospitality providing rum punch at the marina, a burgee exchange, and then cooking us all breakfast taco's Saturday morning.  Their members want to race and they want us to race with them. Anyone planning an event in Freeport should contact them.

I've posted Friday race results on our notice board (www.hycoffshoreregatta.com; Look for the button at the bottom of the home page. Saturday's race results can be seen on Regatta Network.

THANK YOU ALL FOR RACING WITH US!!!

[Sailchick]

This is GREAT information for Texas Race Week in Freeport this year!!  Dates are July 19 - 21 and we will be racing down to Brazosport Yacht Club!  Glad to hear it went so well and we look forward to everyone participating in TRW at the end of July!

[Keith]

From Stinger's perspective this regatta was great.  Winds on Saturday (~ 150 degrees, 10-15) did not let us hoist our kites but the spinnaker fleet made it down to Freeport 8 around 4 PM.  This was a pursuit style so not to surprisingly we all got there at just about the same time.

The run up to the marina is a bit long (about an hour) but pretty straight forward.  Barge/Commercial traffic was pretty light so no problems there.  Water depth is not an issue  and the Freeport Marina is brand spanking new with lots of slips.  Was surprised to see so many sailboats there.  Some were older designs but in really great condition.  This should be a really nice place to hold TRW.

Winds on Saturday started out int the 15-20 range but dropped back as we neared the jetties.  The entire 5-boat spin fleet manged to hoist their kites and flew them all the way back to G11.  Stinger was in a slip at HYC aroun 5:00PM.

There was a hell of a lot of grass out there and almost all the boats had to back down.  If you decide to do the TRW and the grass is back be prepared to execute this maneuver.

Met some interesting people on the cruising side, one group of which were older then me.  Yeah I know that's hard to believe, but these ladies and gentlemen had sailed to many places around the world and looked to me to be able to continue it for some time to come.  Made me think I should stop bitching about getting old and just get after it.  Yeah, that's the proper response!

One of the more interesting things was to race against a MacGregor 65.  What a sled.  The fella that owns and sails it is a very interesting and friendly guy but that 39 handicap was just a bit to low.

I think this race should be continued in the foreseeable future.

Sounds like fun.  Walter who owns the M65 is a great guy and will soon have a new Aysm. Spinnaker to tear down the coast in.  Looking forward to coming sailing with him on the Texas coast this year.

[Bee]

I agree, Walter is a very nice man.  Was fun to talk to him at HYC's skipper's meeting.

What surprised us was that we could see that the boat was crabbing.  It was pointed up but going about as fast sideways as we were going forward.  Kinda hard to visualize, but I think he just has the shoal keel.  Suspect none of us would have seen him if he had the 8 foot keel.

I really liked all the cruisers I met.  Some were really experienced sailors who just absolutely loved to sail.  What was really great for me was to be able to talk to folks close to my age.

We need to encourage all of the BrazosPort Yacht Club sailors to join TRW this year.  Would be a really interesting array of boats.

[WalterGringo]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A word of thanks to Bill for putting together a beautiful regatta and so masterfully he did it.
HYC was gracious enough to race to Freeport, the least we could do was to participate.
Seeing that all our Freeport boats were on cruising class both on Spinnaker plus Genoa only, and the HYC and LYC "Royalty" were by themselves on  Spinnaker PHRF, even though I did not have a good spinnaker on board I decided to get a PHRF rate for Sea Ya II with spinnaker and race them, out of courtesy. The PHRF rate was conveyed to me during that dinner party in Galveston the night before the start and I made the decision there and then, that despite the fact that GB PHRF did not account for the small spinnaker I own, we were given a PHRF of 30 to go up against the J Boats of HYC and LYC.
Wining is not everything, and we were very honored to be racing against them.
It was a great pleasure to meet some of the sailors who participated in this offshore event. The feeling was mutual.
The life lines of SEA YA II are always open to you all.
 

THE RACES SEEN FROM ABORD SEA YA II.

It was a good experience but we lacked a bit of luck. 
It was a lot of fun though.


Race 1. Galveston to Freeport

We were the last boat to start, as it was a pursuit race.
The start line was inside the Galveston jetties, and we had a difficult angle that made us crossed the ship channel and we struggled to clear the North Jetty.
We tacked and went in pursuit of the J120, J109 and J105. Everyone was on beam reach so nobody used a spinnaker. We did not have enough speed.
Soon we found out why. With the Navtec on maximum pressure pulling the mast back and a lot of pressure on Vang as well, we still had about 4 foot of sag on the forestay.
We caught up with the fleet but just barely, and at the finish line. After corrected time we were 4th.
Alex Crowell our rigger had re-rigged the entire standing rig increased the forestay size, even though I asked him if he was sure. He said he was.
Well, it was too long on this race.
The J120 was docked next to us in Freeport and as as soon as I docked I asked Alex for his help. He came in immediately and shorted the forestay by 3 inches at least, inside the furler. That was the best we could do for the following day race.,

Race 2. Freeport to Galveston.

The spinnaker class started all together at 9:00 am and this was not a pursuit race.
We were second across the line and we took of to the lead almost instantly and opened a good gap between us and the J105 and the J109.
For the first two hours we opened that gap, even without a spinnaker. The heading was border line and we chose to use Genoa only. The forecast had the wind backing so we waited for that to happen. Had that happen we would never had to put the mini spinnaker up. Regrettably after two hours the wind started to die on us and those who had the spinnaker up had the advantage. It also started clocking right to help them and not us, so we had no option but to put the spinnaker up.
First time, a spinnaker nobody had seen, a brand new ATN sock that no one was familiar with, and was put together in the morning, spinsail inside the sock, inside the cabin that morning.
That operation costed us 13 minutes to hoist as the sail was twisted inside the sock and got stuck bad and we had to struggle before we could free the sail from the sock.
Finally it was flying but it was a very small sail for that boat and the speed we got was less than what we were getting with Genoa alone. We hoisted the staysail to help and we managed to almost get the speed we had with the Genoa.
Clearly, the J  boats came closer as a result of those operations. Equating the removal of the spinnaker and hoisting the Genoa back would cost us a lot of time so we decided to bite the bullet.
We kept the J boats at large but we could not increase the lead.
We have arrived at the entrance of the Galveston jetties ahead of the fleet, but to get to the finish line we had to Jibe and sail another 2 or 3 miles, inside the jetty.
We jibed the spinnaker but the driver - at the time - somehow understood the finish line was the entrance of the jetties and did not turn to the jibe and the spinnaker started flogging and tangled itself. That lost us another 12 to 13 minutes to untangle and start sailing again.
We finished 2 seconds after the J105, right behind his transom. Those two operations had erased our chances of a good classification. We could never had a win with a PHRF of 30 and a handicapped mini-spinnaker probably no bigger the one of the J109. Shoal draft and the short mast do not help.
We could have done better but we didn't, and we finished 5th.
It was a great run with great fun though.
A final word of THANK YOU all who helped with the regatta.

Walter Gameiro
(A relative of Vasco da Gama ...)

[Bee]

Great post Walter. Thanks a bunch.  We on the J105 really enjoyed watching that sled of yours fly.  When you get the new kite and get the bugs ironed out See Yah will really go.

Be sure to join us for Texas Race Week.

[WalterGringo]

Thank you Sir. I appreciate that.
Next time, I will try to make your victory less easy, and I will do my best to come up with a bigger fight.
It was a pleasure to sail against your great team; no mistakes, that I could see.
Walter

[Bee]

Your welcome, but next time I need a tour of See Yah II.

[WalterGringo]

Any Time, J.B.
You are welcome any time.
Why don't you come to Freeport by car some weekend and we go sailing together.
We are only 30 min away from open water.
Bring whomever you want, the boat is plenty long.
Hoping you take the invitation seriously...
Walter

[ChrisK]

Excellent recon. Looking forward to a return to Freeport.
Alot of great memories from TRW years past.
I remember this particular J24...a crazy crew as it was...like the rest of the fleet, sailed through a pop up thunderstorm earlier that afternoon. That evening, I flew up the coast to see how they fared, and was able to spot them half way to Freeport, flying spinnaker...as determined as ever.
They didn't win that day, but I'm pretty sure they won the party that night.
Speaking of TRW, details should be coming soon...