We need to bring this boat to Houston

[USA74]

Hi all,

As many of you know, my wife Susan and I moved our boat to Houston last year in part because the racing scene literally dried up along with Lake Texoma 2 years ago. Back when we had a good racing fleet going, one of the staples was an 1984 40' Beneteau 1 ton called Godspeed. Godspeed will go down in history as the winner of the last Lakefest (2014), which was at one time the largest buoys regatta in Texas and the largest inland regatta in the U.S.

The owner, Dave Ramsey, is a good guy and a good friend, and he wants to trade out his racing boat for a cruising boat, so he can play with the rest of the boats on Texoma.

This boat needs to come back to Houston! On Texoma it rated PHRF 66, which would put it right in there with the J/109s and the faster C&Cs. It's listed for $39,000 and has a solid inventory of sails including a brand new Quantum main from Terry.

A month or so ago, there were two guys sitting at the table beside us in the Lakewood bar. They were younger guys, but obviously experience sailors, and their conversation centered around looking for a cheap boat that they could buy to start up a big boat racing program. I wish I'd known about Godspeed then, as it would be the perfect boat for those guys. It will take an experienced crew and some sweat equity, but it's a very competitive boat. Please help me network this around and shoot me an e-mail if you have any interest, and I'll get you in touch with Dave directly.

Here's an action shot from back in the day:

[hayesrigging]

This is a Ben 39 1 ton.  Originally from here and called Notre Dame aka Tuff Enough Texas Style.  Very popular boat from the 80s around here.  It lived on the hoist in Lazy Bend.  I put a new rig in this boat almost 12 years ago.   Fast boat actually a low 60s rater or even high 50s. Very technical boat but it is fast.  69 would be a gimme rating on this boat. 

[Jeff K]

I thought Notre Dame went to Corpus?

This boat's ass end looks different from ND's but then again I've been wrong before...