www.greatexas300.com our WWW home www.gt300.com 

NOTICE !

We are moving to our official web sites this weekend. Next Monday Feb 20th 2012 make sure you update your bookmarks and subscribe to the new feeds.

You can find us at the links below:

Thanks to Kate Catlow, our Beach Captain, we now have our hotels set up for 2012.  Details are contained in the Preliminary 2012 Information Booklet that is available on the site GT site at GT300 Race Info.

GT300 Officers Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

by Terri Reuwsaat, Commodore

 Well….the GT Officers got together Tuesday evening to start the push for the final planning months of the 10^th Annual GT300 Regatta. 

 Mike started off the meeting with a detailed review of the budget.  We looked at past expenses and how they needed to be adjusted for 2012.  The discussion of the budget then lead into pretty much every other aspect of the event.

 Shannon Galway will be researching options on where to acquire additional boat decals.  It was decided to stay with the same graphic we have used in the past, because of the simplicity and visual display on the boats.

 Steve Piche has been speaking with Jeremy Leonard from Surf City Catamarans regarding being a lead person on our Media Team.  Lee Wickland has offered to sponsor Jeremy during the week, taking care of housing and transportation.

 Registration was next, invoking much discussion.  It was brought up that registration fees have not changed from year 2 through today.  While it is understood that there is a significant cost to this event not counting registration, it has been found necessary to increase registration fees in order to facilitate the necessary expenses to help the GT300 grow into the event we are hoping it will become in the coming years.  We are attracting world-class sailors and we want to provide the venue which our local sailors deserve and top sailors around the nation are looking for.  The 2012 registration will now be $395.00 for early registration and $500 for late registration.

 The GT300 will be going online this year for registration and all payments.  We will be working with Regatta Tech to create a system where all information can be collected from the participants through an online system.  We are hoping this will facilitate a more complete collection of data.

 Spots will not be used to the extent they were utilized last year.  Teams are welcome to use them individually, but the GT300 site will not be displaying a collection of spots for viewing.

 Kate Wodash-Catlow and Melissa Burns will be working together to put together the t-shirts.  These will be available through team registration, as well as extras purchased online.

 The Dash Event will be organized by a separate team this year.  There will be some portions shared such as online registration and the PRO, but a majority of the planning and logistics will be handled separately.  There is still a search ongoing for the members to make up the team.  If volunteers do not step forward in the next couple of weeks, we will be putting the Dash on hold this year and will review the event again next year.

 Steve Piche spoke of sponsorships.  Steve will be approaching potential sponsors during the next few months.  There are a variety of sponsorship levels which are available and listed under the sponsor tag on the website www.gt300.com.  Shannon Galway made a pitch for contacting local corporations.  If anyone has any contacts for a potential sponsor, please contact Steve Piche with the information.

 Steve also discussed the enormous impact that media has on promotion.  It was noted that posting on facebook, twitter, and the website are important in promoting this event.

 Kate Wodash-Catlow has set up all the hotels for the event again this year.  The Tiki has agreed to keep the cost the same as last year, as well as offering to put us all up in the buildings closest to the beach if requested.  There is a break in the cost for those okay with being on the 3^rd floor.

 The finish location and banquet details have not yet been determined.  A few more options are being researched, with details to be posted as soon as everything is arranged.

 The Notice of Race and Registration information will be posted on the GT website by March 1^st.  Billy Richnow and Shannon Galway are working on firming up the racing rules.  Shannon Galway, Vice Commodore, will be the keeper of these rules.  It was noted that it is critical that all teams review the rules, being especially aware of their own “class” rules, as well as adhering to those same rules.

 Trey Garrison feels confident that the safety rules for the GT300 are working well.  There was discussion regarding modifying items in the Dash safety rules.  The final rules are yet to be determined.

 Trey has also been in contact with the Coast Guard and is pursuing required permits.  We are hoping the Coast Guard will again be joining us during the opening party at South Padre Island.

 It was a long, but productive meeting.  Keep your eyes on the web and facebook pages for upcoming announcements.  Can’t wait to head south!!

It is time to start putting together the list of people that are interested in sailing this year's Great Texas!

Welcome to 2012, the year of the 10th running of the Great Texas!

The fourth and final leg of the 2011 GT300, a short 40 nm from Surfside to Galveston, again saw race leaders John Tomko and Ian Billings on Team Ruff Rider dominate the F18 fleet, extending their lead and securing their position at the top of the podium in both the overall and F18 classes. The Nacra F20 Carbon monster, Team Zhik 1, actually beat them to the beach by over three minutes, but with the handicap factored in, Ruff Rider easily won the leg on corrected time. 

Team Ruff Rider, John Tomko and Ian Billings, won the overall Great Texas in style by smashing the course record by nearly four hours.  They sailed 300 miles in 16 hours and 53 minutes - doing the math and you will find that they averaged 17.5 mph!  (It was not a straight line run every day - they had to throw in some jibs so we estimate that although their VMG was 17.5, they probably averaged closer to 20 mph!)  Team Ruff Rider took home trophies for Overall Corrected, Fastest Elapsed and Top F-18 boat.  The F-18 class dominated the race taking the top overall  positions.  (All four finishers of leg 2 were F-18 boats.)  Team Monkey Business, Steve Piche and Juke Ball, took second overall and second in F-18 class.  Team Quiksilver, Mike Beuerlein and Philippe Bettler, were third overall and third in F-18 class.  Team TCDYC, Chris Green and Clay Cassard, took fourth overall and fourth in F-18 class.  Team Chums, Lee Wicklund with 15 year old David Cerdas, won the Nacra 20 class and Yo Baby, Shannon Galway and Nic Oliverie, won the open class.  Many thanks to all the race organizers, sponsors, volunteers and Sailing Anarchy for making this another great year at the Great Texas!  Hope to see you here next year!

During another day of hard racing, Team Ruff Rider pulled away once more, leaving no chance for any other boat to even chip away at their sizable lead. This means that they are once again the winner of the overall GT300, as well as the F18 class. With this win, Ruff Rider skipper John Tomko now has three wins under his belt, leaving no question as to who is master of the Texas coast.