Description: The 10th annual Great Texas Catamaran Race is a 300 mile sailboat race that is run in four legs from South Padre Island to Galveston. (Catamarans are two hulled sailboats commonly referred to as Hobie Cats.) The first leg on Wed, June 13th is from South Padre Island to Mustang Island State Park near Corpus Christi. The second leg on Thursday, June 14th is from Mustang Island to Matagorda beach. The third leg on Friday, June 15th is from Matagorda beach to Surfside. The final leg on Saturday, June 16th is from Surfside to East Beach at Galveston. (See schedule below for complete details.)
Sailors come from throughout the US (Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Nevada, and California) to compete in this four day off-shore event on high performance catamarans. Each leg begins and finishes on the beach. Sailors launch their boats through the surf, sail 60-100 miles at speeds as fast as 25 mph, and then finish on the beach. The boats are 18 to 22 feet long and only weight a few hundred pounds.
Press Contact: If you wish to schedule interviews with the sailors or get information on the race, please contact Terri Reuwsaat 512-797-4483, treuwsaat@gmail.com. Contact information for all racers and organizers of the race is available in the Information Booklet at GT300 Race Info at www.gt300.com. Backup press contact is Kate Wodash Catlow, katewodash57@yahoo.com, 512-809-5782.
Action: Last year's event attracted national attention after a severe storm hit the sailors near Corpus Christi. Two boats were disabled and the sailors were rescued by the Coast Guard. Also, the boats start and finish on the beach so there is great action watching these boats starting from and coming back to the beach.
Interesting People Participating in the Race: John Tomko, 36, Canyon Lake, TX, Cabinet Maker. John is the five time winner of the race. He is the odds on favorite to repeat again. Contact information: tomko@gvtc.com, 210-683-1016 Steve Piche, 48, Austin, TX, Engineer. Steve is the founder of the Great Texas. He has sailed in every race and finished all 8 races. Contact information: stevepiche@gmail.com, 512-844-0160 Mike Rohrer, 49, Austin, TX, Engineer, Mike, a former winner of the Great Texas, is a cancer survivor. Mike missed last year’s race because he had to have surgery prior to the race. Can the former champion regain his form after a tough year of battling cancer? Mike.p.rohrer@gmail.com, 512-335-2865
Live Streaming and Tracking: Live streaming of the starts and finishes of each leg will be available at www.gt300.com. Also, satellite tracking allows anyone to follow the position of the boats up the coast.
Schedule: June 12th, Tuesday, 9 pm, Tiki Condos, South Padre Island, Opening Ceremonies June 13th, Wednesday, 9:15 am, Press Conference, Beach in front of the Tiki Condos June 13th, 4-7pm, Mustang Island State Park, First Leg Finishes with boat finishing on the beach. Time of finish dependent on weather. June 14th, Thursday, 9:15 am, Press Conference, Beach at Mustang Island State Park June 14th, 10 am, Mustang Island State Park, Race begins with a beach start of all boats. June 14th, 4-7pm, Matagorda Beach, Second Leg Finishes with boat finishing on the beach. Time of finish dependent on weather. June 15th, Friday, 9:15 am, Press Conference, Matagorda Beach June 15th, 10 am, Matagorda beach, Race begins with a beach start of all boats. June 15th, 2-4pm, Surfside Beach, Third Leg Finishes with boat finishing on the beach. Time of finish dependent on weather. June 16th, 9:15 am, Press Conference, Surfside Beach June 16th, 10 am, Surfside beach, Race begins with a beach start of all boats. June 16th, 1-3pm, East Beach Galveston, Fourth Leg Finishes with boat finishing on the beach. Time of finish dependent on weather. June 16th, 7pm, Awards Ceremony at Inn at the Waterpark in Galveston. |
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