Day 4 Recap - Surfside Beach to Galveston

Day 4 started with me helping to push off Team Flip, Flop, and Fly for the Dash Race. The Dash is a one-day race over the same course as last leg of the GT300, designed to get more people interested in catamaran distance racing. I'd call last year's a success as it got me into the GT300, and this year's even more so as there were something like 25 boats on the starting line. After getting wet, I donned my harness, camel back, goggles, life jacket, knee brace, hat, GPS, boots, gloves, and all the other crap I wore every day:

I was excited at the prospect of completing the entire GT despite our mechanical issues and the fact that Michael and I had only a pair of good knees between us, but it was a little bittersweet as I was not ready to end all the fun I was having!

After the Dash started, the wind began to die down. We started and planned to stay on the rhumb line again, as it was actually very close to the beach on this day, but it appeared that all the F18s were in better wind close to shore. With a new set of gudgeons, we gybed without issue and headed back into shore. After several more gybes in light air and about 15 miles behind us, we worked our way into first place. The larger I20 spinnaker really made a difference, and we continued to put distance between us and the lead F18s. The wind did eventually build and I trapped out with the spinnaker up, Michael joining me in the heavier stuff. My friends on Team Savla Vida Vela were kicking butt behind us in second place, then we could not tell who was behind them. We saw the other two I20s who were far enough behind to not be a threat, but in addition to holding first place in the Open Class, we really wanted to be the first to the beach. Fortunately, the wind held and we retained our lead. Apparently all the Dash boats had gybed into the surf and the swimmers on Galveston's North Beach weren't really prepared for a big cat with its spinnaker up tearing through the breakers on a perfect rhumb line. Between pulling up the daggerboards, I was yelling as loud as I could for the swimmers to clear away. We were coming in at a tight angle and as such our window to finish on starboard tack was only a few boat widths wide... we didn't want to screw that up because of a few kids in floaties. They managed to get out of the way, though, and we hit the beach with the lowest elapsed time. I couldn't immediately see her, but I heard my niece, Kennedy, screaming out "Uncle Ryan! Uncle Ryan!" and I smiled from ear to ear. She and my sister, along with my parents, had made it to the finish to cheer me in. What a great ending to an awesome race!