2014 Texas 200

[GreenLake]

Congrats! You've made it.

[Top Hat]

Thanks for the tow on day 5, jeadstx. At first I thought we would make it up the ICW but then the wind became too soft while the current stayed swift at 2 mph in the wrong direction. My crew and I counted 37 tacks on our GPS track before accepting the tow. Good practice, if anything.

Otherwise...the DSII performed beyond our expectations! On big air days we were double or single reefed and we blew past many other boats. On light air days we would sail past others just because the boat is so light. We weren't racing (except for that last day along the Matagorda Bay shore, jeadstx, lol) but I'll be damned if i'm not going to keep her in the best trim I can. Surfing and planing happened multiple times, especially in Redfish Bay, San Antonio Bay and some in Aransas Bay, too. We were confident in the boat's abilities (we beefed it up for this event) and usually took the shortest route from point A to point B, which often meant sailing down the middle of large bays (sometimes no land in sight) and other times cutting through skinny-watered passes. We only bumped sand once or twice, but never had to get out to pull R Dog off a shoal. One of us would just haul up the centerboard and we would continue on.

We felt like the odd man out sometimes in the TX 200, because--except for the puddle ducks--we were one of the smallest boats out there and the majority of the boats were home-built wooden models. Production boats tend to leak less, though, so we enjoyed a relatively dry ride most of the time. We did experience the signature cuddy water ingress via the CB line holes (mostly on big air days or when beating to windward), but we were expecting it and kept everything in dry bags.

As for having enough room in the cuddy for all the crap two men who are 6'2" and weigh around 200# each carry on a five day boat-camping trip? No problem. Plenty of room for our stuff and the boat balanced well. In fact, when we arrived at Paul's Mott campsite on day 3, the wind was too high for our tent not to collapse under the pressure of the wind, so we pulled everything out of the cuddy, spread out our inflatable bed rolls and slept inside! I don't recommend this, though, unless you are so dead tired after a 53 mile sail that you can sleep through almost anything.

Let me know if anyone has a specific question and I'll answer as best I can.

Cheers!

[GreenLake]

Nice!

[Alan]

Congratulations, jeadstx and Top Hat!

Top Hat, I do have a specific question, but it's about the boat, not the race: You said you beefed up your DSII for the event. What modifications did you make?

Thanks,

Alan

[Top Hat]

Alan,
*Upgraded (thicker) standing rigging
*A lot of new running rigging
*2nd set of reef points put in
*Tape around all standing rigging shackles and split rings (vibrations sometimes make them come out)
*Backup spreaders (didn't need them)
*Pool noodles stuffed in the bilge for extra flotation
*Reworked jib sheet pulleys and cleats (not for the TX200, but b/c the layout at purchase sucked)

[TIM WEBB]

Good job Top Hat - congrats!

I've had much the same experience at the FL 120, in that the DS at times outperformed many of the other designs present, both production as well as home built boats, especially in heavier airs. And I was single-handed to boot! In fact, the Red Witch was at times outperformed by the other two DS's present ... ;-P

[Alan]

Thanks, Top Hat.

It looks like the only things on that list that I still need to do are have the second set of reef points put in and tape the shackles and split rings. I almost lost the connection between the port shroud and mast tang at Tahoe last year - the ball on the quick pin I was using worked itself about 1/3 of the way out of the tang, but didn't let go completely. That would have been exciting.

Oh, and I almost forgot - I'm going to pay the 67 bucks for towing service at Tahoe this year.

[jeadstx]

Here is a video of Top Hat fighting their way up the ICW at Port O'Conner. The winds were right down the ICW fighting against a 2 to 2.8 knot current (diferent people said different current strength). http://s445.photobucket.com/user/jeadst ... 8192750099

The rest of my pictures are at http://s445.photobucket.com/user/jeadst ... 8990208249

The Tx200 is rough on rudders and carrying spare parts in general for the boat is wise. We cracked a tiller on the Mariner I was sailing. I carried the DS tiller as a spare, so parts of my DS2 were sailing the event. My DS2 sails were on board as well.

John

[K.C. Walker]

Great report Top Hat! Sounds like you and the trusty DaySailer had a grand old time.