2013 Texas State Championship Race
By Eric Comstock
Hello Shorty,
We here in Houston have been planning a little something for a while now that I would like to tell you about. Our working name for it has been the "Texas 20."
After speaking with you recently I would like to make it the "2013 PDR Texas State Championship Race." I know that regional championships are generally held before national (or international) championships, but we are talking about Puddle Ducks and we do everything a little differently. (BTW, congratulations to Rick Landerville! I'm looking forward to hearing the details of his victory at the 2013 PDR Championship Race.)
Here is the layout of the event:
It will be a 1 day event, starting on the Texas City Dike and ending 20 miles away in Kemah, with a stop half way at Red Fish Island for lunch. Participants will drop off their boats on the Texas City Dike by 7:00 AM. Someone will be there to watch over the boats. The participants will then drive their vehicles the 20 miles to Kemah where they will be left at the public boat ramp on the North side of the 146 bridge. Transportation will be provided back to the boats.
The "Race" portion of the event will be the 10 mile downwind leg from the Texas City Dike to Red Fish Island. It will be a "beach" start, at 9:00 AM. An 18' "Party Barge" has been enlisted to act as a committee/rescue boat. Anyone who runs into trouble or decides to quit the race, will be loaded onto the "Party Barge" and their boat will be towed behind it.
The first person out of their boat and on to dry ground on the inside (sandy) portion of Red Fish Island will be the winner. We will user a standard "Low Point" scoring system.
After everyone has had a chance for a rest and something to eat/drink, we will embark on the final leg of the event. It will be another 10 miles, downwind to the Kemah Channel. Once at the mouth of the Kemah channel, all participants will be given the option of tying up to the "Committee" boat to be towed the final bit through the channel to the boat ramp. The wind in the channel is severely blocked by the Boardwalk, so it can be a difficult stretch to sail when you have a short mast.
Once at the boat ramp everyone will pull out and either go home or stay for a beverage and a meal at the adjacent restaurant.
I'm still working on the logistics in order to set the date for this event. The final date announcement will be within two weeks. The selected date will be at least 1 week before the end of the window for a championship bid and there will be a "rain/unfavorable wind" date one week later.
That is the plan as it stands.
I'll let you know when we have a final date.
Thanks,
Eric
HSDVMHF
Naval Campaign Planer
Update
We have finally got specific dates for both the warm up and final event. The warm up will be a 10 mile non-stop cruise up and down the entire length of the Texas City Dike. The warm up will be July 27, 2013.
The 20 mile race/cruise from the Texas City dike to Kemah will be Saturday August 24th, with a "Rain Date" of August 31st, 2013. The "Texas 20" as described above will be a 20 mile cruise with two ten mile legs. The first will be from The Dike to Red Fish Island, where we will stop for lunch. The first leg will also be the "race" portion of this event. The second leg is from Red Fish Island to Kemah. We will have a power boat following along in case anyone runs into trouble and to help with getting through the Kemah channel to the boat ramp.
Everyone is welcome to participate is each of these events. There are no fees, but if you plan to attend, please let us know in advance so that we can make appropriate plans for getting all the drivers of cars/trailers back from the boat ramp to The Dike for the start of the race.
the "Texas 20" cruise/race, please join out email list for
the most up to date information concerning our plans:
[click here for email list joining instructions]
Update
Shorty,
After an unseasonable North wind caused us to miss or original date, some of our members expressed concern over having the event on Labor Day Weekend (our original "Rain" date). To make things worse, our support boat was not going to be available and finally, two additional Duckers said that they WOULD be able to make it if we postponed.
So, with unanimous support of all participants, the decision has been made to postpone the "2013 Texas 20" (AKA 2013 Texas State Puddle Duck Championship Race) until Saturday 9-14-2013.
Thanks,
Eric
HSDVMHV
Naval Campaign Planner