Texas200

[Charlie Jones]

Just a quick post to say everyone made it to Magnolia Beach. Had a great shrimp boil, sat around for a bit, and now Laura and I are getting ready to collapse in the bed. She has to be at work at 0730 in the morning,

Oh, and the Tripie did absolutely great. Laura and I saw 12.3 MPH on the boat in those heavy winds the first day, with both sails reefed and many many times of 8, 9, 10 as the week progressed

But she's a WET ride at speed ;D

Did I mention wet? But fast ;D

[brigait1]

Charlie isn't kidding about Traveller's performance. The amas that Graham designed for her are beautiful and do their job to perfection. We were on a CS-17 and Charlie and Laura were just killing us off the wind. The only reason we hung with them was that we had some windward legs where we had a bit more boat speed and could outpoint them a touch. And that was only because they had damaged their centerboard.

If someone can tell me why my pictures aren't attaching, I'll try to post them.

Pete B

[Charlie Jones]

;D

Thanks Pete- that was a GREAT sail up the CC channel wasn't it?? Virtually boat for boat for several miles there. We loved it.

And actually we broke the board off flush with the bottom of the boat!!!

As for the pics- don't try to use the "add image to post" Click on "additional options" and use that for your pics

Here's a pic of the dagger board- graphic evidence why you should NEVER build a board ( or rudder) from plywood. It WILL be rebuilt from solid wood, as will the rudder blade.

[Tim]

Here's a picture of Traveler heading up the channel and another one of Southern Skimmer cruising in the ICW having just passed a barge that was going 8 mph.  We had some boat problems too as we bent the mizzen mast at a speed of 10.6 mph on the first day with the stay sail in use while trying to catch the CS20.  Don't worry guys it is not a design issue; mine is not the specified material and we didn't have the best angle on the back stay nor did we have the halyard pulled up to the stop knot.  Nevertheless Graham bent it back into shape for me and gave us some instruction on how to use it better.  If your going cruising, it's always good to cruise with the boat designer.

Cheers,

Tim

[Tom Lathrop]

;D

Here's a pic of the dagger board- graphic evidence why you should NEVER build a board ( or rudder) from plywood. It WILL be rebuilt from solid wood, as will the rudder blade.

Aha! So now get to see where the next weakest point in the boat is.  That's one of the main reasons why we make centerboards instead of daggerboards.  A solid wood DB will certainly be a lot stronger than plywood though. 

Glad to hear that the triple sharpie worked so well.  Maybe that is a good name, "Triple"  How does the boat handle when tacking?  Does it have any tendency to miss stays?  I was thinking that it might tack quicker if held level with the amas clear of the water or even heeled to windward.

[Charlie Jones]

Tom- before we broke the board she'd tack easily- The amas JUST clear the water when the boat is level and really don't impede tacking at all. It doesn't tack like Skimmer for sure, but all in all, worked very very well- UNTIL we drifted sideways into that shallow place and snapped the board.

And yeah- I'd MUCH prefer a centerboard over a dagger board, but in this case, it didn't really break sailing- it was a full on sideways slide into a shallow spot.

STILL can't understand though why people insist on building blades from plywood. I used it on the sharpie because she was from a kit, that's what was there and we were REALLY rushed for time getting it built prior to Strictly Sail in Chicago.

Oh and Laura settled on the name Tripie for the boat. The boats own name is Traveler. She was built in Victoria Texas, trucked to Chicago, sailed the first time in a lake there, then trailed to Kentucky lake, sailed the second time there, trailed to Passcagoula, Miss, sailed the third time there in the Escatawpa River, then on back to here and sailed the fourth time in Matagorda Bay. So four sails, four bodies of water in four states, plus a round trip from south to north. We figured she EARNED the name Traveler.

[Charlie Jones]

Oh- and here's a shot from the boat of her sailing at a pretty good clip. Note the wake-

[Randy C.]

Charlie,

Looks like you had a good time!! Looks like the weather cooperated too. FUN!!

[Charlie Jones]

Yeah we had a ball. The week went by SO fast, on Friday night Laura and I kinda felt like we had gone to a movie and watched it, instead of sailing it.

Here's a shot of Laura bringing the boat in to Magnolia Beach on the last day-

[Terry Dunn]

I think I have recovered enough to post some comments regarding the Texas200. My plan from the beginning was that the Texas200 would be a one time adventure. My son Brian agreed to come along. I could not have done anything like this without him.

Now I find myself thinking of the mistakes I made and what I would do if I was doing it again. Gotta resist that thought. This was a one time adventure.

The first day out we were all whippng along and I did not eat or drink enough. Day two I was a bit dizzy in the boat and probably drank too much water. Day three and four I remembered to eat lunch so that was good. Day five I forgot to eat lunch again. Go figure. I shoulda been snacking all day. That is what I do at work.

I either need to grow hair on the top of my head or learn to remember there is no hair there. When wearing a hat with mesh sides ... put sunblock on the top of the head. Duh!

We were conservative and reefed fairly often. Sometimes when we probably shouldn't have. It was frustrating when we stopped to reef in the land cut on day one and all the boats we had passed went ripping by use. We put two reefs in both sails and we were still surfing. I think we hit 9.8 over the ground with the reefs in.

The people in the Texas200 were all the nicest ever. Great bunch. Interesting boats.

The boat worked great. I had a frayed line on my center board downhaul. I had the downhaul tight to keep my center board from creeping up. When we hit ground in Steamboat Pass (well not quite "in" the pass) I was too slow to release the downhaul and the line broke. Probably a good thing for the frayed downhaul to break rather than something else. Towards the end of the week my rudder was getting stickey. There is a bit more moisture in the air in South Texas than Colorado.

All in all it was an amazing adventure. I highly recommend it.

I think this is Tim and Pete on day one:

[Charlie Jones]

Was a real blast wasn't it? Even Graham is talking (softly) about next year ;D

I got my dagger board rebuild, all shaped and ready for glass, from solid wood this time, so we'll very soon be good to go again, although sailing without it didn't handicap us all that much.

Are ya SURE it's a one time deal??? That bright CS 20 looked pretty good there.

;D ;D

[Hirilonde]

I shoulda been snacking all day.

As we say while backpacking:  "Eat before you are hungry, drink before you are thirsty  If you wait till either occurs it is already too late."

Looks like you all had a blast!

[brigait1]

Yeah, it was a blast. The picture of Tim and I posted above was on the Lower Laguna Madre. That day we had 20+ winds and were traveling with the increasing fetch. So by the time we reached the north end of the bay, we had some nice waves for surfing. Let me tell you, the CS-17 loves to surf, and she handles the waves beautifully. Shortly after that pic was taken, we sailed into the land cut, so there were no waves, but still the same winds. We decided to try out the staysail for a while, and BOY, WERE WE FLYING. We only kept the staysail up for about 15 minuted, but it was a VERY exciting 15 minutes. Once we took it down we were still going planing speeds for long stretches.

I can't say enough about what a great trip it was. And any Core Sound owners should know that they have pretty much the perfect boat for this trip, just in case any of you are thinking about next year

Pete B

[John Turpin]

Those Puddle Ducks inspired me.  I may attempt it next year in my B&B Two Paw 8. 

(just kidding)

[Apteryx]

Greetings from a first-time poster here on messing-about.

What inspired me was watching Byrnes jibe Southern Skimmer's mizzen, turning to run wing-and-wing down the channel from Army Hole.  I can't think of another analogy, it was just like turning a page in a book, no fuss at all.  Full sail, 18 knots of wind (granted, he was in the lee of the island), and he jibed his mizzen without so much as jiggling the boat.

Come payday this Friday I'm ordering a Core Sound 17 CNC kit.  It would be much more manly to build from raw materials, but this is a first boat for me.  Plus, I have this hankering to build the boat, train on it, and sail next year's Texas 200.  Assuming a slot is available.

A 400 pound boat drawing 8 inches, that would be so different from my 2500 pound, 26 inch draft catboat.  I love that catboat.  I think a Core Sound would be so much better suited for all that skinny water, though.

Besides, a tent, an air mattress, maybe a battery powered fan, what else do I really need for accomodations?  Don't need no stinkin' Hilton!  ;D

I get some bragging rights, too.  My boat will be the first delivered with precut deck hatch parts.  Oh, yes, I won't be sailing just a Core Sound - I can, offhandly, of course, always remark that my boat is a Byrnes prototype!  Yay! 

[Charlie Jones]

Welcome aboard Carl- I think you'll find a great home here. Lots of really nice folks.

[Joe Nelson CS#35]

Those Puddle Ducks inspired me.  I may attempt it next year in my B&B Two Paw 8. 

(just kidding)

Those puddle duckers are an odd lot.  Taking more chances than good sense would allow.  Not sure about the Texas 200, but I know of a local fellow that rowed one out onto the ocean here...more enthusiasm than brains in this case.

[brigait1]

Actually, I never saw a Puddle Duck in any real trouble the whole week. Which is more than I can say for some of the other boats. Sure, they had minor issues, but they dealt with them on the fly, just like a lot of us did. Those guys were very aware of what their boats were and were not capable of and planned their days accordingly. The only real problem was the fact that they had to be on the water so long each day. Not comfortable, but also not inherently dangerous. The one day that the weather got to be a bit too much for them, they simply adjusted their course and stayed out of the rough stuff. From a safety standpoint, I'd much rather see an experienced skipper at the tiller of a Puddle Duck than a newbie at the helm of a much more "capable" boat.

That said, don't expect to see me attempting it. I'm nowhere near as tough as those guys

Pete B

[Charlie Jones]

That said, don't expect to see me attempting it. I'm nowhere near as tough as those guys

ME either!!!