Hull #16
Double Standard
Carolyn and Bill Worsham
Port Arthur, TX

Fellow Maine Catters --

I just wanted to share our recent experience with all of you. Whereas the Maine Cat is a cruising cat, my husband Bill is an obsessed racer. He threw out the gauntlet to the family to race Double Standard in the 150-mile offshore Harvest Moon Race last weekend, and our two sons and I took him up on it.

Bill, recently retired, spent most of the past month purchasing and installing new motors, halyards, assorted fittings, and jib. The boys and I joined in the preparations a few days before the 50-mile sail from Port Arthur to Galveston for the start of the race.

What started out as an incredibly beautiful Thursday afternoon sail turned in to a really rough Thursday night and Friday morning sail -- winds over 20 kts and seas of 5-7'. Of the 215 boats that started the race (mostly monohulls), about 40 dropped out before the finish. Of those who finished, most told tales of serious equipment failures and extreme mal de mer.

Thankfully we were spared both. The Maine Cat held her own. Our only equipment failure was blowing the clew in the 10-year-old mainsail in the middle of the night (a convincing sign it was time to reef!). We finished the race in 23 hours, and the GPS showed speeds of greater than 10 kts.

I dare say that all boats were wet. We experienced green waves into the cockpit that were within an inch of jumping the lip into the hulls. When daylight finally arrived, we realized the settees in the cockpit had filled with water. We'll install drain holes in them very soon because it was hard to make headway with the hand pump considering the wave action refilling them at every opportunity.

Did we win, place, or show in the regatta? No, but I truly believe we did as well as could be expected with our rating of 95. We were the scratch boat against the other 7 catamarans. I wish I could tell you what kind they were and what their ratings were or point you to the results, but the only copy I have seen is on the return trip from Port Aransas to Houston YC. Bill's "unbiased" opinion was that we didn't have a chance of performing to the rating we were given in comparison to the other cats. I can tell you, however, that it was extremely exciting to pass over 100 boats before dark Thursday evening and words can't express how nice it was to reach the marina 10-15 hours ahead of many of the boats.

I wouldn't trade Double Standard (Hull #16 who rode out Hurricanes Rita and Ike behind our house) for any other boat in the race. She took every abuse that was thrown at her and delivered us safely to our destination.

Thanks to Dick and Lynn and company for a quality boat!

Carolyn Worsham (cook, lookout, and equipment organizer)
Bill (the old man) and sons Billy and Brad Worsham

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