Shorty's Houston PDRacer Circuit
2004 Current Standings:
To see pictures from the races, click on the race number at the top.

Name	Boat	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Total
Started / Finished		3 / 3	4 / 2	6 / 2	4 / 4	0 / 0	3 / 3	2 / 2	3 / 3
Ken Abrahams	Ugly Duckling	1	1	3 dnf	1	0 dns	1	1	1	9
Shorty	Bucket Ears	2	2	1	3	0 dns	2	2	4 dns	16
David Sargent	Ducky	4 dns	5 dns	2	2	0 dns	3	3 dns	2	21
Doug Day	D.U.B	3	5 dns	3 dnf	4	0 dns	4 dns	3 dns	4 dns	26
James Banik	un-named	4 dns	3 dnf	3 dnf	5 dns	0 dns	4 dns	3 dns	4 dns	26
Chuck Leinweber	ACME	4 dns	3 dnf	3 dnf	5 dns	0 dns	4 dns	3 dns	4 dns	26
Mike Falasca Jr	Dasher	4 dns	5 dns	7 dns	5 dns	0 dns	4 dns	3 dns	3	28

DNS means Did Not Start (# of start +1)
DNF means Did Not Finish (# of finish +1)

For pics from the races, see links from the home page
See PDRacer.com for more information about this one design racing sailboat


Invitation / Eligibility - You are invited to participate in the pdraces. If you have a pdracer sailboat, you are welcome to come race with us, there is no entry fee, and no membership requirments (some locations require a launch fee). If you don't have a pdracer, you are still welcome to come watch the races, and bring other boats to show and sail after the race. A pdrace is also like a messabout where people enjoy messing about in boats, we also could use people anchored as committee boats to observe the start/finish line.

2004 Race Schedule:
Standard race day schedule: 10am show up, 11am start race, 12pm eat lunch (bring your own), 1:30pm head home.
Feb 28 - Race 1 - Lake Woodlands
Map and Directions
Mar 27 - Race 2 - Conroe Yacht Club
Map and Directions There is a $5 fee for everyone who launches a boat (doesn't matter if pdracer or not), and we have to be gone by 2pm.
Apr 17 - Race 3 - Lake Livingston, Wolf Creek State Park
Map and Directions The park charges $4 per car, and $2 per person for day use. Reservations are not nescessary for day use.
May 8 - Race 4 - Contraband race at Lake Charles
PDRacers are one of the recognized classes, early entry fee of $25, or register day of event for $35. A dinner is included plus trophies are awarded, camping on the grounds is ok. Fireworks on the lake Sat. night. Plenty to do besides sailing. Club is at the base of the I-10 bridge at Lake Charles.
Info & Entry Form (MS Word Document)
Lake Charles Yacht Club
May 22 - Race 5 - At Duckworks Magnolia Beach Messabout
It will be located at Magnolia Beach, which is in Matagorda Bay, which is half way between Houston and San Antonio. (was May 15, changed because of Chuck scheduling conflict). Map, Info & Directions
Jun 12 - Race 6 - Conroe Yacht Club
Map and Directions There is a $5 fee for everyone who launches a boat (doesn't matter if pdracer or not), and we have to be gone by 2pm.
Jul 10 - Race 7 - Lake Woodlands
Map and Directions
Aug 7 - Race 8 (final) - Lake Charles Yacht Club Messabout
This is a free event, many people bring other boats of all types to show and sail.
10am - Most people show up
11am - Regular PDRace
Noon - Hot Dog lunch
Afternoon - run a Pirate Race where boats of all types are welcome to participate, and it is an advantage to have multiple crew aboard.
Dinner in the evening, cocktails at 6:30, dinner at 7:00, informal.

All PDRacers need to bring a trohpy. Then, all the trohpies are lined up together and we vote which ones are the coolest. Then after the pdrace, the coolest trohpy is giving to the first place, the 2nd coolest is given to the 2nd place etc. I'll have a couple extra trohpies just incase. Everyone who participated in the races this year will get a trohpy, if you aren't present, then we will mail it to you afterwards.

Camping on the beach, full use of club house. Club is at the base of the I-10 bridge at Lake Charles.
Lake Charles Yacht Club Web Page Here are some pictures from our last event there.

''Cruise'' to Big Lake: An informal day trip to Big Lake, Friday, August 6. Leave the club at 9:00 am, motor to Turners Bay. Lunch at 12:00 at Turners Bay. Sail Big Lake for a couple hours, then return to Turners Bay for 3:00. Motor back to the club. Some may elect to stay overnight in Big Lake. Others will overnight at the club or at home. Bring your own food and drinks.

Sep 25 - event - Palacios Dinghy Dash
Free event, boats of all types welcome, full details here



Course and Marks
The course & number of laps run will be determined race day just before the race by discussion of competitors. Here are 2 typical courses using 2 and 3 marks, and the start / finish line as a gate. After crossing through the gate, the competitor can round either side to start the next lap.

Committee Signaling
We may have a committee boat, or we may have an official on the shore, or we may just have the marks and everyone is on the honor system. Here are the whistle signals to start the race:
5 Minute Warning Till Start - 3 short blows of whistle
1 Minute Warning Till Start - 2 short blows of whistle
Start Race - 1 long blow of whistle


Right Of Way
We will be using the US Sailing simplified right of way rules. If the competition progresses to the point that we need to employ the full set of rules, we can do that at a later date.

Scoring - We are using the low point system. The first place gets 1 point, 2nd place gets 2 points, etc. If someone starts but does not finish, they get one point for everyone that finished that race +1. If someone does not start the race, they get one point for everyone that entered that race +1.

Prizes - Trophies will be presented for the best 5 best scoring racers in the season. They will be given after the final race, at that location.

Additional Information - You can email me direct, or post up questions to the PDS-TX discussion group. This is the local group to talk about sailing events around Texas. You can also post general building & other pdracer questions to the national discussion group PDSail

Super Race - When we first started talking about the location of our first race, this is the route that was suggested by the PDS-TX members: MAP