When Ryan Glaze received a phone call from SAIL Magazine just before Thanksgiving, he figured they were trying to sell a subscription. Instead, Glaze was thrilled to learn that he had been chosen winner of SAIL Magazine’s second Best Around the Buoys (BAB) competition, earning a free ride to compete at Quantum Key West 2012.
“I was stoked!” said Glaze. The Texas resident quickly rounded up the members of his Gringo crew and began making plans to travel to the southernmost point of the United States.
Not that there was a whole lot to do since SAIL Magazine and its partners in the Best Around the Buoys competition had organized everything. As the winning crew of the BAB contest, the Gringo crew received free use of a J/80 from J/Boats with a race-ready bottom from Pettit Paint and a new set of canvas from North Sails. Harken is outfitting the crew in full racing kit while regatta organizer Premier Racing provided accommodations and waived all entrance fees.
“It is really an incredible deal and we are so thankful to SAIL and all of the other sponsors for setting us up so well,” Glaze said.
Glaze resides in Rockwall, Texas and races a Melges 24 on Lake Ray Hubbard, a 27,000-acre body of water located just northeast of Dallas that can be sailed just about year-round. The Rush Creek Yacht Club member usually races with wife Jana and brothers Max and Jake Scott.
“I grew up racing against Max and Jake ever since we were about 12 years old and sailing Optimists,” Glaze said. “We played basketball and football together, were all in each other’s weddings and have just been great friends for about 25 years. I love having them in my crew and they are a big part of our boat’s success.”
Gringo enjoyed tremendous success in 2011, winning the Melges 24 Black Tie Regatta, the Texas Independence Day Regatta and the Rush Creek Yacht Club Championship series. Glaze of course has the Scott brothers aboard here in Key West while the fourth member of the crew is Gray Rackley, who has sailed this regatta 10 times.
Glaze, who previously owned a J/22 and J/105, has experience racing a J/80 — having crewed for John Kolius in several class events. He spoke with several J/80 owners prior to coming to Key West and was told the boat is somewhat in between the J/22 and J/105 so that gave him a gauge for its performance and handling.
Last year, the Cleveland-based crew of the J/105 IT took first place in their division racing the J/111 Kontiki V in the inaugural BAB, so the pressure is on Team Gringo to live up to that standard.
Glaze and crew have been up to the task so far, holding second place in the 18-boat fleet after five races. Gringo posted a second and a third on Day 1 then added another second on Day 2. The Texas team has not finished lower than seventh so far, a remarkable accomplishment considering it is so new to the J/80.
“We’ve all sailed together a long time so the crew work and communication comes naturally,” Glaze said. “This is a tough fleet with a bunch of really good sailors so I am a bit surprised to be second overall. We’re very happy with our position so far and hope we can keep it up.”
It helps that Team Gringo is sailing a boat normally used by none other than Jeff Johnston of J/Boats. That particular boat has enjoyed tremendous results in several major events, including winning the J/80 national championship. Glaze said Matt Mullen of the J/World franchise in Key West has been “super helpful” with getting the boat set up.
While Glaze has competed in Key West before as crew, he said doing the renowned regatta as a skipper has been a lifelong dream and described it as a “bucket list” type of sailing event.
“Beautiful location, great atmosphere and even better competition: it says something about an event when a boat owner sets his build schedule for a custom racer based on getting there in time for Key West Race Week, or teams pull together their resources in order to be a part of it year after year,” he said.