← WA360 Home ← 2025 WA360 Teams
Crew: Ted Schmid
Hometown: Indianola, WA
Vessel: 23’ T-Gull trimaran
Class: The Wind Division
Get to know Team Indy
First thing first. Why race in WA360?
I love the spirit of this race. No special sauce, secret sailing weapon, or rating. The true spirit of individualism and team effort. For me, it is an opportunity to take in a giant immersive snapshot of our incredible Salish Sea, with all the tidal and wind features that make it so unique. Time spent alone at dusk or dawn fully present in the infinite Time Capsule that this sound provides. That is, until a cruise ship passes with 3000 of my newest “aqua”tainses. This is also perhaps a primer for my hope of doing the R2Ak.
What’s your connection to these waters?
I first visited this area in the mid Eighties on a windsurfing tour that had included Aruba, curaçao, the Colombia Gorge and a brief visit to Laconner. We attempted to sail our longboards throughout the sloughs which were most challenging due to tidal flows. I was instantly smitten with the mystery and intrigue of these waters. A few years later I bought my first Trimaran, a beastly 36’ plywood Piver. It was largely, and widely only capable of broad reaching back and forth in Budd Inlet. I motor/sailed that beast to the San Juan’s despite having dismasted in Port Townsend bay. We carried on our honeymoon as a motor boat and attracted much attention with our stubby remnant of a mast. Piver was soon followed by Jim Brown’s Searunner 31. Two summer’s cruising the San Juan’s on a much better boat. Kids…twenty years… wingfoiling obsession during COVID. Three years ago purchased a Newick 23’ T-gull trimaran with aspirations of just such an experience as the Wa360.
Superpowers. Each crew member gets one. What are they and why?
My Superpower might be my ability to fix anything (non-electronic). I love the fact that Sailing requires a multitude of skill sets(at least ten). My other superpower is to embrace suffering, I love climbing hills more than descending them.
Defend your vessel choice for WA360. What makes it so cool and worthy?
I’m a big fan of Dick Newick designed boats. The T-Gull was production built in the mid nineties, yet has many redeeming traits. Asymmetrical amas have a cool look even though you largely don’t see them employed anymore except on Prindle catamarans. This vessel weighs in at 1200 pounds. 200 lbs Lighter than an F-24. It is a light wind monster and sails very well in our typical summer wind patterns frequently hitting hull speed of 11.7 knots. It’s spartan, so a true camper sailor. No fluff. Its home built sister, The Tremolino is time tested and has a loyal following. The T-gull is the equivalent of a classic Porsche or Corvette. Fun to sail, zippy, well behaved. Comfortable cruising in the teens. Elegant and slightly sexy lines with water stays that become fully immersed when overpowered to remind you to “don’t push it!”
What are your adventure qualifications for WA360? What makes you (y’all) cool and capable?
I have been drawn to the endurance athlete world for many years. Staring with multiple endurance bicycle rides around Mount Rainier, then the marathon bug bit with Boston under my belt, soon transitioning to ultra marathons including a two day run around Mt Rainier on the Wonderland trail. I lived in the US Virgin Isles during my twenties and raced/crewed locally on sailboats in Rolex cup and Antigua race weeks. I have sailed around St Thomas on a windsurfer as well circumnavigated St. John and Tortolla islands.
What is going to break?
Hopefully not my spirit. Perhaps though, the things untested. Peddle system design? New spinnaker bowsprit, new reefing system. It’s a thirty year old boat, but I’m learning a lot about stainless steel carbon fiber interaction. No bueno. Big fan of dyneema. I’m hoping my Tommy Bahama beach chair will hold out as my peddle perch, but I won’t be broken hearted if it is worn out by the end of the event.