Scuppered!

Tammy prepares to tack.

Go Equalizer!

Say Cheese...

Close quarters at the Freeway buoy

Full Moon crew Michael “Fast Pack” Medina, Chuck “Stanchion” Weldy, Tammy “Hard Lemonade” Cross, and skipper John “Chips Ahoy” Mengedoht were positioned for a decent start for the Economic Recovery Duck Dodge but didn’t count on a huge topsail schooner (complete with gun ports!) virtually parked on the starting line. Boats able to get around the behemoth had good starts. Others, including Full Moon, had to take several tacks to get clear and suffered accordingly.

Fortunately, rivals Ignitor, Fortis, and Shogun were either not far ahead or actually behind at the start and the game was on to beat them all and get to a respectable finish. The massive Equalizer spinnaker helped considerably on two long runs as every gust brought a burst of acceleration and significant gain. With smooth sail handling and consistent good speed an increasing number of boats were left behind while all the usual rivals fell farther and farther back. In the end, Full Moon managed to get up to about 15th of some 40 to 50 boats, a great performance considering the poor start.

Wormhole

Light and shifty winds greeted Full Moon crew Randy “Jibe Time” Olsen, Michael “Jet-Drive” Medina, Don “Beermeister” Caffrey, Chuck “Free Lesson” Weldy, and skipper John “Don't Jinx It” Mengedoht for Duck Dodge No. 6. Initially well-positioned for the start, Full Moon was forced by traffic to execute a “doughnut” or else miss the end of the starting line. This killed all speed and Full Moon was, as usual, late at the start.

Things looked up on the first upwind leg to the south as arch-rival Ignitor crossed tacks behind but Ignitor headed for the Westlake shore and found breeze where nobody else expected any. This propelled them to what looked like an insurmountable lead. Full Moon kept chipping away, though, until finally, approaching the downwind “Freeway” buoy, a large group of boats including Ignitor converged just as the wind faded and then temporarily shifted forward. In what seemed like an instant, Full Moon was just behind and then, turning at the buoy, was neck and neck with Ignitor!

This time, the light wind gave the edge to Full Moon, which steadily pulled out ahead. The wind still had one more trick to play as it suddenly dropped and shifted close to the finish line with Ignitor charging up from behind but the gap was too great and Full Moon prevailed to finish 12th, restoring proper order to the universe.

Barged!

Full Moon crew Eileen “Packing Peanuts” McHugh, Casey “Dread Pirate” Riske, Art “Salad” Teller, Michael “Squirt Guns” Medina, and skipper John “Big Plumber” Mengedoht enjoyed a decent second row start for the Pirate Night Duck Dodge, though it took a few choice pirate curses to avoid collision with a wayward port tack boat. Once clear, all rivals but Shogun were behind and Full Moon made good speed upwind on the first leg toward the Aurora Bridge.

Approaching the buoy, however, a barge and tug appeared from the open mouth of the Fremont Bridge, the tug skipper no doubt dismayed at the spectacle of dozens of sailboats in his path (over 70 boats were racing!). Full Moon had no choice but to keep clear and, while this also affected boats behind, it allowed the boats in front to gain considerably over the rest of the fleet. Once past the tug, though, the Equalizer spinnaker pulled strongly, leaving rivals Fortis and Ignitor far behind and closing the gap at least a little on Shogun.

Returning upwind, Full Moon again had good speed and gained on a few boats. Approaching the Aurora buoy on the second lap, Shogun was less than fifty yards ahead. Heading downwind with spinnakers flying, Shogun veered toward the center of the lake while Full Moon stayed closer to the Westlake side, the net result being no gain and Shogun still ahead.

The final two legs were upwind where Full Moon would normally have an advantage but the wind was getting lighter and Shogun’s skipper proved skilled at finding the brief pulses of stronger breeze. In the end, Full Moon could not quite catch up. However Fortis remained far behind and arch-rival Ignitor struggled badly with half a lap still to go as Full Moon finished in a very respectable tenth place. Meanwhile, the amazing and unusual June weather made for yet another fabulous evening on the water.