Two Drink Minimum

Michael caught documenting the evidence.

Randy, Tammy, and Galina, ready for cocktails!

It just gets dark too early these days!

The final Duck Dodge is always Martini Night on Full Moon and crew Randy “Vanilla Vodka” Olsen, Galina “Viable” Gordeeva, Tammy “No Cheese” Cross, Michael “Cut the Cheese” Medina, Debra “Stinky Cheese” Ricard, and skipper John “Three Olives” Mengedoht came prepared with a variety of Vodka-based concoctions as well as some very nice (and alcohol-absorbent?) food. With the essentials squared away, Full Moon had a decent but conservative start. Apparently a lot of boats did better, though, as Michael announced from the bow that seventeen boats were ahead – including old rivals Fortis and Shogun!

Time to go fast. Full Moon rolled a San Juan 28 and held a good line to the Freeway buoy, picking off Shogun, a J24 and several others while staying ahead of speedy Scat and Katrinka Finkelsplat. Full Moon passed Fortis soon after rounding the buoy but Scat and, yes, Shogun eventually got by while Full Moon again pinched off the San Juan 28 threatening from behind.

Rounding the Aurora buoy, the mighty Equalizer was instantly deployed to good advantage. After crossing (non-verbal) jibes with Shogun, Full Moon pulled ahead for good and passed yet another boat or two, though 36’ Mata Hari got by in the fairly strong breeze.

At the AGC buoy, Full Moon was up to twelfth with only the final leg to go. A red Santana 20 tacked and crossed behind. Eleventh! True Blue (Ranger 22) tacked and crossed ahead but just barely. Full Moon was then lifted almost to the Committee Boat. A final two quick tacks and Full Moon finished an excellent tenth, not far behind Scat and still ahead of Katrinka Finkelsplat for a great comeback in a short, one-lap race.

As always, it was a fun summer of racing and sad to see it all end. Full Moon will return for the Goosebumps in January and will hopefully have a few adventures in between. Stay tuned!

This is August?

Randy and Galina on the high side.

Sara has a good time.

Cap'n John enjoys the wind and, yes, it is way too dark!

On the final evening of August, the string of sunny Tuesdays came to an abrupt end with dark low clouds and a boisterous southerly breeze. Full Moon crew Randy “Buoy-Finder” Olsen, Galina “Little Bit” Gordeeva, Sara “Grinder” Skinner, and skipper John “Fat Lady” Mengedoht hunkered down in the gusts and were set for a good start until an errant jib sheet made hash of the final tack for the line.
Overpowered upwind with full main and genoa, Full Moon fought to avoid rounding up but made steady progress to the AGC buoy, crossing tacks with old rival Shogun. Once around the buoy, Shogun and a white T-bird threatened but Full Moon held them off with good speed in the fast reach to the Challenger buoy.

With the wind holding strong Full Moon elected not to fly a spinnaker, though it would have helped on the long downwind run to the Aurora buoy. Fortis flew one and extended their lead to become uncatchable. The white T-bird hoisted theirs after waiting a bit while Shogun slogged on with the genoa. Shogun rode a gust to pass Full Moon and took the opportunity to gloat at finally beating Full Moon for the first time all summer – but were quickly reminded that the race was not yet over!

Once around the Aurora buoy, Full Moon was able to point much higher than Shogun upwind and to also get by the white T-bird. The T-bird made a race of it all the way to the finish but couldn’t quite catch up, even with Full Moon caught in round-up right at the line, and Shogun skipped the line altogether, perhaps embarrassed at losing to Full Moon once again! In the end, Full Moon was about eighth in a reduced fleet – a solid finish given the conditions.

Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

Chuck and Bethany working hard...

Caroline smiles for the camera while Cap'n John scans the sails.

Art does another self-portrait with his friend, the Jib.

Bethany carefully observes the spinnaker handling.

Whatever it all means, Daniel is having fun!

Full Moon gambled on a port tack-pin end start for Duck Dodge No. 14 and, while it was necessary to duck two boats, it paid off with full speed, a clear lane, and a straight shot to the Freeway buoy. Crew Art “Legs” Teller, Caroline “Layers” Sneed, Chuck “Three Bags” Weldy, Bethany “Passenger” Madsen, Daniel “Got To Go” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Lost Buoy” Mengedoht got rolled by a J24 but managed to hold off the big Buchan 37 Distance to round the buoy in 7th.

A quick tack onto starboard at the buoy set Full Moon below the line of most of the boats in hopes of a clear lane toward the Aurora buoy but the breeze was actually a bit better closer to Gasworks and a few boats crept ahead, including Distance. Then the Fremont Bridge opened wide to reveal a large gravel barge heading toward the fleet! With a lake full of sailboats coming, the barge tug was wisely moving very slowly and Full Moon was able to round the buoy at a safe distance but many boats behind had a tough time.

The mighty Equalizer spinnaker was soon deployed after the buoy and Full Moon worked slowly up to the blue T-Bird Selchie while keeping pace with Distance and holding off a quick red Santana 20. This was all working rather well until skipper John lost track of the AGC buoy and overshot! Despite the valiant crew quickly lowering the nylon monster, several boats got past, dropping Full Moon from a potential top ten finish.

In the end, Full Moon was a still-decent 12th or so and the ice-cold beer tasted great. The Duck Dodge has enjoyed a seemingly endless string of sunny evenings with decent northerlies and the city glowing in the setting sun is a view that never gets old. If only the sun wasn’t setting quite so early!

Doubly Nuts!

Michael looks back at the competition.

Steve looks forward at the competition.

Tammy enjoys the golden glow of later summer sun.

Collapsing spinnakers near the AGC buoy.

Is is supposed to look like that?

Darkness falls all too soon these days.

Full Moon crew Michael “SISI” Medina, Don “Beer Time” Caffrey, Tammy “Cupcake” Cross, Steve “Commando” Pfeifer, Daniel “Jet Drive” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Boom Boom” Mengedoht got pinned briefly by a San Juan 28 to windward but still got a good start with a clear lane for Duck Dodge No. 13. With a straight shot to the Freeway buoy, things got a bit dicey with a crowded rounding. Rather than bash into Shogun’s transom, Full Moon pulled into a slightly late inside overlap. Shogun’s skipper wasn’t happy but still (barely) allowed Full Moon room rather than play bumper boats. (Thanks, Rick, I owe you one!)

The second leg to the Aurora buoy was relatively uneventful, though as the wind got soft and shifty, Full Moon overstood the lay line and the blue Thunderbird Selchie snuck ahead. This was rectified soon after once the mighty Equalizer spinnaker was launched. Next up was the J24 Cobalt with a large crew in full birthday party mode.

The wind began to die approaching the AGC buoy, where a number of boats were clustered and barely moving. Full Moon kept a little momentum and took a wide smooth turn around the mark but Cobalt was right behind. Between the fading light and dying wind, this looked like a battle to the finish unless the race committee stayed with plans for two laps. The wind filled in a little and the boats seesawed back and forth until Full Moon finally broke free with 20 feet between the boats. Falling off to a tight reach to cross the line next to the committee boat, though, Cobalt climbed back into an overlap. Full Moon crossed ahead (yeah!) but the committee signaled to keep going (are they nuts?!?) and Cobalt was finally able to roll Full Moon to windward.

At this point Cobalt and Full Moon were nearly match racing as there were no boats within reach ahead and only Selchie a somewhat distant threat from behind. Rounding the Aurora buoy, Full Moon was poised to pounce with the Equalizer when, alas, the mighty spinnaker was hoisted sideways! After a few moments pondering the ability to keep it flying that way, it was quickly brought down and relaunched, though not quick enough to prevent Cobalt from escaping ahead.

With running lights aglow, this time the wind had really faded out at the south end of the lake. Full Moon kept the Equalizer going as long as possible, then struggled to keep moving with the jib. Finally rounding the AGC buoy, Cobalt was out of reach but Selchie was not far behind and another white and green T-bird was not far ahead. Full Moon played the tiny shifts and mini-puffs to perfection, crossed tacks ahead of the white/green T-bird and remained ahead of both Birds to an excellent 7th place finish.

Marvelous Margaritas

The infamous "island" prepares to dispense beer to passing racers.

Bimi shows off some tropical sails.

Galina enjoys the sunshine.

Randy says "Why are you taking my picture?"

An Artful self-portrait.

Michael and John sport tropical shirts while Daniel makes do with Bermuda shorts.

The floating “island” was out dispensing (almost) cold beer as usual for the Tropical Night Duck Dodge. Full Moon crew Art “Salsa” Teller, Michael “Parrothead” Medina, Randy “Sensei” Olsen, Galina “Grasshopper” Gordeeva, Daniel “Super Soaker” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Big Cup” Mengedoht went for a port tack start and managed to find a clear lane and fairly straight shot to the Freeway buoy.

The rounding was crowded and Full Moon had to work hard not to rear-end the T-bird Zoe while holding off a group of boats charging up from behind. The second leg to the AGC buoy was a very tight reach and Full Moon elected to stick with the jib rather than try to keep a spinnaker flying on the ragged edge of control. This was probably wise as the boats under spinnaker (of similar size) were no faster.

The second lap was fairly uneventful except for constant trading places with assorted T-birds. The wind angle was slightly lower for the reaching leg so the mighty Equalizer was deployed to good advantage, though the spinnaker pole still spent the whole time right on the forestay. In the end, Full Moon was a very respectable 8th. Caroline “Coconuts” Sneed beckoned Full Moon to join the post-race raft up but it was time to pour some cold margaritas and enjoy sailing around for yet another spectacular evening.

A Star is Born

Suzan and Caroline with a cold post-race beer.

Chuck and Tammy.

"Mr. Gibbs" provides a head massage.

The setting sun melts the Aurora Bridge.

The Race Committee set an exceptionally wide starting line for Duck Dodge No. 11 but, as is so often the case, it was nearly impossible to cross on the favored starboard tack with the wind out of the northwest. Full Moon crew Tammy “Gusher” Cross, Chuck “Butt End” Weldy, Caroline “Fabulous Foredeck” Sneed, Suzan “Pinwheels” Schneider, Daniel “Mr. Gibbs” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Head Massage” Mengedoht went for the middle of the line, hoping for a clear shot to tack onto port at the gun but first were blanketed by the giant Distance, killing precious speed, and then were overlapped by a red Santana 20. This delayed the critical tack and turned a potential great start into a mediocre one.

Cruising upwind to the Freeway buoy, Full Moon struggled to find consistent speed in the shifty and gusty breeze. A tack onto starboard near the buoy forced several oncoming boats to duck behind, though, and an excellent tack right at the buoy (with inside rights) held off two J24s and a Thunderbird so at least the tactics were working!

The next leg to the Aurora buoy was also upwind and the game was on to catch old rival Fortis. This was managed successfully but, given Caroline’s first try on the foredeck, the Equalizer was replaced by the much smaller (and ancient) standard spinnaker. Could Full Moon stay ahead without the Equalizer? A jibe at the Aurora buoy was followed by the spinnaker hoist. Full Moon headed out toward the middle of the lake for stronger breeze while Fortis elected to stay on port jibe nearer the Westlake shore. Full Moon did a clean jibe onto port and the strategy paid off. Full Moon had the inside line to the AGC buoy and rounded ahead into 14th place. Great job, Caroline!
Heading upwind to start the second lap, the wind picked up and Full Moon left Fortis well behind while closing on the Ranger 22 True North and moving into possible striking distance of the Pearson 30 Tenacious, which has had a string of second place finishes this summer. Full Moon caught True North before the Aurora buoy, held them off under spinnaker and then pulled farther ahead upwind to take “lucky” 13th at the finish. Tenacious was nearly caught when they made a blunder under spinnaker but were still just a bit faster than Full Moon and finished 12th.

It was yet another great evening with both sunshine and decent wind, though the sun sets way too early these days!

Pajamarama

Pinkie, Teddy, and Clothes Horse observe the competition.

Doug Schoemaker photo.

Depends scrutinizes the spinnaker shape with support from Cabin Boy. Nice to see all those boats behind us.

Doug Schoemaker photo.

Legs!

Doug Schoemaker photo.

Full Moon enjoyed a very full crew for the Pajama Night Duck Dodge on yet another spectacular evening. Art “Hot Legs” Teller, Debra “Teddy” Ricard, Doug “Sunset Shot” Schoemaker, Michael “Clothes Horse” Medina, Marcelle “Pinkie” Lynde, Daniel “Cabin Boy” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Depends” Mengedoht had a timely start but were blanketed by a cloud of sails crowding in at the Committee Boat, including the relative giant Buchan 37 Distance. Once into clear air, Full Moon got up to speed and made some good tacks to approach the “AGC” buoy. With a boat stalled right at the buoy, Full Moon was able to swing a bit wide and quickly launch the Equalizer spinnaker, picking off three surprised boats, including the speedy Olson 25 Dreams.

After a decent jibe at the “Challenger” buoy, Full Moon kept rocketing along on a nice beam reach, passing a Santana 20, a J24, and the J-22 Rawhide while holding off Dreams. With a smooth spinnaker drop at the Freeway buoy, it was back upwind to head into a second lap. Unfortunately, the Santana and Dreams managed to get by on this long leg and the two J boats were in close contention throughout the second lap. Full Moon almost caught Dreams on the second long reaching leg but had to contend with Rawhide trying to come up from behind and the three boats rounded the final buoy in close formation.

The wind got a bit light and shifty for the final leg to the finish and, unfortunately, both J boats got by to drop Full Moon to a still commendable 11th out of a very large fleet. It was great fun to mix it up with Dreams and the J boats while leaving old rivals Fortis and Shogun well behind.

Gotcha!

Full Moon crew Randy “Does It All” Olsen, Galina “Gripper” Gordeeva, Katie “Rusty Red Wagon” Freels, Sara “I Hear Nothing” Skinner, and skipper John “Slow” Mengedoht nailed the start for Duck Dodge No. 9 but inexplicably struggled upwind on the first leg and fell back to 12th to round the Aurora buoy. Launching the mighty Equalizer spinnaker helped considerably for the downwind leg and Full Moon began to gain on some Thunderbirds and a J24 while leaving the back half of the fleet well behind.

Returning upwind from the AGC buoy to the Freeway mark, Full Moon found the groove and made the most of the wind shifts, continuing to slowly gain on boats ahead. The often challenging leg past Gasworks Park saw no change but on the second downwind leg, Full Moon finally engaged two T-birds, Predator and Zoe, while holding off a pesky red Santana 20. Full Moon prevailed at the end of the run and rounded the AGC buoy with Predator a few boatlengths behind.

Charging ahead upwind, Full Moon held off the three challengers and, midway up the lake, passed a J24 as well to move into ninth. Closer to the Freeway buoy, Full Moon crossed paths with relative giant Mata Hari, forcing Mata Hari to duck behind. Not far ahead, the J22 Bullet was struggling a bit, too close to the Eastlake shore. The wind gods smiled and Full Moon enjoyed a favorable shift right to the buoy and moved up to 7th. One leg to go!

With the course to the finish a bit iffy for the spinnaker, Full Moon made the right call and stayed with the genoa, easily holding onto 7th for the best finish of the summer! With some cold beer and a nearly cloudless sky, it was a great evening on the water.

Summer At Last!

Michael, John, and Daniel

John catches flies while Eileen trims the jib.

Are those 80s vintage sunglasses?

Caroline basks in the sun.

Full Moon crew Art “Headband” Teller, Michael “Pole Dancer” Medina, Eileen “Cookies” McHugh, Caroline “Silver Jacket” Sneed, Daniel “Tab” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Meds” Mengedoht were lacking a good mullet but otherwise in fine shape for the 80s Night Duck Dodge. With sunny skies, warm temperatures (finally!), and a nice northerly, Full Moon enjoyed a rare good start and made good speed to the “Freeway” buoy, rounding ahead of Runner, Tenacious, and Perfectly Strange.


Heading for the “Aurora” buoy on a tight reach, Runner slowly crept past but Tenacious could not quite catch up. Full Moon did well under the mighty Equalizer spinnaker and continued to hold off Tenacious downwind. Perfectly Strange did better sailing tighter wind angles, though, and managed to get by. After rounding the AGC and Chandler’s buoys, Tenacious also finally made it by upwind, leaving Full Moon to battle for the second lap with a quick red Santana 20 and a blue T-bird, the rest of the fleet having fallen well behind.

Both boats challenged Full Moon at times but, in the end, Full Moon easily held off the Santana and beat the T-bird to the finish to place an excellent eleventh. Fortis and Shogun were never close, finishing well behind.

Trouble With T-Birds!

Beware the white T-Bird to starboard!

Despite the bank of clouds, there was a nice sunset through the Aurora Bridge.

It was Red Wine, White Wine and the Blues Night at the Duck Dodge this week and Full Moon crew Art “Silverback” Teller, Michael “Mike-ronesia” Medina, Tammy “The Onion” Cross, Don “iPhone” Caffrey, and skipper John “Boat Policy” Mengedoht did their best to dress for the theme. The wind was decent but the starting line was extremely crowded, slowing everybody down. Full Moon was in the middle of a tight group when a white T-bird came flying up from behind with no space to fit into (though they could easily have turned aside). All hands joined in fending off, barely averting the crunching of fiberglass and plywood.

As the fleet slowly spread out upwind, Full Moon was able to make a straight shot to the AGC buoy. Boats rounding the mark were returning on a reciprocal course, though being on port tack they had to yield to boats still approaching the buoy on starboard tack. A black T-bird heading for the buoy was caught in the traffic and without warning changed course directly in front of a J-22, resulting in a loud bang and both boats heading directly for Full Moon’s port side. Quick maneuvering prevented further catastrophe but Full Moon stayed well away from T-birds for the rest of the race!

The wind increased a bit on the legs to the “Freeway” and “Aurora” buoys and old rival Shogun managed to exploit the shifts and catch Full Moon. This resulted in a great battle under spinnaker with the usual banter between boats. Returning upwind to start the second lap, though, Full Moon took off and left Shogun behind for good.

The rest of the race was spent trading places with the J-22 Rawhide. In the end, Full Moon edged out Rawhide under spinnaker for the downwind finish to take 12th out of some 30 boats. As always, a good time was had by all.

Summer is Here!

Laurel focuses on the competition.

Shogun swings by after the race. Skipper Rick Ranta works for Frank!

Laurel “Fast Learner” Swol and Frank “Rick’s Boss” Lockhart joined Full Moon crew Randy “Bushed” Olsen, Ian “Chip N' Dip” Mengedoht, Daniel “Coke Zero” Mengedoht and skipper John “30 Degrees” Mengedoht for Duck Dodge No. 6.  Sunny skies and a decent northerly on the first race of summer motivated the race committee to call for a long 2 ½ lap race. Unfortunately, pre-start maneuvers were a bit shocking as the J-109 Tantivy tangled with another fairly large boat, causing damage to both. Fortunately, there did not appear to be any injuries.

Full Moon was a bit tardy to the starting line but still managed to force Fortis into an unplanned tack that left them wallowing with no speed. Old rival Shogun was ahead, though, with a better start and the hunt was on. Full Moon gained a bit upwind, then a good bit more downwind under spinnaker, and then passed Shogun for good on the long upwind leg from the “Challenger” buoy to the “Freeway” buoy, completing the first lap.

With good wind and faster boats ahead, Full Moon did not have much hope of catching anybody else so the rest of the race mostly came down to holding off the speedy J-22 Rawhide and a well-sailed Santana 20, which was running light with a small crew and no outboard. Rawhide did eventually manage to get by but the Santana didn’t have the upwind chops and Full Moon finished a decent 12th out of roughly 30 boats. Shogun and Fortis finished well behind, as did all of the Thunderbirds, which is always nice!

Wet Pirates!

Pirates, Ho!

Visible close by are Runner, Katrinka Finkelsplat, and Scat

After missing three weeks due to skipper conflicts (supporting son Ian with the Roosevelt Jazz Band), Full Moon returned to racing for the Pirate Night Duck Dodge. Crew Michael “Aahhhrrr!” Medina, Doug “Wet Seaman” Schoemaker, Eileen “Undampened” McHugh, Don “Bootymonger” Caffrey, and skipper John “Spongepants” Mengedoht had a decent start in a mild northwesterly wind, striving to get onto port tack as soon as possible to head toward the “Freeway” buoy. Pinching off a pesky J24, Full Moon rounded the first mark in the good company of Scat and Perfectly Strange and within the top ten boats.

The “Aurora” buoy proved troublesome with extremely light wind – and that light wind was itself very shifty. Full Moon managed to keep up with the fast boats, including Dreams, Runner, and a J27, and then launched the Equalizer for what proved to be a very close reach to the AGC buoy.

Returning upwind for the second lap, Full Moon again held her own with supposedly faster boats and, somewhere near Gasworks, managed to pass Runner and move up into 8th place. Full Moon then briefly caught Dreams as Dreams stalled with no steerage right at the Aurora buoy. Unfortunately, Dreams moved back out ahead and Runner eventually worked back on by – but not before asking if Full Moon perhaps had new sails! (The sails are 10 years old…)

Meanwhile, it had started raining, catching a few of us unprepared as it had been sunny at the race start. Enduring light winds and constant rain, the crew was not excited about hoisting the spinnaker one last time for the reach to the finish line. This allowed a couple of boats to ooze by and Full Moon ended up a still-respectable 11th out of 25-30 boats and still a good margin ahead of Perfectly Strange. Shogun and Fortis were never a threat and finished well behind.

Invisible Buoys

Randy, Galina & "Cap'n John"

Art, a self-portrait

Michael, enjoying the sun

Full Moon returned to racing Tuesday with the first Duck Dodge of the year. Crew Randy “Smooth-Drop” Olsen, Art “Pole Up” Teller, Michael “Telltales” Medina, Galina “Rookie” Gordeeva, and skipper John “Not That I Can See” Mengedoht had a great start, actually flirting with being over early. Being overpowered in gusty wind made for a fun, if not especially efficient, upwind leg and a last-second double tack to make the AGC buoy allowed old rival Shogun to slip by with Fortis hot on our heels.

The second leg was a beam reach and Full Moon stuck with a jib in the strong breeze while Fortis tried to gain under spinnaker. The next buoy, however, was nowhere to be seen so boats just went to where a buoy usually would be and made the turn northward. After a jibe at the turn, Full Moon launched the infamous Equalizer spinnaker, left Fortis well behind, and began to make gains on Shogun.

After a smooth spinnaker douse at the “Freeway” buoy, things were looking good until a mainsheet block parted ways with the traveler car! Somehow Full Moon maintained approximately the right course while the boom was held down by hand and repairs were made, though there was no chance to make any gains on Shogun. Rounding the “Aurora” buoy, though, the length of the lake awaited for an upwind slog and Full Moon had her chance to catch and pass our oldest rival.

The second lap was very similar to the first except that Full Moon held position and didn’t break anything! Heading to the finish, yet another buoy had disappeared so Full Moon steered close to the Committee Boat to ensure being noticed crossing the “line.” Full Moon ended up a very respectable eighth, just behind the Thunderbird Selchie, Scat, and Runner. Shogun held on for ninth and Fortis was back around sixteenth, over a leg behind.

Sunny Finale

Pre-start maneuvers. Michael Medina photo.

Battling Runner to the finish line. Michael Medina photo

Full Moon crew Randy Olsen, Art Teller, Michael Medina, Daniel “Dread Pirate” Mengedoht and skipper John Mengedoht tried a port-tack start for the final Goosebump race, which paid off with clear air once past the line, though several bigger boats were already ahead and pulling away. With light winds and a two lap race called for, it looked like a long afternoon was in store but the sun was out and a long afternoon sounded just fine.

As usual, Full Moon pulled out ahead of traditional rivals Fortis and Shogun (Ignitor didn’t race this series). Not so usual was a close race with speedy Runner. Full Moon would pop out ahead and Runner would return the favor. At the final buoy, Full Moon was just barely ahead but clever Runner swung wide around the buoy and into a controlling position for the broad reach to the finish line. With Runner taking Full Moon’s wind, all we could do was sail a lower angle with the mighty Equalizer spinnaker and try to gain some separation. This worked but, unfortunately, not in time to regain the lead so Runner crossed the line about 30 feet ahead.

Full Moon continued to sail around Lake Union for quite awhile after the race enjoying the rare cloudless sky and relatively warm temperatures, not to mention a few cold beers. With weather like this, can summer be far away?

Another Great Start...

Just like a cell phone advertisment - count the bars! (Art Teller photo)

It's hard to keep the boat balanced in such strong wind... (Art Teller photo)

Full Moon crew Randy “Halyards” Olsen, Art “Jamaican” Teller, Michael “Cheap Drunk” Medina, Daniel “The Quiet One” Medina, and skipper John “Big Enough” Mengedoht were well positioned for the start of Goosebump Race No. 5 until a wave of much larger boats essentially shut down the wind. Once the monsters were past, Full Moon recovered and had a good first leg upwind to the AGC buoy, picking off Shogun and several other boats which had been smart enough to avoid the big dogs (but not fast enough to hold off Full Moon!).

Full Moon maintained good speed on the reach to the Cove buoy, pulling farther ahead of boats behind, though only passing two boats and not really gaining on the leaders. Rounding the buoy, the giant Equalizer spinnaker rose to the occasion and Full Moon began to reel in 42 foot Yankee III, Tenacious, and a speedy dinghy, all sailing a “hotter” angle toward the middle of the lake but into weaker wind. As all three jibed back toward the Freeway buoy, Full Moon had pulled in front by some 75 yards and into 7th place!

Heading on a tight reach to the Aurora buoy, Yankee III and Tenacious began to gain slowly and it was unclear if Full Moon could remain ahead all the way around and to the finish line upwind. It was painful to watch and Full Moon used every scrap of wind but the bigger boats had their way, along with the pesky dinghy, using the light wind to its advantage and relegating Full Moon to a still-good 10th place finish. Shogun had managed to come on strong to take 11th but Fortis was a long way back, finishing some ten minutes later.

Superbowl Comeback!

Full Moon was caught behind a wall of boats in light wind at the starting line for the Superbowl Sunday Goosebump race and, when the fleet began to spread out, Full Moon was nearly last! A few strategic tacks to slightly breezier spots helped as crew Caroline "The Model" Sneed, Sara "Politically Incorrect" Skinner, Chuck "In The Pocket" Weldy, and skipper John "Slow Learner" Mengedoht began a slow crawl toward respectability.

At the end of the first leg, Full Moon had caught and passed old rival Shogun and a few other laggards. Rounding the AGC buoy, Full Moon jibed and then hoisted the giant Equalizer and squeezed past a few more boats. The leg from the Cove buoy to the Freeway buoy was a long and fairly tight reach but Full Moon kept the Equalizer in play and quickly picked off Fortis, another boat or two, and, very nearly, a J33!

The J33 surged back ahead, though (they should!), and the final leg was a slow upwind drag race to a 14th place finish out of more than 25 boats. This doesn't sound all that fabulous but there were a couple of T-birds and all of our old rivals in our wake plus there was no rain!

Wind!

Art working hard in the pre-start...

Eileen enjoys multiple warm layers.

Randy says: Does this make it look like we're heeled over?

Though the skies were pewter gray, no rain fell and there was measurable wind for the third Goosebump race. Full Moon crew Randy “Long & Thick” Olsen, Art “Halyard” Teller, Eileen “Warm” McHugh, and skipper John “Puffs” Mengedoht had a decent second-row start, tacked for clear air, and made it to the first AGC buoy in 11th place. With a short beam reach to the Cove buoy, the Equalizer stayed in the bag until the 3rd leg up the Eastlake shore where it helped Full Moon gain on a red Thunderbird and always-fast Runner.

Runner had problems with their spinnaker drop at the Freeway buoy and Full Moon rounded ahead, nearly catching the T-bird and the big Buchan 37 Distance. Returning upwind to complete the first lap, Distance had pulled out ahead and Runner caught up but the T-bird suffered in lighter air near the western shore and Full Moon got by. Always nice to pass a T-bird!

Full Moon held position to start the second lap but the spinnaker hoist went awry with the head trapped under the top of the forestay. The Equalizer still filled and pulled the boat but with reduced area. This allowed the red T-bird to slowly work on by. The wind began to decrease at this point but was still blowing and the remainder of the race was a battle with the T-bird which, unfortunately, finished just a few feet ahead to leave Full Moon a still-respectable 10th. The rest of the fleet was left to suffer with fading wind, old rivals Fortis and Shogun a full half lap down on Full Moon.