Saving the Best for Last

Shoot The Moon slowly gaining from behind. Randy Olsen photo.

Full Moon skipped Goosebump Race No. 5 as the main halyard remained stuck at the top of the mast. A creative solution with an extension ladder and a very long telescoping pole (23’!) finally brought the shackle end down to the deck Sunday morning in time for the final race.

Several boats, including usually savvy Shoot The Moon, mistook the 1 minute warning for the start and were caught over early with a tough time getting back to restart in the light and shifty winds. We’re not sure if Shoot The Moon ever did properly start as they abandoned the race later but it was fun to be ahead of the big 40 footer.

Meanwhile, Full Moon crew Randy “Ethernet” Olsen, Art “Safety First” Teller, Chuck “Porter” Weldy, and skipper John “Pole Control” Mengedoht nailed the start and were battling the blue Thunderbird Selchie for first place until a red Santana 20 caught some breeze along the Westlake shore to surge ahead by a large margin.

After holding 3rd through the short reaching leg to the “Cove” buoy, Full Moon deployed the Equalizer to good advantage, pulling ahead of Selchie and closing on the red Santana, which had hoisted its spinnaker sideways! Unfortunately, a late wind shift necessitated a quick jibe with not quite enough time to jibe back and Full Moon rounded the Freeway buoy bareheaded and shrimping a bit besides. The jib was quickly hoisted but Selchie and the Santana were now solidly ahead and 30’ Tenacious was charging up from behind.

Rounding the Aurora buoy, Full Moon just caught the red Santana when the Santana got a nice puff of breeze and pulled back ahead. Then Tenacious swept by and a large 40+ footer started to challenge as well. In the end, Tenacious got by everybody to take the win, Selchie was a close 2nd, the red Santana held onto 3rd, and Full Moon somehow held off the big boat for a still-excellent 4th, our best finish of the series.

One is Enough!

Is there something missing here? Randy Olsen photo.

Goosebump Race No. 4 (Superbowl Sunday) got started with a “bang” for Full Moon crew Art “Packers” Teller, Randy “Not Steelers” Olsen, Daniel “Blue Balloon” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Splice-Nut” Mengedoht as a fitting at the end of the main halyard failed 10 minutes before the start. Unfazed, the valiant crew lowered the mainsail and prepared to race with just the genoa jib!

Performance upwind was reduced somewhat (more so on the short reaching leg) but the wind was strong enough that the difference wasn’t huge. Under the mighty Equalizer spinnaker, Full Moon was fast enough to pass some boats, though taking it back down was a challenge with no mainsail to help block the wind. Poor Daniel (10 years old) struggled mightily to help with the take-downs and at one point we thought he might be pulled aloft (or overboard) by the nylon monster!

In any case, through two laps, Full Moon held her own and still managed to finish about 12th (we lost count…) with 12 boats still behind, including a Thunderbird. Not bad at all!

Tossing Back a Cold One

Daniel scouts the competition. Michael Medina photo.

Full Moon crew Randy “Otter Pop” Olsen, Michael “Icicle” Medina, Daniel “Klondike Bar” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Creamsicle” Mengedoht lined up for a potentially great port-tack start at the buoy end for Goosebump Race No. 3 but encountered a long wall of boats on starboard tack with no holes to sneak through. The ensuing dive to leeward and late tack to starboard placed us mid-fleet at best. At least it wasn’t our usual overly conservative start!

After clearing the starting line, Full Moon held a good pace to the Aurora buoy. With a decent but very cold breeze and smaller than normal crew, the mighty Equalizer spinnaker was left in the bag. Good old Shogun and a speedy red Santana 20 threatened a bit after getting their own spinnakers up and under control but could not muster the speed to pass.

Returning upwind and then around again for a second lap brought no changes in position, despite forgoing the spinnaker yet again on the second lap. However the breeze dropped considerably for the final downwind leg to the finish line and Full Moon finally launched the Equalizer to ensure nobody overtaking at the end. Full Moon finished a respectable 12th so we are, if nothing else, consistent!