Bolero Dance

Goosebump Race No. 3 was on yet another rainy Sunday, though the forecast 15-25 knots winds proved to be more on the order of 5-10 with gusts to 15. Full Moon crew Randy “Layers” Olsen, Tammy “Squishy” Cross, Marcelle” Dribbles” Lynde, and skipper John “Rainman” Mengedoht opted for a port tack-pin end start in hopes of avoiding the inevitable pile-up of boats at the opposite end of the line. Despite having to duck behind a few starboard tack boats, this strategy worked pretty well and Full Moon rounded the AGC buoy about sixth.

Full Moon managed to roll one boat on the reach to the Cove buoy but a blue T-bird got by Full Moon on the inside right at the buoy. Once the mighty Equalizer was launched, though, Full Moon pulled back ahead and ended up mixing it up with relative giants Bolero (40’ +/-) and Surt (42’), neither of which were flying a spinnaker. Full Moon got past both big boats but got passed in turn by a J33 and 30' Tenacious just before the Freeway buoy.

On the tight reach to the Aurora buoy, first Surt and then Bolero roared past as expected but Full Moon managed to stay close to Bolero on the next long beat to start the second lap. On the second downwind run, Full Moon once again got past Bolero to move into seventh place, only to have Bolero return the favor one last time on the leg to the Aurora buoy.

Meanwhile, a red T-bird had been making some gains from behind. On the final leg to the finish, the T-bird tacked toward the Westlake shore, perhaps hoping for a better wind angle. Full Moon stayed toward the middle of the lake but with a close eye in case a tack to cover would be necessary. In the end, the T-bird wasn’t a threat and little Cinc-O-Sink beat the T-bird for ninth behind Full Moon in eighth. Old rival Ignitor finished fifteenth. It was great to beat all the Thunderbirds (there was also a white one - collectively they looked very patriotic!) and, for that matter, all boats under 30'. Congratulations also to our friends on The Black Knight who appeared to take first place!

Ignitor Returns!

Another balmy January day...             Michael Medina Photo

The black 30-footer looked very familiar and, sure enough, Full Moon’s old rival Ignitor appeared for the second Goosebump race, sporting new black topsides to replace the old red paint. Strong and gusty winds were threatening, favoring larger boats, so Full Moon would have to work hard to defeat Ignitor!

Crew Randy “To The Rescue” Olsen, Art “Mr. Kite” Teller, Michael “Kranken” Medina, Chuck “Black Butte” Weldy, and skipper John “Crazy Ivan” Mengedoht risked being overpowered with full sails for the start, planning to make changes on the fly if the wind continued to build. A delayed tack to avoid fouling Tenacious in the prestart maneuvers lead to a second-row start but tacking back to port to cross the line helped gain clear air. After clawing upwind to roll a struggling J24, Full Moon then made good speed to the AGC buoy.

Following a short reaching leg to the Cove buoy, it was time to launch the mighty Equalizer. All went well with the nylon monster until a gybe went awry and, during the effort to reattach the spinnaker pole, Full Moon briefly looked like a giant kite board with the Equalizer soaring skyward. Despite providing some entertainment for the rest of the fleet (especially the 505 dinghy Cinc-O-Sink surfing along nearby), the Equalizer helped Full Moon make some nice gains and Full Moon rounded the Freeway buoy in eighth.

The wind dropped quite a bit for the reach to the Aurora buoy and the final leg to the finish and, while Full Moon didn’t gain much on anybody, nobody could gain from behind, either, including (relative) giant Yankee III or the San Juan 28 Zephyr. In the end Full Moon retained eighth place with Ignitor a few hundred yards back in tenth. Good times in the cold and rain!

True Goosebumps!

Full Moon at the dock before the race.

Michael and Marcelle, after the snow stopped.

Randy looking a bit chilled.

Cap'n John can't feel his toes!

Snow coats the trees on Capitol Hill.

Full Moon crew Randy “Toxic Chocolate” Olsen, Michael “Slushballs” Medina, Marcelle “Hot Stuff” Lynde, and skipper John “Shiver Me Timbers” Mengedoht braved the snow Sunday for Goosebump Race No. 1. Heading out onto Lake Union, visibility was down to perhaps 150 yards as big fat snowflakes kept falling, continually covering the deck, lines, hardware, and sails. The snow lightened up a bit approaching the Committee Boat, though there were no visible signs of wind.

After a sneak snowball attack from our good friends on The Black Knight, Full Moon hoisted sails and tried to figure out where the best place would be for the start. When there was wind at all, it was mostly out of the north with the “pin” (west) end of the line closer to the Aurora buoy, so that was where Full Moon was positioned. This was good, in theory, but a tiny bit more wind filled in toward the other side of the line and boats on that side quickly pulled ahead. Rats!

After a painfully slow first leg, Full Moon rounded the Aurora buoy and headed “downwind” toward the AGC buoy. Hoisting a spinnaker ultimately would have paid off but that isn’t always the case in such light wind and Full Moon went without, choosing to try for more “speed” by sailing a hotter angle with the genoa.

Many crews didn’t read the sailing instructions and rounded both the red navigation buoy near the AGC building as well as the offset red ball buoy. However, what the other crews apparently knew – and Full Moon’s crew did not – was that the Race Committee had changed the course before the start to eliminate the “Cove” buoy at the southeast corner of the lake! Full Moon dutifully sailed the extra distance to round this buoy, losing a number of places in the process. (Note to self: Make sure to sail by the Committee Boat at 10 minutes to the start.) Ultimately, Full Moon was not last but certainly not in the top ten, either, a best guess being about 14^th place. On this day, though, the true challenge was just showing up. Hot Buttered Rum never tasted so good! (Thanks, Marcelle!)