Grand Finale

Tammy, Judy, J, Randy (in the cabin), Daniel, Dave, Marcelle, and Cap'n John crowd aboard for the final Duck Dodge of summer as Michael takes the photo.

The final Duck Dodge of summer is always Martini Night aboard Full Moon with much more of a party atmosphere than serious racing, not that we didn’t try. With lounge lizard tunes emanating from the Jambox, Full Moon crew Randy “Shake n’ Bake” Olsen, Michael “Naked Duck” Medina, Marcelle “I’m In!” Lynde, Tammy “Statue of Liberty” Cross, Dave “I’ll Have Another” Pulsifer, Judy “Buoy Dancer” Tiffany, J “Wet Line” Irons, Daniel “Blue Shoes” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Persistence” Mengedoht managed a decent start, though both old rival Ignitor and new rival Zephyr were out ahead.

With many boats disturbing the moderate breeze, progress to the Freeway buoy felt slower than normal (even factoring in the extra large crew), though Full Moon more or less matched the pace of the Thunderbirds Predator (slightly ahead) and Selchie (slightly behind) and gained a bit on Zephyr. A late wind shift lifted Full Moon nicely to the buoy, saving a tack or two and allowing Full Moon to get by Zephyr.

The second leg past Gasworks brought Full Moon even with Predator and a little closer to Ignitor while Zephyr continued to fade. The mighty Equalizer was hoisted promptly at the Aurora buoy and the long running leg to the “AGC” buoy allowed Full Moon to put the T-birds behind for good while gaining some more on Ignitor and even nearly catching speedy Tenacious!

Tenacious jumped ahead again upwind to complete the first lap but Full Moon continued chipping away at Ignitor. Heading past Gasworks again, Full Moon delayed tacking to the north and enjoyed a nice bit of breeze just as it faded elsewhere and was then able to ride the wind patch nearly to the Aurora buoy where a group of boats sat nearly parked with next to no wind. Full Moon managed to dodge through the drifting cluster and carry momentum around the buoy for another nice launch of the Equalizer. Ignitor had been passed before the buoy but was close behind.

By this time it was dark and the wind continued to fade down the lake. Zephyr had skipped half of the Freeway-to-Aurora leg before turning south under spinnaker (did they think nobody would notice?) but then gave up entirely as the Race Committee began honking air horns to beckon boats for the big raft-up party. Full Moon and Ignitor, however, continued slowly drifting south with mostly collapsed spinnakers, determined to complete the full two laps.

Full Moon was clear ahead at the AGC buoy but only just. Ignitor was slow bringing down their spinnaker, though, and Full Moon pulled ahead upwind by about thirty yards. At this point, it was too dark to read the Windex atop the mast or even to see the telltails on the sails, not that they would have been flying much in the tiny breeze. Full Moon eventually tacked to clear some boats heading for the raft-up while Ignitor continued straight. This proved decisive as the wind filled in for Ignitor just as it faded out for Full Moon! In the end, Ignitor came cruising in toward the finish line on starboard tack and Full Moon was forced to tack out of their way, losing out by mere feet to our old rival. That’s how it goes sometimes and I’m sure it felt great on Ignitor to vanquish a foe which usually beats them.

Meanwhile, the martinis continued to flow and the great food was passed around the boat as Full Moon sailed around enjoying the final evening. It has been a great summer and Full Moon has done quite well, enjoying the victories in third start and beating many competitors in second start. For those interested in the numbers, Full Moon dominated in third start with four firsts, one second, one third, and one fourth out of seven races. In second start, Full Moon averaged tenth, unable to beat the variety of much faster boats (J33, J29, J80s, Olson 30, etc.) but able to more than hold her own against the Thunderbirds and J22s which are considered fairly even competition. Regardless, it was all great fun.

Full Moon will likely return to racing for the Duck Dodge Rum Run out on the Sound on November 3 and will then rest a bit before joining the Goosebump fleet in January. Brrrrr….