Light Wind in the Wild West

Full Moon's vote for the Black Duck was this Catalina Canoe.

The Western Night Duck Dodge featured mild to sometimes nonexistent wind out of the southwest along with clearing skies and fairly warm temperatures. Full Moon crew Marcelle “Holy Shoes” Lynde, Dave “New Shoes” Pulsifer, Judy “No Shoes” Tiffany, Michelle “Sporty Shoes” Mathison, Daniel “Blue Shoes” Mengedoht and skipper John “Old Shoes” Mengedoht maneuvered for a fairly decent start near the Committee Boat but still got stuck in bad air from several boats and no good opportunities to tack for clear air. Eventually, things cleared out enough to tack to the west but this still involved ducking several boats on starboard tack. Fortunately, the next tack saw those same boats needing to duck behind Full Moon!

Full Moon flies the Equalizer on the second leg.

With lots of oncoming traffic at the AGC buoy, Full Moon delayed hoisting the mighty Equalizer spinnaker for a short while but then made good use of the nylon monster with a speedy beam reach straight to the Freeway buoy. This included passing a few boats to finally get into the front half of the fleet and leaving boats such as rival Zephyr well behind.

A line of third start boats heading for the finish. It was gorgeous out there!

After a clean drop of the spinnaker, it was another straight shot upwind to the Aurora buoy. The next leg was a fairly close reach back to the Committee Boat. The J24 Beagle was gaining from behind but chose to try and pass to windward between Full Moon and another boat. Full Moon called “leeward!” and attempted to head Beagle up before it was too late but Beagle forged ahead between boats and didn’t even attempt to get the other boat to change course. (Memo to Beagle: In a serious race, that would have cost you a protest or penalty turn – don’t try to pass to windward unless you have room to head up!) Oh, well, it is the Duck Dodge…

Full Moon enjoys the sunset after the race.

After rounding the AGC buoy, the Equalizer was hoisted again and Full Moon pulled back ahead of Beagle while also gaining on speedy Dreams (Olson 25). Unfortunately, the wind was getting lighter heading toward the Freeway buoy. Full Moon caught up to Dreams with some separation on their leeward side but Beagle was able to ride the following wind longer to get around the leeward side of Full Moon. Full Moon rounded the mark just outside of Dreams while Beagle stayed further out. This benefited Beagle for a while as Full Moon suffered in the wind shadow off Dreams and had to fall off a bit toward Gasworks. Up ahead, though, it was clear that the wind was getting ever lighter, especially closest to the north shore of the lake where Beagle was heading.

A good turnout for the post-race raft-up!

Dreams and Full Moon were just south of the dying breeze and, while Dreams looked like they could make the Aurora buoy, Full Moon was going to have to take a hitch to the south. Full Moon waited patiently for a little more breeze before tacking and then tacking back with a perfect line to the buoy. Unfortunately, a trimaran had come to nearly a dead stop right at the buoy! Dreams stayed wide but Full Moon was able to just tack into the slowly enlarging hole between the trimaran and the buoy. The choice to keep south and good timing for the tacks allowed Full Moon to pass five boats on this one leg, including Beagle and the T-birds Valkyrie and Selchie! Full Moon wasn’t quite done, though, and managed to pass one more J24 and hold off Dreams to cross the line in eighth place, a great result for a challenging race.

On Second Thought...

In my previous post, I briefly described a contentious rounding at the Aurora buoy between Full Moon and the T-bird Valkyrie. The course to the buoy was approaching but not quite close-hauled. Full Moon was clear ahead. Valkyrie had been slowly gaining and maneuvering to windward, apparently hoping to gain an inside overlap at the buoy. Full Moon responded by also maneuvering to windward to block the attempt. Upon reaching the zone within 3 boat-lengths of the buoy (my opinion), Full Moon then fell off a bit to lay the mark, confident that Valkyrie could not legally establish an inside overlap.

Valkyrie, however, still was moving slightly faster and maneuvered to create an inside overlap. Believing that Valkyrie had no rights, having established an overlap too late, Full Moon tacked just after reaching the mark. Valkyrie also tacked (they might have been able to duck behind but maybe not) and rounded the buoy without contacting either Full Moon or the buoy. There was a bit of yelling back and forth, though, regarding (A) when the overlap had been established and (B) whether Full Moon had the right to tack.

The Duck Dodge, of course, does not enforce the official Racing Rules as published by the ISAF but many racers voluntarily attempt to follow these rules anyway since they are designed specifically for fair competition and to keep boats from harming each other. I certainly try to follow them, at least as best I understand them, and Valkyrie's crew seemed to be in the same mode.

Anyway, my contention had been along the lines of Rule 18.2 (c) (2) which states "When a boat is required to give mark-room by rule 18.2 (b), if she becomes overlapped inside the boat entitled to mark room, she shall also give that boat room to sail her proper course while they remain overlapped." Full Moon's "proper course" was to tack as soon as possible and, by this rule, Valkyrie would be required to give Full Moon room to do that.

All would be well for Full Moon but for the next part of the rule which states "However, if the boat entitled to mark-room passes head to wind [tacks] or leaves the zone [3 boat-length zone around the buoy], rule 18.2(b) ceases to apply." What this means is that Full Moon could do most anything at all except to tack. In other words, Valkyrie was correct - I did NOT have the right to tack - and I sincerely apologize to them for not understanding that.

What I should have done was head up and force Valkyrie to miss the buoy. That would have been completely fair under the rules and would not have involved tacking. And, if Valkyrie intended to follow the rules, they would have had to fall off and circle back around the buoy (even the Duck Dodge requires that you go around all the buoys!). I had assumed Valkyrie would not dare cut inside and didn't realize they had done so until it was too late. My mistake - but I won't make that one again if I can help it!

I also can't resist a parting shot. The next part of Rule 18.2 is section (d), which states "If there is reasonable doubt that a boat obtained or broke and overlap in time, it shall be presumed that she did not." Translation: If you hope to establish an inside overlap coming from behind, you better make damn sure you do so in time and that the other boat is fully aware of it because the burden of proof is all on you!

T-Bone Pirates

The Seafair Pirates have nothing on the Duck Dodgers!

Full Moon crew Randy “Early Riser” Olsen, Art “Twisted Stick” Teller, Doug “Late Boat” Schoemaker, Eileen “No Shrimpin” McHugh, Daniel “Twizzler” Mengedoht, and skipper John “No Overlap” Mengedoht had a decent start for the Pirate Night Duck Dodge until getting rolled by the much bigger Norlin 34 Runaway. Tacking out of Runaway’s slipstream would have meant ducking too many boats, so Full Moon suffered in bad air for a while. Eventually, things opened up and Full Moon tacked toward the Westlake shore and better breeze, though our ancient rival Ignitor had found even better breeze near the Eastlake shore and very nearly poked out in front.

Meanwhile, toward the middle of the lake, the big and heavy Buchan 37 Distance was cranking along on port tack and apparently oblivious to the Santana 27 Shogun crossing on starboard. The resulting t-bone created that horrific sound nobody likes to hear and we hope that Shogun (and especially all her crew) will be okay.

Full Moon rolls by Runaway under the Mighty Isis.

Full Moon delayed jibing and raising the spinnaker after rounding the AGC buoy to provide a little separation from all the traffic still heading south. Once hoisted, the Mighty Isis (aka the Equalizer) proved its worth downwind, as Full Moon quickly took off and chased down Runaway while also keeping a decent lead on speedy Scat. The Mighty Isis came down smoothly at the Freeway buoy, though it took a while to get things sorted and the jib properly trimmed and somehow the mainsail outhaul got released (!).

Another view. Full Moon is moving pretty fast judging by the bow wave!

Once settled into a groove, it was a straight shot to the Aurora buoy, though Full Moon had to maneuver a bit to hold off the T-Bird Valkyrie. The rounding then got a little ugly as Valkyrie attempted to poke inside without having established an overlap the requisite three boat-lengths out (our opinion and, of course, part of the racing rules but not officially part of the Duck Dodge rules, though many boats follow them anyway). Full Moon tacked just after the buoy, forcing Valkyrie to tack as well, which proved unpopular on the other boat. Apparently, Valkyrie’s skipper had hoped to prevent Full Moon from tacking for a while. Better luck next time! (Not really. Is there a reason they keep an inflatable lamb stuck on their bow?)

Heading back south, Cap’n John very nearly forgot that the course instructions required crossing the finish line at the end of the first lap. The resulting late course change set Ignitor out in front but it was better than ignoring (or forgetting) the rule as happened to Valkyrie, Runaway, and at least two other boats. The Race Committee was actually watching for this, too, and those boats were all disqualified, not that any were in serious contention for a top three finish. Regardless, Full Moon passed Ignitor before reaching the AGC buoy so all was well.

Seaquest snags the Aurora buoy!

The second spinnaker run went very smoothly, as did the takedown at the Freeway buoy. It was another straight shot to the Aurora buoy, too, though a third-start boat named Seaquest had managed to snag the buoy with their rudder and Full Moon had to round both the buoy and the boat! Once around, it was a straight upwind haul to finish seventh (as best we could tell). Scat was next with Ignitor two boats further back and Zephyr another two boats after Ignitor. This makes seven straight races with no rain! (Hope I didn’t just jinx us for next week…)

Lots of boats out enjoying yet another fine Tuesday evening.

Team Spirit

Full Moon in prestart maneuvers. Time to polish that hull!

Full Moon crew Randy “Corona” Olsen, Dave “Scotch” Pulsifer, Judy “Seltzer” Tiffany, and skipper John “Summer Ale” Mengedoht got caught in a tight squeeze between Scat and another boat at the start of the Superbowl/Team Spirit Duck Dodge and were quite literally shoved back into the second row in extremely light breeze. Spotting more wind toward the Eastlake shore, Full Moon tacked away from the direct course to the Freeway buoy. This meant being only a few yards from the start line five minutes later but did eventually pay off fairly well, though a number of boats were still ahead, including arch-rival Zephyr and the T-bird Zoe.

More of the prestart. Not much wind...

The Freeway mark rounding was tight and slow but Full Moon was still in the hunt and only 300 yards or so behind giant Neptune’s Car from the first start (with Full Moon regular Michael Medina aboard). In such light air, a spinnaker can be a liability if it can’t be kept full and Full Moon elected to stick with the jib instead and hold it out to catch any wind. This may or may not have been a wise choice as some boats passed by with spinnakers. Full Moon worked south into a bit more breeze, though, and repassed all the boats that had done well under spinnaker plus a few more. This move also set things up nicely to round the Aurora buoy, coming in on starboard jibe with right of way.

70' Neptune's Car in first start with Michael Medina on board.

The rounding was again crowded with Full Moon on the inside, Scat next but a bit forward, and a good sized pinwheel outside of Scat. Zephyr was somewhere in the middle and, based on the shouting, must have cut inside a boat or two without having rights to do so.

Second start and third start boats mix it up downwind. Full Moon is out of the picture to the west.

Escaping the buoy, Scat was in the perfect lee-bow position and slowly pulled out ahead as Full Moon clawed to windward to gain some separation. Full Moon stayed close to Scat and closed up a bit on speedy Dreams while continuing to climb to windward to maintain clear air in a slightly building breeze. With several boats battling, the windward position paid off as Full Moon passed the Capri 25 Triple Time and Zoe while holding off the big Buchan 37 Distance. Distance then poked their bow between Full Moon and Scat, setting things up well for Full Moon to have the inside position at the AGC buoy.

Another great sunset!

Reaching to the finish line, Full Moon made sure Distance could not get by to windward but could not stop them from dropping down to leeward. A bigger boat with much taller sails, Distance slowly gained to nip Full Moon by just a few feet at the finish line to take 5th with Full Moon an excellent 6th and Scat back in 8th. Zephyr appeared to finish 12th a few minutes later.

Double Trouble

Verity displays some nice duct tape creativity.

The Duct Tape Duck Dodge featured light to non-existent wind out of the southwest and slowly clearing skies. Full Moon crew Michael “Everything is Awesome” Medina, Marcelle “Beautiful Bellevue” Lynde, Tammy “Ridiculous Redmond” Cross, Chuck “Cheez-Its” Weldy, Daniel “Movie Magic” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Vodka!” Mengedoht set up for a decent start near the buoy end of the starting line but a large blue boat named Asystole (which means no cardiac activity) had the same general idea. Unfortunately, they were a bit late tacking for the starting line and in the process they delayed Full Moon as well.

Tammy, Michael, and Daniel enjoying the first upwind leg.

Once moving the right direction, Full Moon found some stronger wind on the eastern side of the lake and put this to good use to get past a few boats, including rival Zephyr. Approaching the AGC buoy, a different Zephyr struggled to make the buoy on starboard tack (and didn’t make it) as Full Moon successfully rounded outside and to windward. Rival Zephyr then elected to skip the buoy altogether rather than swing around outside other boats approaching on starboard tack. This was cheating, of course, for both Zephyrs, but it put them both in front of Full Moon.

Full Moon passes "non-rival" Zephyr as the Equalizer collapses.

After clearing the buoy area, Full Moon hoisted the mighty Equalizer spinnaker but the wind was extremely light and what there was of it was very shifty. Full Moon got past non-rival-Zephyr and then ended up on starboard jibe coming alongside rival-Zephyr on port jibe, both boats going the same direction. Slightly different wind 15 yards apart! Unfortunately, Full Moon eventually had to jibe, which allowed rival-Zephyr to pull back ahead. Incredibly, Zephyr then chose to skip the Freeway buoy rather than deal with going behind a small group of boats working their way around. Full Moon must look terrifying when gaining from behind! 

Heading west in light air - but we're gaining!

Full Moon, of course, rounded properly and then took a southerly route toward the Aurora buoy, seeing more wind that way. This paid off very well as Full Moon picked off several boats, including some J24s and speedy Dreams (Olson 25), before rounding the buoy in a tight cluster of boats. Zephyr was forced to the outside (at least they didn’t cheat this one!) but a J24 trying to sneak around inside had to have a crewman on the bow push off Full Moon’s stern to avoid a rear-ender. (Thanks for the push!)

Concentration apparently pays off...

On the final leg, Full Moon gathered a little speed in the light air but the relative giant Norlin 34 Runaway began to gain from behind. Full Moon squeezed a bit higher to weather, though, and established the classic lee-bow position, slowing Runaway and initiating some good-natured banter between boats. Full Moon then slowly pulled out ahead until there was room to tack. Unfortunately, once separated, Runaway was able to generate a bit more speed to pull back in front on the next tack and hold the lead to the finish – with more close-quarters banter, of course! In the end, Full Moon was an excellent seventh, ahead of all the J24s and T-birds and still happily ahead of the double-cheaters on Zephyr.

Post-race relaxation with a cup of bubbly.