It's a Trap!

The Race Committee thinks pink.

The rule is abundantly clear: a sailing vessel that is to windward shall keep out of the way of a vessel to leeward. However, it is also true that your options are very limited if another skipper won’t sail by the rules. And so it was that Full Moon was pinned on the leeward side of a red Harbor 20, prevented from sailing close-hauled or tacking across the starting line for the Pink Boat Regatta Duck Dodge.

 

Deception with their usual minimal decor.

Crew Randy “Fruit Salad” Olsen, Dave “Summer Ale” Pulsifer, Daniel “Blue Box” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Four-fifty” Mengedoht made the best of the circumstances, eventually clawing ahead of the Harbor 20 and gaining a bit on the leaders on the puffy windward leg to the AGC buoy. After a brief delay, the Equalizer was hoisted to good advantage heading north, Full Moon passing several boats. Unfortunately, passing giant (40’) Thundorca on their leeward side greatly slowed forward progress (passing to windward was not an option given the need to dodge drifting power boats).

Full Moon charging from behind to pass Thundorca.

 The Equalizer came down cleanly and the chase was on for the leg to the Aurora buoy, though big blue Crystal was threatening from behind. Crystal finally got past after tacking at the buoy, though they had to work hard for it. In the end, Full Moon was seventh, not at all bad given the start. Meanwhile, it was another gorgeous evening and the wind never shut down, providing wonderful sailing conditions. Full Moon also made a donation to the cause, of course, and happily added a new hot pink duck sticker to the mast.

Cluster Toot

Full Moon is dead center, still moving toward the AGC buoy and leading third start.

A port tack start near the middle of the line would have been ideal for the Skipper’s Choice Night Duck Dodge but Full Moon crew Michael “Big Toot” Medina, Marcelle “Lady Toot” Van Houten, Daniel “Little Toot” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Megatoot” Mengedoht ended up pinned by another starboard tacker cruising the line, delaying the desired tack. It took a while to get to a zone of relatively clear air but Full Moon was into the top ten boats rounding the Freeway buoy.

Slippery When Wet, left, eventual winner, Full Moon with red "S", and Freedom, eventual 3rd place boat, mid-cluster.

Heavy traffic suggested a tack soon after the buoy and this paid off extremely well, Full Moon nearly capturing the lead before rounding the Aurora buoy. A quick hoist of the Equalizer brought added speed, though the wind was often ahead of the beam and it was necessary to keep the pole low to stretch out the “luff” of the giant spinnaker. Full Moon kept going, though, passing into a solid lead.

Another view of the cluster.

A couple of hundred yards shy of the AGC buoy, the wind began shutting down, leading to a truly massive parking lot of bumper boats, Full Moon fending off on all four sides at once! Once around the buoy, Full Moon was still locked into position by surrounding boats as the wind began to sporadically fill back in. In the end, boats that had been behind lucked out by being in the best place as the wind came back and Full Moon finished about seventh in the dimming light.

Pajamarama

Tristan likes this sailing stuff!

Full Moon crew Dave “Balance Beam” Pulsifer, Judy “Sun Worshipper” Tiffany, Adam “Cookie” Michalak, Jackie “Cider” Hensy, Tristan “Rookie”, Daniel “Flannel” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Near Miss” Mengedoht enjoyed an excellent start for the Pajama Night Duck Dodge, though a crash tack was required to avoid t-boning Mustache Ride, Full Moon having been on starboard tack and the “stand-on” vessel. Other than getting rolled by an Islander Bahama 30 to windward, Full Moon romped in a straight shot upwind to the Freeway buoy, rounded in a bit of traffic, and then tacked into clear air for a nice upwind lane toward the Aurora buoy.

Judy wants the sun to come back.

Unfortunately, the Aurora buoy proved to be a moving target as it had been snagged by a Seascape 27 from the second start, dragging the buoy south and toward the Westlake shore. Two good tacks brought Full Moon into a small pack of boats squeezing around the buoy once it was set free. After a short delay, the mighty Equalizer was hoisted to good advantage, Full Moon briefly catching both the Seascape and Black Out (Santana 30/30) on the long reach/run to the AGC buoy.

Adam would prefer a cookie.

The spinnaker came down cleanly and Full Moon rounded the AGC buoy just inside Slingshot (J30) from second start. Unfortunately, the spinnaker pole had snagged the jib sheets and the jib was hung up for a bit after jibing at the buoy. The “fix” somehow trapped the other sheet with the topping lift on the next tack but Full Moon didn’t lose much speed and crossed the line to take the silver duck for second place. First place went to Loofah, a speedy J22.

Father and son discuss philosophy from the stern.

Lake Union Gyre

On approach to the Aurora buoy. Eventual winner Tatonka is the yellow boat in the background.

Full Moon crew Michael “Sticky Cards” Medina, Chuck “Tacky Whacky” Weldy, Doug “Walking Man” Schoemaker, Troy “Red Lobster” Charlesworth, Daniel “Weapons Officer” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Fend Off” Mengedoht enjoyed an excellent port tack start for the Tropical Night Duck Dodge and started catching second-start boats before even reaching the Freeway buoy. After a tight inside rounding in lots of traffic, Full Moon waited to tack for a while and then enjoyed nice clear air most of the way to the Aurora buoy. A quick hoist of the Equalizer at the buoy led to a fast beam reach south, Full Moon appearing to be in the lead.

Going nowhere fast...

Unfortunately, the wind completely died near the AGC buoy, Full Moon coasting to a stop among a vast cluster of boats going nowhere. The usual tactics of sculling, rocking, and even pulling by swimmers ensued. Full Moon eventually made it to the floating “island” for free beer (thanks, Fremont Brewing!), at which time the wind began to fill back in. Two tacks later, Full Moon crossed the line to take the Bronze duck, Tatonka and Thundorca having somehow managed to get through or around the AGC buoy area unnoticed.

The wind returns! First start winner Freja is close to windward.

Hazy Daze

With wildfires burning in British Columbia, conditions were a bit hazy for the Toga Night Duck Dodge. The wind, meanwhile, was highly variable and challenging to predict. Full Moon crew Randy “Two Jibes” Olsen, Adam “Cookie” Michalak, Chad “Temperature Sensor” Harnish, Mary “Penalty Weight” Harnish, Marcus “Onboard Medic” Engley, Daniel “Eclectic Mix” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Yellow Buoy” Mengedoht joined a large group of boats attempting a port tack start at the advantaged “pin” end of the line. Boats closer to the middle of the line were able to enjoy more clear air and poke out ahead.

The start near the "pin" end was a bit congested!

Full Moon eventually emerged from the pack only to encounter the wind shadow of a much larger boat directly ahead. Prevented from tacking by another boat to windward, Full Moon had to sail a lower course to break free. For all that, Full Moon remained ahead of 40’ Thundorca and a Beneteau 423 to round the Freeway buoy.

Spinnakers were hard to keep full in the light air downwind.

With ongoing traffic, Full Moon then took a high line to maintain clear air on the straight shot to the Aurora buoy. This worked fairly well until the wind faded out approaching the buoy. Once around, the Equalizer was launched and then soon jibed in hopes of stronger wind near the middle of the lake. This did help a bit but the wind remained mostly light until jibing back toward the AGC buoy where Full Moon was lapped by the big first start boat Absolutely.

The smoke in the air made for an especially colorful sunset.

The final leg was fairly straightforward apart from splitting the narrow distance between two drifting speedboats. In the end, Full Moon placed fifth, a commendable result given the difficult start and all the people on board.