No Superheros

Full Moon didn't sail in the Superheroes Duck Dodge as Cap'n John had a conflict. Congratulations to third start winners Mustache Ride, Anakena, and Verity! Full Moon will return next week for the Zombies Duck Dodge.

One Tack, One Gybe, One Duck!

Rainbow Crew!

Full Moon crew Michael “Fred and Ginger” Medina, Marcelle “Blue Can” Van Houten, Tina “Incognito” Hein, Daniel “10 More Feet” Mengedoht, and skipper John “3:16” Mengedoht sported some awesome rainbow colors for the Crazy Wig Duck Dodge (thanks, Michael!). A solid NW wind favored a port tack start, though Full Moon had to duck at least one starboard tack boat to make it to the line.

Daniel photo-bombs Michael and Marcelle.

The first leg was a straight shot on a tight reach to the Freeway buoy, many boats converging for a close-quarters rounding. Full Moon then headed nearly to Gasworks before tacking. Some jib sheet trouble left the genoa flogging for a bit but Full Moon still was able to (just barely) lay the Aurora buoy.

Reeling in Slippery When Wet. Queue the "Jaws" music, Daniel!

Once around, the Equalizer was quickly hoisted to great advantage on the long beam reach south, the boat speed climbing to an indicated 7.23 knots at one point. (Yee-hah!!!) While eventual winner Stella Blue (Nordic 40) took advantage of her long waterline to stay ahead, Full Moon was able to reel in speedy Slippery When Wet (Santana 20) and a white T-bird to gybe round the AGC buoy in second place.

Another sticker for the mast...

Full Moon was able to hold position on the blustery final leg to claim the Silver Duck with Wandering Angus (boat type?) not too far behind taking third place.

Size Matters!

We got some catchin' up to do!

The Cops and Robbers Duck Dodge featured sunny skies and a nice breeze out of the SSW. Full Moon crew Michael “PFD” Medina, Adam “IPA” Michalak, Jackie “Pilsner” Hensy, Steve “20 hours” Pfeiffer, Daniel “Cabin Man” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Comeback” Mengedoht were a bit early to the starting line and ended up and ducking behind a cluster slower traffic for a relatively poor start. Once in clear air, however, Full Moon began pulling ahead of nearby boats.

The Equalizer, old but powerful!

A well timed tack brought Full Moon back across the lake without having to duck anyone. One more tack was enough to lay the AGC buoy, having passed enough boats to move into fifth place.

Michael waxes poetic from the lifeline while Daniel scopes the competition.

The Equalizer was soon launched to good advantage, slowly pulling Full Moon ahead of 40-foot Stella Blue (sailing without a spinnaker) and within striking distance of the San Juan 24 Cake or Death and the Santana 20 Slippery When Wet. Bearing down a bit opened up enough gap to break through the wind shadow of the other boats and Full Moon surged into second place to round the Freeway buoy. Slippery When Wet delayed dropping their spinnaker to the last second, though, to bring them around right on Full Moon’s stern.

The Competition!

Full Moon found sufficient speed close reaching to the Aurora buoy to get past an Olson 30 (!) and into the lead while pulling ahead of Slippery When Wet. Unfortunately, Stella Blue then came roaring up from behind. Stella Blue was forced to take a very wide rounding outside of Full Moon but still had a lot of speed.

Michael grabs the duck for second place.

On the final leg, Stella Blue got past with ease to take the Gold Duck. Full Moon happily snagged the Silver with Slippery When Wet finishing a few minutes later for the Bronze.

Adam enjoys a post-race beverage.

Coming by later, the skipper of Slippery When Wet expressed some displeasure at seeing Full Moon in third start. He didn’t seem keen on listening to any response but my stance has not changed: Until such time that the Race Committee takes steps to equalize the starts, pushing the fastest second start boats into first start, Full Moon will likely stay in third start where we have some hope of being competitive. For what it is worth, Full Moon rates the same or slower than a number of boats in third start including Blue Jeans (C&C 27), J22s and Capri 25s. Thundorca (Tartan 41) rates 117 and logically should be a first start boat but that’s old news. Stella Blue is also seriously fast, even without a spinnaker.

A sunny evening with many more to come!

This One's for Daniel!

Dave hands off the usual "Committee Appreciation" gift in the pre-start. Hi, Jennie!

Prestart rain and a cantankerous outboard didn’t bode well for the first Duck Dodge of 2018 but Full Moon crew Randy “Big Gybe” Olsen, Michael “Duck Whisperer” Medina, Dave “Shorts” Pulsifer, Judy “Cabin Girl” Tiffany, and skipper John “Lagunitas” Mengedoht nailed the start on port tack at the “pin” end of the exceptionally wide start line and slowly pulled away from sistership Flying Burrito. Staying a bit high of the layline kept Full Moon out of bad air from spinnakers heading the opposite direction and nearly a straight shot to the AGC buoy. A brief dive to leeward was followed by a quick tack to join starboard tackers from second start going around the mark and then it was time to hoist the Equalizer.

Though the wind had a few lulls, the second leg was mostly a perfect beam reach northbound and the Equalizer allowed Full Moon to pass quite a few more second start boats, including old rival Ignitor. The wind angle was then perfect to keep the nylon monster up with a gybe at the Freeway buoy, providing another opportunity to pass second start boats.

The skies were gray and the wind a bit inconsistent but it was great to be racing.

The take-down was held to the last second, which may not have been wise on the first race of the season, but it went well enough. Then it was time to engage a white T-bird from second start, which was sailing fast but pointing about 10 degrees lower than Full Moon. Once past the T-bird, the wind began to slowly clock farther east but not quite enough to lay the finish line. With two quick tacks, Full Moon was across to take the Gold having lead the entire race!

We dedicate the Gold Duck to crew regular Daniel who is in NYC with the Roosevelt HS Jazz Band to compete in the Essentially Ellington competition. Best of luck to Daniel and the band!