Prom Kings

And we're off!

The breeze was up for the Prom Night Duck Dodge and, while the sun was out, the temperature was on the cool side. Full Moon crew Randy “Seltzer” Olsen, Adam “IPA” Michalak, Troy “Beer Warmup” Charlesworth, Daniel “The Graduate” Mengedoht and skipper John “Za Viggle” Mengedoht were hampered in getting a good start by several larger boats delaying the desired tack onto port. Once pointed the right direction, though, it was a straight shot to the Freeway buoy with good speed.

The Freeway buoy.

Hardening up and heading nearly to Gasworks before tacking resulted in nailing the layline to the Aurora buoy where the Equalizer was soon launched to good effect, helping Full Moon to pass a few boats. Unfortunately a large RIB with a video crew came zooming across our bow, generating a huge wake in the process. Apparently some people think they are immune to the 7 knot limit on the Ship Canal and Lake Union!

Comin' through to leeward...

Dropping the spinnaker was held a bit late and jibing around the AGC buoy caused the jib sheets to get snagged on the pole but this was soon cleared up for the long upwind leg. Traffic at the Freeway buoy was thick enough for Full Moon to tack earlier rather than later, setting up the need to tack twice approaching the Aurora buoy, the last tack coming just inside Necessary Evil. The maneuvers delayed hoisting of the Equalizer but, once up, it again proved helpful, allowing Full Moon to get past a few boats which had gotten by upwind.

Closing in on bigger boats with the Equalizer.

The final leg saw the wind reduced a bit and the finish line was a bit cluttered with third start boats but Full Moon nearly held position, losing out only to the Santana 30/30 Blackout (which should have been much farther ahead!). It was difficult to tell our exact placement but Full Moon was in the top ten, having done fairly well on an evening favoring the larger boats.

Smaller Boats (Mostly) Rule!

Full Moon returned to second start for the Disney Characters Duck Dodge. Crew Randy “One Beer” Olson, Dave “Big Pull” Pulsifer, Judy “Popcorn” Tiffany, and skipper John “Slow Ride” Mengedoht struggled to reach the starting line in very light breeze, and then had to dodge some third start boats inexplicably on the course side of the line. The result was that the leaders were already around the Freeway buoy while Full Moon still had half a leg to go but the somewhat good news was that speedy Scat was still within sight, less than 100 yards ahead.

Chasing Chi Chi and the Ranger 33 on the second lap.

The breeze began to fill in approaching the Freeway buoy, which favored the boats ahead, but Full Moon accelerated nicely, rounding the buoy with good speed, heading nearly to the Gasworks seawall and then passing a few boats on the ensuing two tacks to the Aurora buoy. The spinnaker pole was preset on the wrong side, delaying the hoist of the Equalizer, but once it was up, Full Moon was able to engage the J24 JEstalt and even gain a bit on Scat as they battled the J22 Chi Chi.

The final leg. Other contenders are out of sight to the right.

The Equalizer came down smoothly just in time to round the AGC buoy and then it was back upwind for the second lap. Full Moon continued to hang in there with JEstalt and Chi Chi but a faded yellow Ranger 33 (Seoladh?) snuck up the east side of the lake to ease in front. The favor was returned on the leg from the Freeway buoy to the Aurora buoy and then the Equalizer put matters to rest vs. the Ranger.

Cake or Death (San Juan 24) with a new (?) spinnaker.

Unfortunately, the wind began to fade approaching the AGC buoy and it began to look like it might turn into a parking lot with a cluster of slower third start boats. Full Moon was just able to keep the Equalizer flying, though, and then head a bit east for clearer air after rounding. A tack back to the west brought slightly stronger breeze but then it faded again. In the end, the J24 Rajun Cajun was first, followed by the M34 trimaran and Scat. Full Moon managed to stay ahead of both Chi Chi and JEstalt and was either fourth or fifth depending on whether the Moore 24 Amorillo was in second start or third.

Back to the Future

Last year, Full Moon switched from second start to third start in hopes of racing against boats that are more comparable in performance instead of against the many boats in second start that arguably should be in the first start. (My opinion but one that is widely shared!) This was a reasonable choice given there were quite a few other third start boats such as J22s, Thunderbirds, Capri 25s, etc., not to mention 40 footers such as Stella Blue (Nordic 40) and Thundorca (Tartan 41) that rate the same or much faster than Full Moon.

However, for whatever reason, apart from one T-bird and the 40-footers, Full Moon has not had the same level of competition in third start this year. The ducks are on the mast and not coming off but I don’t want to create the same problem for third start that others are creating in second start – so Full Moon will return to second start.

We’re back to the old status quo – a lightly populated first start and a huge second start fleet. The Race Committee could fix this, of course, either by knowledgeably directing boats to the various starts as in days of old or by suggesting some parameters such as PHRF-NW break points. The Committee does not appear concerned about this issue, though, so I'm not holding my breath. We race for the fun of it, not the ducks, but it would nice not to face off against boats that rate more than 100 seconds per mile faster!

Still Ducky!

Full Moon managed an adequate start with clear air for the Zombies Duck Dodge but not near enough the heavily advantaged “pin” end where Slippery When Wet (Santana 20) was perfectly positioned. Crew Michael “Pink Cans” Medina, Marcelle “Green Cans” Van Houten, Doug “Nikon” Schoemaker, Tina “Zombie Shoes” Hein, and skipper John “Silver Cans” Mengedoht gained on several boats on the first leg but a tack to westward was followed immediately by a big header, allowing the leaders to stay comfortably ahead. Another tack right at the “beach” led to a very tight line and a snug rounding of the AGC buoy.

Marcelle, Skippy, Tina, and Doug enjoy the sunny evening.

The Equalizer was soon launched and proved very helpful against any boats not flying a spinnaker. However, the wind was not quite strong enough to allow Full Moon to overtake Slippery When Wet before the Freeway buoy. The Equalizer came down smoothly, though, and the chase was on toward the Aurora buoy.

Aurora buoy moving hazard...

Unfortunately, the Aurora buoy became a moving target, having been snagged by a J22 from second start. In the confusion, Full Moon had to tack to avoid other boats and then luff hard to avoid hitting the J22, nearly coming to a halt. Meanwhile, Slippery When Wet as well as a bigger cruising boat, Solara, were able to clear the traffic on the outside before Full Moon could get back up to speed.

Fortunately, we just got the sticker, not the entire arm!

Full Moon gained some distance on the final leg but not nearly enough to catch Slippery When Wet or Solara. Fortunately, all the other boats in the vicinity proved to be in second start, allowing Full Moon to finish third for the bronze duck.

This is just June, right?