Bronze Age

 

The second start fleet heads north to the Freeway buoy.

Full Moon crew Randy “Rainier” Olsen, Doug “Sunset” Schoemaker, Jeffrey “Kolsch” Schoemaker, Daniel “Short-timer” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Patience” Mengedoht were struggling for clear air for the start of the Decades Night Duck Dodge when the breeze filled in a bit. Rather than risk being over the line early, a “doughnut” maneuver bought some space and time, though it would have been nice to be closer to the Committee Boat with full speed on. There appeared to be a few boats over early – some by quite a bit – but we won’t name names, especially since Full Moon passed the two most obvious ones on the first leg to the AGC buoy.

Full Moon managed to keep the spinnaker flying but not everyone was so fortunate.

Two well-timed tacks brought Full Moon to the buoy in fading breeze and then quickly around, though a much larger boat with a bit more momentum was able to briefly get past. This was quickly rectified with the launching of the Equalizer, though the wind remained very light.

The wind was very light near Gasworks!

The leg to the Freeway buoy was quite long with the buoy set well north. Full Moon did pass several boats on this leg, though we were dismayed to see eventual winner Where’s the Beef well ahead. Meanwhile, a Harbor 20 had been slowly gaining. Once around the Freeway buoy, the Harbor 20 hugged the Gasworks shoreline while Full Moon took a longer path in hopes of better breeze. This paid off quite well and Full Moon was able to gain quite a bit before rounding the Aurora buoy, which was also set far north.

Many boats "parked" along the Eastlake shore.

The final leg was a bit nerve-wracking as the Harbor 20 appeared to be slowly gaining while the breeze was fading. Boats still trying to make it to the Freeway buoy were essentially parked along the Eastlake shore. In the end, Full Moon persevered, and we were astonished to get the horn for third place and the Bronze Duck!

Randy snags the Bronze Duck. Thanks, Committee!

Tropicana

Dan likes this sailing stuff!

Full Moon crew Randy Olsen, Daniel Mengedoht, Dave Pulsifer, Jack Ewer, Dan Ewer and skipper John Mengedoht enjoyed a decent start for the Tropical Night Duck Dodge. Unfortunately, a jib sheet came adrift at the first tack (skipper error!), causing an untimely tack back until the offending sheet could be re-tied. For all that, the first leg was fast with decent, if shifty, wind and Full Moon was still in the top quarter of the fleet to the Freeway buoy.

Randy, Dave, and Jack working hard.

The leg to the Aurora buoy was a close reach, followed by a beat to windward, made slightly more interesting by the gravel barge doing its regular cruise through the north end of the lake. The person setting the buoy might consider a more southerly location to avoid the potential conflict?

The gravel barge makes its regular evening appearance.

The Equalizer was helpful on the long south leg to the AGC buoy, though the shifting breeze necessitated a jibe and shifting the jib to the port side to keep the foredeck crew busy. A clean drop and rounding and Full Moon headed at a good clip to the floating beer island, where multiple beers were snagged. Unfortunately, a tack was required not long after and it’s hard to chug those heavy IPAs!

The skipper likes being ahead of all those boats!

The second lap was relatively uneventful and Full Moon ended up ahead of all traditional rivals for a pretty decent finish. Good times!

Daniel at his usual post. Gonna miss this guy next summer!

The obligatory sunset shot.

Boys Night Out

Full Moon is out of the picture as second start heads for the Freeway buoy.

The women bailed for the Mardi Gras Duck Dodge so the Full Moon crew of Randy "Raindrop" Olsen, Dave "Hat" Pulsifer, Daniel "Dry" Mengedoht, and skipper John "Sponge" Mengedoht was smaller than normal. Opting for the middle of the line for clear air proved a mistake as the Committee Boat end was heavily favored, old rivals Fortis and Ignitor both leading Full Moon to the Freeway buoy by a healthy margin. The Aurora buoy was again set very far to the north but some good strategy allowed Full Moon to gain on several boats on the second leg.

Big fat raindrops came down twice during the race. Was that in the forecast?

After rounding, the Equalizer allowed Full Moon to slowly reel in Fortis by going a good distance to leeward and more toward the middle of the lake. Ignitor was also in range until Full Moon fell into a large wind hole with several larger boats to windward near the AGC buoy. Soon, a couple of third start boats came by a bit farther to leeward, still with a bit of wind, though they all had trouble dousing their spinnakers at the buoy.

Full Moon's blue and white spinnaker can just be seen chasing Fortis's red one.

After finally making it around, Full Moon headed east in hopes of stronger wind while Ignitor went west into the downwind traffic. The wind remained very light but was stronger on the east side, allowing Full Moon to beat her old rival, though still behind two third start boats.

Once the rain quit, it was a gorgeous evening.