Cool Runnings

Full Moon crew Randy “Cleanup” Olsen, Michael “Strings” Medina, Anne “Layers” Gustavson, Daniel “Seven Words” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Strategery” Mengedoht took advantage of a fairly square starting line for the Band Night Duck Dodge, approaching the line on starboard tack. This paid off as the big Tartan 4300 to leeward intimidated the port tack boats into giving way, though not without drama as two boats collided while tacking a bit late… In any event, Full Moon continued on starboard for a bit, then tacked on the layline for the Freeway buoy, solidly in first place.

Daniel snags the prized gold duck sticker.

The big Tartan hung in there in the fairly strong breeze, along with Endeavor, a speedy Seascape 24, and a few others but Full Moon was still in first at the buoy and already catching up to second start stragglers. Heading for the Aurora buoy, Full Moon was not quite laying the mark and Endeavor was behind but a bit to windward with another boat not far behind. This called for a hard tack to duck Endeavor and cross in front of the second boat to make the buoy.

It was sunny but cold, especially after the race.

With the “turbo” pole preset to starboard in anticipation of the typical NW breeze and the wind having shifted to due north, Full Moon opted to travel a distance on port gybe with the jib rather than monkey around with everything on the foredeck. Then we gybed and hoisted the Equalizer with a good line to the AGC buoy. Meanwhile, Endeavor had traveled well to the east, sailing a “hotter” angle appropriate for their asymmetric spinnaker and bowsprit. When they gybed back, it set them up even with and to leeward of Full Moon, forcing Full Moon to change course a bit. However, this eventually brought them into Full Moon’s wind shadow, slowing them enough for Full Moon to swing across in front with a better angle to the buoy with our symmetrical spinnaker.

Three ducks in a row. We'll be pushed up to second start next week.

The drop went well but, unfortunately, the spinnaker pole snagged the jib sheet going around the AGC buoy, taking a while to clear. This allowed boats behind to gain a bit, but Full Moon still had a straight shot upwind to the finish line. Endeavor was off to leeward (not sure why) and would need to tack to cross the line. In the end, Full Moon crossed ahead by a few boatlengths for the gold duck with Endeavor second and an SYC J22 not far behind in third.