Moving Target

For the first time in 17 years (!), Full Moon was over the starting line early, approaching the Committee Boat on starboard tack and then tacking to cross the line when there was no option to fall off. Crew Randy “Tack Now” Olson, Daniel “Hollywood Reporter” Mengedoht, Michael “Crikey” Ward, and skipper John “Early Bird” Mengedoht quickly whipped back around the Committee Boat and managed to properly cross the starting line in about 20th place.

Full Moon crosses the starting line early. Drat!

With decent north wind, Full Moon ended up heading for the middle of the lake as the gravel barge came past Gasworks a bit earlier than normal. After dodging a drifting power boat, Full Moon then tacked on the layline to the Freeway buoy. Not long afterwards, it was observed that a second-start boat had managed to snag the Freeway buoy on their rudder and were dragging it westward while attempting to dislodge it with a boat hook. This effectively shortened the course for Full Moon and many others as we chased after the moving buoy!

Full Moon is on the right, chasing the J30 with the orange, yellow and blue striped spinnaker.

The Aurora buoy was set a bit further south than usual and Full Moon easily laid the mark without further tacks. Unfortunately, the “turbo” spinnaker pole was preset to starboard, and the wind angle called for a jibe after rounding. Full Moon proceeded with the jib toward the middle of the lake before jibing and hoisting the Equalizer, though we should have waited just a bit longer before jibing for a better wind angle.

All the same, the Equalizer provided good power and Full Moon passed several boats before a clean drop and rounding of the AGC buoy, just behind a J30. Only one more tack was needed to cross the finish line where it turned out Full Moon was in fourth place, with the J30 third. Given the start and the fact that a J30 should easily outpace little Full Moon, we’ll call that a win!

The sun broke free of the clouds after the race.

Tropical Gold

Robert keeps a firm grip on the jib sheet.

While port tack at the Committee Boat would have been ideal for the start of the Tropical Night Duck Dodge, Full Moon crew Daniel “Three Cups” Mengedoht, Chad “Funyuns” Harnish, Robert “Auto-Correct” Leykam, Lucienne “Good Luck Charm” Grace, and skipper John “Blue Streak” Mengedoht opted for a much less risky starboard tack approach. With the J30 Slingshot and another boat just to windward, things got a bit hairy encountering port tack boats which were all supposed to yield. Slingshot gave Full Moon a bump as they turned to tack (no visible damage, thankfully!) and Full Moon then tacked as well, the result being Full Moon in fourth place heading north.

Daniel likes to perch at the mast and keep an eye on the fleet.

A couple of Thunderbirds slowly gained and then Full Moon had to duck a starboard tack boat, pushing us east of the layline. The good news is that there ended up being a bit of pile-up at the Freeway buoy which Full Moon avoided by overstanding slightly before tacking to go around. Full Moon then had almost a straight shot to the Aurora buoy, a pair of (very) quick tacks being necessary just before rounding. Boats that took a more southerly route did not do as well and Full Moon passed a few of them.

On approach to the Aurora buoy.

The Equalizer was soon launched for the long reaching leg south and Full Moon had excellent speed, passing more boats, including several from second start. Full Moon opted for a slightly early spinnaker drop but still managed to be overlapped and inside a J22 at the AGC buoy to round ahead.

The Equalizer in living color.

Full Moon then pulled further ahead of the J22 while on the reach to the “floating island” dispensing cups of beer. Full Moon then hardened up for a straight shot upwind to the finish line. The J22 opted to sail a slightly lower but faster course. Ultimately, they were too far east to actually cross the finish line (without tacking) and had to return to cross properly. Full Moon, meanwhile, got the horn for first place!

Another Gold Duck!

A note about rules: Slingshot was requesting “mark room” from Full Moon prior to the start in hopes of staying below the starting line. This is not appropriate under either the racing rules (not applicable in the Duck Dodge) or under the basic “rules of the road.” Slingshot was the windward boat fully overlapped on the same tack and obligated to keep clear of Full Moon. Full Moon, in turn, was entitled to push Slingshot over the line early but not to cause a collision should Slingshot fail to yield, which is how it played out. In a serious race, Full Moon would have protested Slingshot for not keeping clear and Slingshot would have had to take a penalty. In the Duck Dodge, there are no protests and the biggest thing of all is to avoid a collision, which is what we did. If there had been any damage to Full Moon from Slingshot's turn, Slingshot would be at fault.

Catchup

The wind just before the start of the Toga Night Duck Dodge was nearly nonexistent but started to fill out of the NNW just as things got going. Full Moon crew Randy “Russians” Olsen, Robert “Nazis” Leykam, Rob “Take-Down” Lane, Daniel “Pole Control” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Move-It” Mengedoht set up for a port tack start near the Committee Boat but were early and had to turn down the line and then duck behind several boats on starboard tack. This was not a recipe for success as Full Moon crossed the line in about 11^th place. Once moving the right direction, though, Full Moon found good wind and speed and was able to pass several boats on the way to the Freeway buoy.

Rob takes a selfie with Randy, Daniel and Robert.

After rounding the Freeway buoy, Full Moon continued north nearly to the Gasworks shore, riding a lift and still in good breeze. The next tack then also provided a lift and Full Moon rounded the Aurora buoy in sixth or seventh place (it is hard to tell when J22s are in a variety of starts).

Cap'n John slides over for a photo. Randy is focused elsewhere.

The Equalizer was soon hoisted, and Full Moon worked past a few more boats into fourth place while gaining significantly on the top three boats, though not fast enough to catch up. The final leg was a straight shot to the finish line but made more interesting as a J22 passed the Committee Boat on the wrong side and had to come back to finish, though they still managed third place ahead of Full Moon in fourth.

Full Moon in fourth with the blue, black and white spinnaker.

Wiring the New Stern Light

 Full Moon got a new LED stern light to replace the original equipment Perko deck mount. Unfortunately, connecting the wiring involves a trip to the tight quarters in the stern and Cap'n John is too fat and inflexible to pull this off these days. Daniel "Cabin Man" Mengedoht to the rescue! Thanks, buddy!

Daniel mans the heat gun for the heat-shrink tubing. This is the least difficult area - it's much worse further aft...

Crawling back out of the hole...