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.