Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

Chuck and Bethany working hard...

Caroline smiles for the camera while Cap'n John scans the sails.

Art does another self-portrait with his friend, the Jib.

Bethany carefully observes the spinnaker handling.

Whatever it all means, Daniel is having fun!

Full Moon gambled on a port tack-pin end start for Duck Dodge No. 14 and, while it was necessary to duck two boats, it paid off with full speed, a clear lane, and a straight shot to the Freeway buoy. Crew Art “Legs” Teller, Caroline “Layers” Sneed, Chuck “Three Bags” Weldy, Bethany “Passenger” Madsen, Daniel “Got To Go” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Lost Buoy” Mengedoht got rolled by a J24 but managed to hold off the big Buchan 37 Distance to round the buoy in 7th.

A quick tack onto starboard at the buoy set Full Moon below the line of most of the boats in hopes of a clear lane toward the Aurora buoy but the breeze was actually a bit better closer to Gasworks and a few boats crept ahead, including Distance. Then the Fremont Bridge opened wide to reveal a large gravel barge heading toward the fleet! With a lake full of sailboats coming, the barge tug was wisely moving very slowly and Full Moon was able to round the buoy at a safe distance but many boats behind had a tough time.

The mighty Equalizer spinnaker was soon deployed after the buoy and Full Moon worked slowly up to the blue T-Bird Selchie while keeping pace with Distance and holding off a quick red Santana 20. This was all working rather well until skipper John lost track of the AGC buoy and overshot! Despite the valiant crew quickly lowering the nylon monster, several boats got past, dropping Full Moon from a potential top ten finish.

In the end, Full Moon was a still-decent 12th or so and the ice-cold beer tasted great. The Duck Dodge has enjoyed a seemingly endless string of sunny evenings with decent northerlies and the city glowing in the setting sun is a view that never gets old. If only the sun wasn’t setting quite so early!

Doubly Nuts!

Michael looks back at the competition.

Steve looks forward at the competition.

Tammy enjoys the golden glow of later summer sun.

Collapsing spinnakers near the AGC buoy.

Is is supposed to look like that?

Darkness falls all too soon these days.

Full Moon crew Michael “SISI” Medina, Don “Beer Time” Caffrey, Tammy “Cupcake” Cross, Steve “Commando” Pfeifer, Daniel “Jet Drive” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Boom Boom” Mengedoht got pinned briefly by a San Juan 28 to windward but still got a good start with a clear lane for Duck Dodge No. 13. With a straight shot to the Freeway buoy, things got a bit dicey with a crowded rounding. Rather than bash into Shogun’s transom, Full Moon pulled into a slightly late inside overlap. Shogun’s skipper wasn’t happy but still (barely) allowed Full Moon room rather than play bumper boats. (Thanks, Rick, I owe you one!)

The second leg to the Aurora buoy was relatively uneventful, though as the wind got soft and shifty, Full Moon overstood the lay line and the blue Thunderbird Selchie snuck ahead. This was rectified soon after once the mighty Equalizer spinnaker was launched. Next up was the J24 Cobalt with a large crew in full birthday party mode.

The wind began to die approaching the AGC buoy, where a number of boats were clustered and barely moving. Full Moon kept a little momentum and took a wide smooth turn around the mark but Cobalt was right behind. Between the fading light and dying wind, this looked like a battle to the finish unless the race committee stayed with plans for two laps. The wind filled in a little and the boats seesawed back and forth until Full Moon finally broke free with 20 feet between the boats. Falling off to a tight reach to cross the line next to the committee boat, though, Cobalt climbed back into an overlap. Full Moon crossed ahead (yeah!) but the committee signaled to keep going (are they nuts?!?) and Cobalt was finally able to roll Full Moon to windward.

At this point Cobalt and Full Moon were nearly match racing as there were no boats within reach ahead and only Selchie a somewhat distant threat from behind. Rounding the Aurora buoy, Full Moon was poised to pounce with the Equalizer when, alas, the mighty spinnaker was hoisted sideways! After a few moments pondering the ability to keep it flying that way, it was quickly brought down and relaunched, though not quick enough to prevent Cobalt from escaping ahead.

With running lights aglow, this time the wind had really faded out at the south end of the lake. Full Moon kept the Equalizer going as long as possible, then struggled to keep moving with the jib. Finally rounding the AGC buoy, Cobalt was out of reach but Selchie was not far behind and another white and green T-bird was not far ahead. Full Moon played the tiny shifts and mini-puffs to perfection, crossed tacks ahead of the white/green T-bird and remained ahead of both Birds to an excellent 7th place finish.

Marvelous Margaritas

The infamous "island" prepares to dispense beer to passing racers.

Bimi shows off some tropical sails.

Galina enjoys the sunshine.

Randy says "Why are you taking my picture?"

An Artful self-portrait.

Michael and John sport tropical shirts while Daniel makes do with Bermuda shorts.

The floating “island” was out dispensing (almost) cold beer as usual for the Tropical Night Duck Dodge. Full Moon crew Art “Salsa” Teller, Michael “Parrothead” Medina, Randy “Sensei” Olsen, Galina “Grasshopper” Gordeeva, Daniel “Super Soaker” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Big Cup” Mengedoht went for a port tack start and managed to find a clear lane and fairly straight shot to the Freeway buoy.

The rounding was crowded and Full Moon had to work hard not to rear-end the T-bird Zoe while holding off a group of boats charging up from behind. The second leg to the AGC buoy was a very tight reach and Full Moon elected to stick with the jib rather than try to keep a spinnaker flying on the ragged edge of control. This was probably wise as the boats under spinnaker (of similar size) were no faster.

The second lap was fairly uneventful except for constant trading places with assorted T-birds. The wind angle was slightly lower for the reaching leg so the mighty Equalizer was deployed to good advantage, though the spinnaker pole still spent the whole time right on the forestay. In the end, Full Moon was a very respectable 8th. Caroline “Coconuts” Sneed beckoned Full Moon to join the post-race raft up but it was time to pour some cold margaritas and enjoy sailing around for yet another spectacular evening.

A Star is Born

Suzan and Caroline with a cold post-race beer.

Chuck and Tammy.

"Mr. Gibbs" provides a head massage.

The setting sun melts the Aurora Bridge.

The Race Committee set an exceptionally wide starting line for Duck Dodge No. 11 but, as is so often the case, it was nearly impossible to cross on the favored starboard tack with the wind out of the northwest. Full Moon crew Tammy “Gusher” Cross, Chuck “Butt End” Weldy, Caroline “Fabulous Foredeck” Sneed, Suzan “Pinwheels” Schneider, Daniel “Mr. Gibbs” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Head Massage” Mengedoht went for the middle of the line, hoping for a clear shot to tack onto port at the gun but first were blanketed by the giant Distance, killing precious speed, and then were overlapped by a red Santana 20. This delayed the critical tack and turned a potential great start into a mediocre one.

Cruising upwind to the Freeway buoy, Full Moon struggled to find consistent speed in the shifty and gusty breeze. A tack onto starboard near the buoy forced several oncoming boats to duck behind, though, and an excellent tack right at the buoy (with inside rights) held off two J24s and a Thunderbird so at least the tactics were working!

The next leg to the Aurora buoy was also upwind and the game was on to catch old rival Fortis. This was managed successfully but, given Caroline’s first try on the foredeck, the Equalizer was replaced by the much smaller (and ancient) standard spinnaker. Could Full Moon stay ahead without the Equalizer? A jibe at the Aurora buoy was followed by the spinnaker hoist. Full Moon headed out toward the middle of the lake for stronger breeze while Fortis elected to stay on port jibe nearer the Westlake shore. Full Moon did a clean jibe onto port and the strategy paid off. Full Moon had the inside line to the AGC buoy and rounded ahead into 14th place. Great job, Caroline!
Heading upwind to start the second lap, the wind picked up and Full Moon left Fortis well behind while closing on the Ranger 22 True North and moving into possible striking distance of the Pearson 30 Tenacious, which has had a string of second place finishes this summer. Full Moon caught True North before the Aurora buoy, held them off under spinnaker and then pulled farther ahead upwind to take “lucky” 13th at the finish. Tenacious was nearly caught when they made a blunder under spinnaker but were still just a bit faster than Full Moon and finished 12th.

It was yet another great evening with both sunshine and decent wind, though the sun sets way too early these days!