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.