Dead Calm

Are we moving?

Flying into the sun with the mighty Equalizer.

Rounding the Aurora buoy.

In stark contrast to last week, Duck Dodge No. 2 featured glassy calms and often imperceptible wind. Full Moon crew Michael “Safety Nuts” Medina, Don “Swabby” Caffrey, Dave “Blue Mountain” Pulsifer, and skipper John “Slowest” Mengedoht managed a good start in what looked like a clear lane but old rival Fortis nailed the favored Committee Boat end of the line for a small advantage. It was then very slow going most of the way toward the “Freeway” buoy until a bit of breeze began to fill in from the north.

Full Moon played the shifts pretty well as the wind clocked around until it was out of the east. This turned the next leg to the “Aurora” buoy into a downwind run and the Equalizer was soon up and flying well. This brought Full Moon slowly up to a group of boats nearly stalled out ahead, including Fortis, resulting in a fairly crowded and very slow rounding of the Aurora buoy.

Fortis remained just ahead and then managed to increase their lead a bit during the interminable reach southward. Then the wind began to fill it a bit more from the northeast and, after a pause to rerig the spinnaker gear, the Equalizer was once again put into play. Full Moon was able to obtain an overlap inside Fortis and, with a smooth douse, round the AGC buoy cleanly ahead.

On the final leg Fortis fell farther behind but then settled in about 50 yards back. The wind continued to be agonizingly light and Fortis eventually took a slow “flyer” toward the Eastlake shore. This paid off but not quite enough as Full Moon crossed the finish line half a boat length ahead to take eighth in the fading light.

Surfin' Safari!

Full Moon crew Art “One More Time” Teller, Chuck “Laptop” Weldy, Dave “Silver Bullet” Pulsifer, and skipper John “Crazy Ivan” Mengedoht pulled out the small “#3” jib for the first time in years as the wind blasted at 18 knots for Duck Dodge No. 1. After a decent start, Full Moon stayed on the edge of control upwind but managed to hang in there with most of the fleet, rounding the Aurora buoy with old rivals on Fortis.

Launching the ancient standard spinnaker rather than the giant Equalizer, Full Moon flew downwind, even popping up onto a plane a few times, surfing the small Lake Union waves. The takedown wasn’t pretty but the foredeck was quickly sorted (thanks, Art!) and Full Moon returned upwind to complete the first lap.

Fortis was close behind after rounding the Freeway buoy and threatening to get past but Full Moon proved tough to get by. Approaching the Aurora buoy, Full Moon just held onto the layline while Fortis needed a few extra tacks and Full Moon was ahead for good.

The second spinnaker run was even better than the first and the chute came down cleanly for a smooth rounding at the AGC buoy. The final upwind leg proved uneventful except for catching a Thunderbird just before the Freeway buoy. (Always a pleasure!) One final spinnaker run took Full Moon across the finish line about tenth (we lost count) out of well over twenty boats – an excellent finish on an evening that favored the larger boats. More importantly, it was a fun and entertaining beginning to the summer racing season and a good time was had by all.