Two for Two!

Daniel, Randy, John, Eileen, and Max enjoy a brief bit of sun.

Daniel shows off the golden prize, along with his new rain gear.

It wasn’t quite so easy this time. On a gray evening with occasional showers and shifty breeze, Full Moon crew Randy “Mini-finger” Olsen, Michael “Almost Wet” Medina, Eileen “Guinness” McHugh, Max “Quick Study” Foley, Daniel “Barking Spider” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Hat Trick” Mengedoht nailed the start near the middle of the line but boats closer to the Committee Boat had a slight advantage. Full Moon was rolled by the Catalina 27 Deception and then mixed it up with Columbia 26 Tuesday, and Ranger 22s Anakena and True Blue through a number of tacks, ending up rounding the AGC buoy in fourth place.

After a short pause to raise the pole, the mighty Equalizer was launched in a building wind. All but Tuesday were soon left behind as the magic nylon pushed Full Moon to hull speed in the puffs. Old rival Fortis and a few others from second start were also passed. Eventually Tuesday also succumbed, only to catch back up as Full Moon dropped the Equalizer a bit early to prepare for a smooth jibe around the Freeway buoy. Tuesday kept their spinnaker up to the last second to poke their bow inside but then had trouble with their jib after the take-down and Full Moon was gone, gone, gone!

Reaching across to the Aurora buoy, Tuesday slowly faded back and no other challengers appeared. Heading back upwind to the finish line, Full Moon pulled even farther ahead to claim the prized Gold Duck by several minutes! Tuesday was second, followed by True Blue for the Bronze Duck.

And so it was two Golds in two tries, or three Golds in a row if you count the Duck Dodge Rum Run last October. If this run continues, the Race Committee may reconsider inviting Full Moon to third start!