Disco Duck

Prom Queens 1 and A. Ian needs more bling.

Daniel can't normally get away with this.

Hiking hard on Cinc-O-Sink. These guys are fast!

Ian secures the Gold Duck from the Race Committee.

It was Prom Night on the lake and the mini mirror ball was spinning aboard Full Moon, though the wind was next to nonexistent at the start. Crew Michael “Señor” Medina, Tammy “Prom Queen 1” Cross, Marcelle “Prom Queen A” Lynde, Ian “Muppet-Man” Mengedoht, Daniel “Cabin Niño” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Captain Disco” Mengedoht patiently kept the boat moving until the wind began to fill in from the northwest. Fortunately, Full Moon was positioned fairly well for the new breeze with all of the third start fleet either behind or off to the east. This allowed Full Moon to take a solid lead while also passing a substantial number of second start boats, many of which had been essentially parked for their start.

Rounding the Freeway buoy, Full Moon headed toward Gasworks for clear air and then tacked to the west, passing a few more second start boats. The mighty Equalizer was prepped for launch and hoisted shortly after rounding the Aurora buoy. After passing even more second start boats, Full Moon was joined by our friends on the 505 dinghy Cinc-O-Sink for the rest of the long southbound leg.

With a clean drop of the spinnaker (way to go, Tammy!), Full Moon was off on the final upwind leg to the finish, still in the fine company of Cinc-O-Sink. Cinc-O-Sink took the horn for first place in fourth start and Full Moon the same for third start for yet another Gold Duck. Sushi (Santana 20) scored second place after a few minutes, followed shortly by True Blue (Ranger 22) for the bronze.

Duckless in Seattle

Doug captures the racing action from his usual perch.

Hot Tub Boats. What else do I need to say?

New instrument provides accurate depth, speed, and even water temperature!

Full Moon crew Randy “Conspiracy Theory” Olsen, Michael “Hot Tub Envy” Medina, Doug “Slippery Step” Schoemaker, Martha “Real Cheese” Schoemaker, Daniel “Righty Tighty” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Unaccountably Slow” Mengedoht hit the start right at the gun for the Coast Guard Night Duck Dodge, another excellent start. Heading upwind to the Freeway buoy, Full Moon felt a little slow in the light and shifty breeze and, sure enough, speedy Sushi (Santana 20) and very competitive Deception (Catalina 27) managed to get by.

Heading for the Aurora buoy, Full Moon seemed more her normal self and passed a number of second start boats while easily holding off the Ranger 22s Anakena and True Blue. Trouble with a twisted pole delayed the launch of the mighty Equalizer on the downwind run but, once it was up, Full Moon began reeling in Deception. Unfortunately, Full Moon was squeezed between a large second start boat to leeward and Deception to windward and was unable to make the pass, though it was fun to pass the big Buchan 37 Dreamscape (from second start) just before rounding the AGC buoy.

On the final upwind leg, Deception was uncatchable. Sushi was, we believe, first, a big blue boat (looked to be a 35’ racer/cruiser) may have been second, Deception third, and Full Moon fourth, the first race this year without a prized vinyl duck sticker! There was no crying in our cold beer, though – it was a great sunny evening on the water, the new instruments worked beautifully, and we were definitely competitive with our fellow third start boats, not to mention passing the back third of the second start fleet. 

Long John Silver

Ahhrrr, mateys, we've got the silver!

Full Moon crew Randy “Twisted Pole” Olsen, Don “Too Much Moderation” Caffrey, Dave “Alzheimer Donuts” Pulsifer, Angie “Shoulda Been Gold” Tomisser, Daniel “Chernobyl Cherry Coke” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Long John” Mengedoht dodged a boat foolishly trying to motor through the start while hoisting sails and absolutely nailed the start for the Pirate Night Duck Dodge. Cranking along upwind in a decent breeze, Full Moon held off the usual competition of Sushi (Santana 20), Anakena (Ranger 22), and True Blue (another Ranger 22) to the Challenger buoy at the Southeast corner of Lake Union. Once around, it took a minute or two to launch the mighty Equalizer spinnaker but it served well to hold off all challengers all the way to the Freeway buoy.

Heading back upwind in a decent breeze, lightly loaded Sushi began to make gains on Full Moon with True Blue not far behind. Sushi eventually got past but Full Moon kept close while continuing to stay ahead of True Blue.

Rounding the AGC buoy, the Equalizer was launched once again. It wasn’t quite enough to catch Sushi but Full Moon cruised to a relatively easy second place and the coveted Silver Duck. True Blue caught the Bronze a few minutes later.

After the finish, another third start boat cruised by and complained that Full Moon, with her “racing sails,” belongs in second start with the “racing” boats. Lest anyone think Full Moon has anything exotic in her sail inventory, the main and genoa are fully 12 years old and, while not made in the classic woven white, are still just made of good old Dacron. The mighty Equalizer is even older, having been purchased used in 2001!

Regardless, I would readily agree with the complaint if it weren’t for boats like J29s (Salsa), Olson 30s (Chaos) and J80s (Heart Attack, Crazy Ivan) continuing to race in second start. It was the Race Committee who suggested Full Moon switch to third start last summer. I agreed to switch, largely because the definition of a “half-fast” boat seems to have changed. I may yet switch back, though – being in the top three for five weeks in a row is great fun but it is also fun to race for two laps instead of one and to take on Thunderbirds and Ranger 26s and J22s – our more natural prey!

Damp Duck

Daniel grabs the vinyl trophy from the Race Committee.

Kristen likes this stuff!

Daniel is happy to have layers and a good rain jacket.

Cougar colors dominated under the rain gear aboard Full Moon for the Team Spirit Duck Dodge. Crew Art “Pretzels” Teller, Debra “Double Jibe” Ricard, Tammy “Snug Gloves” Cross, Kristen “Shake It!” Bakken, Daniel “Trophy Boy” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Accidental Jibe” Mengedoht enjoyed a good start in light winds, about 4^th or 5^th across the line, and were soon mixing it up with the Ranger 22 Anakena and the Catalina 27 Deception for the lead, with the Santana 20 Hot Cookies not far behind. The second start boats must have had even lighter wind as Full Moon caught a quite a few before reaching the Freeway buoy.

After rounding, the mighty Equalizer was launched but the wind became extremely shifty and still very light, causing a few unplanned jibes. Still, Full Moon kept moving down the course and soon was in the lead by a good margin, passing still more second start boats such as Zephyr and the giant Bolero (Choate 40) as the wind filled in a bit. The spinnaker came down cleanly at the AGC buoy and, while Bolero threatened with an overlap to windward for awhile, Full Moon eventually pulled out ahead again and then tacked in front of the Olson 30 Chaos, yet another second start boat!

Rounding the Chandler’s Cove buoy, the course to the finish was a straightforward close reach and Full Moon cruised easily to the line for yet another Gold Duck! Anakena was second and Deception a close third, though both boats were a long way behind speedy Full Moon. Despite the rain, the cold beer tasted pretty fine. Good times!