Full Moon crew Art "Big Honker" Teller, Katie "Skirt" Freels, Dave "Surprised" Pulsifer, Judy "Little Bit Wet" Tiffany, Daniel "Cabin Master" Mengedoht, and skipper John "Big Load" Mengedoht finally decided to make the switch to second start for the Dead Celebrity Night Duck Dodge, no doubt much to the relief of the third start fleet. With a relatively strong breeze, things looked good for a start on port tack near the favored buoy end but it proved challenging to put into play as many starboard tack boats came down parallel to the line. Full Moon ended up with a decent start but not quite in the front row and then had to tack a few times for clear air in the massive second start group.
After battling with a couple of J24s, Full Moon reached the Aurora buoy and had a swift launch of the mighty Equalizer, though a jibe-set might have been a better move. Still, Full Moon made good progress under the nylon cloud for the long run to the AGC buoy.
By this time, the wind had lightened considerably but there was still enough to keep moving on the long 2 1/2 lap race. Full Moon gained a bit here and there but essentially held position and ultimately finished about tenth on a final downwind run. This is similar to previous efforts in second start but, considering the current makeup of the fleet, is actually pretty good. Meanwhile, it was a fabulous warm and sunny evening which no one could fail to enjoy.
There is no Duck Dodge next week and Full Moon will be taking time off to play in the San Juan Islands. More on that when we return...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As a 3rd start boat I want you and your crew to know we on Ana Maria (Blue hulled San Juan 24) enjoy racing against you and have no problems with you in 3rd start. You're skilled sailors that we have been observing and learning from, along with the ranger 22's and tuna 20's that are also tough competition. If you decide down the road to come back to 3rd start we would be the first to welcome you.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, we didn't notice FM start in 2nd and we were confused for a while when we watched you round freeway and continue under whites to Aurora... I asked my crew multiple times if they were SURE we had the course right...