Cool Runnings

"Shades" and "Fleece" are having a great time!

The Hat is very stylish, no?

The Shirt works to keep Zephyr from getting by to windward.

After a weekend of record-breaking heat, Tropical Night was, unfortunately, cloudy and maybe 70 degrees at best. Of course, this didn’t stop Duck Dodgers from donning tropical attire and enjoying the free beer dispensed from the 48 Degrees North “island.” Full Moon crew Randy “The Hat” Olsen, Art “The Plaid” Teller, Ian “The Fleece” Mengedoht, Daniel “The Shades” Mengedoht, and skipper John “The Shirt” Mengedoht lined up near the heavily favored Westlake end of the starting line but got stuck in the traffic jam, resulting in a relatively poor start.

The first lap went quite well with four beer cups scored at the floating island, a speedy spinnaker run, and the passing of a number of competitors, including all of our old rival boats (Shogun, Ignitor, and Fortis). Heading for the beer island on the second time around, Full Moon was right on the transom of the San Juan 28 Zephyr. After buzzing the island but coming up dry (they ran out!), Full Moon did a quick jibe and came out a bit ahead of Zephyr with a brief delay launching the Equalizer to sort a twisted spinnaker pole. For some reason, Zephyr then seemed determined to harass Full Moon, violating a rule or two in the process, and, at one point, draping most of their spinnaker over Full Moon’s rigging! Zephyr did manage to pull back out in front, though they certainly didn’t make any friends on Full Moon.

As if that wasn’t quite enough, the Ranger 26 Runner established a late inside overlap at the end of the run and began screaming for room at the buoy. Since the overlap not achieved until way too late (the current racing rule is three boatlengths out), they were not entitled to room and Full Moon squeezed them out. This, after all, is racing and Full Moon was abiding by the rules. It was disconcerting, however, to have two conflicts with boats in a relatively short time. Is Full Moon so good that we are now a target? Nah, we've never been that good!

In the end, Full Moon finished about tenth. It appeared that all Thunderbirds and all J24s were behind us, too, which is always nice. Next up: Pajama Night!