Boobs N' Beads

Sunny skies and good wind brings a good turnout for Mardi Gras Night.

The wind angle and course often favor a port tack start for the Duck Dodge but to do so is risky given the need to avoid traffic approaching on starboard tack. Full Moon crew Art “Humus Soup” Teller, Dave “No Cups?” Pulsifer, Judy “Voodoo Doughnuts” Tiffany, Neil “Slippers” Piispanen, Daniel “Cap’n Crunch” Mengedoht, and skipper John “No Cups!” Mengedoht proved this point on Mardi Gras Night with a port approach and a nearly impenetrable line of starboard tack boats. Two tacks later, Full Moon was wallowing in bad air at the back of the fleet, though perhaps in a better mental state than several others who very nearly collided! The only good news was that Full Moon was far enough west to make the Freeway buoy without tacking.

An unusual sight on the first leg, Fortis ahead of Scat!

This proved very helpful as Full Moon picked off several boats before rounding and several more after a delayed tack and then a straight shot past Gasworks to the Aurora buoy. With a smooth launch of the mighty Equalizer spinnaker, Full Moon took off south to pass yet more boats, including the Buchan 37 Distance and J30 Slingshot, to round the AGC buoy in seventh place!

Art monitors the competition on the second leg past Gasworks.

Repacking the spinnaker and sorting the lines and pole proved challenging on the long upwind leg as the wind had increased to around 15 knots and Full Moon was well heeled-over. As motivation, though, rival Zephyr wasn’t too far ahead and Full Moon was gaining! After rounding the Freeway buoy, Full Moon nearly caught up, crossing just behind before tacking toward the Aurora buoy.

Full Moon (far right) still has a lot of boats to pass on the first run.

Once again, the Equalizer went up smoothly at the Aurora buoy and Full Moon chose a relatively straight course in hopes of passing Zephyr, which had jibed toward the middle of the lake. Unfortunately, the J24 Beagle then decided to try and steal Full Moon’s wind and attempt to pass to windward. Trying and doing are not the same, of course, and Full Moon quickly headed up to pinch off the attack. The good news was that Beagle could not get by, try as they might. The bad news was that the spinnaker battle was allowing Zephyr to cruise back into a more comfortable lead.

Beagle tries to get by. Not happening!

After a slightly shaky rounding of the AGC buoy, Full Moon headed back upwind toward the finish line. Beagle came up quickly from behind but Full Moon adjusted position to provide them with bad air and slow them down until they tacked away. In the end, Full Moon was sixth with Zephyr just ahead in fifth, Beagle seventh, and the big Buchan 37 Distance in eighth. Speedy Scat and Dreams were in the top four and maybe Wizard, the J27. All the J24s, Thunderbirds, and Slingshot were behind, a pretty amazing result given the awful start and the fairly strong wind!

It was a bit chilly but gorgeous out there.

The Slingshot Maneuver

Lots of boats were out enjoying the sun and wind!

The Sesame Street Duck Dodge featured mostly sunny skies and some fairly strong gusty wind. Full Moon crew Michael “Uh-Oh” Medina, Marcelle “Wardrobe Change” Lynde, Allison “Slightly Wet” Bahe, Adam “Popsicle” Michalak, Daniel “Twisted Mister” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Master of Disaster” Mengedoht went for the heavily favored buoy end of the start line on port tack but were a bit late and had to duck behind Zephyr coming on starboard. Zephyr then tacked immediately and was able to roll ahead to windward, the first time they have been ahead all year.

We must be gaining on somebody!

The first leg was fast but seemingly full of drifting power boats and a few brave kayakers. Full Moon overstood the lay line to the Aurora buoy, which was set farther south than normal but got a decent launch of the mighty Equalizer spinnaker. This proved a bit of a handful on the beam reach south but produced some great speed, up over 7.5 knots at a few points. Full Moon passed a few boats and gained on the Capri 25 Triple Time but, unfortunately, Zephyr maintained a comfortable lead.

 

That boy just keeps growing!

The Equalizer was reluctant to come down quickly and got a little damp but, worse, the pole got caught in the jib sheets (two weeks in a row!). Once sorted, Full Moon took off north on the long close reach to the Freeway buoy, holding off a hot VX-One 19’ dinghy and playing tag with Triple Time but still not able to close the gap on Zephyr.

The cabin boy pours some bubbly. Thanks, Michael!

After rounding the Freeway buoy, it was a straight shot upwind to the Aurora buoy. Unfortunately, the spinnaker repacking had not gone well and the Equalizer went up with a big twist. Before that could be cleared, the guy popped out of the spinnaker pole. That got sorted only to have the sheet come free from the clew! By this time, Full Moon was halfway down the lake and so the Equalizer was brought down to windward and the mess cleared away.

Post-race sunset. It was nice out there.

The next leg proved interesting as the line upwind to the Freeway buoy was directly opposite the line of boats returning to the finish line. Full Moon successfully avoided any head-on collisions and steadily gained on the J30 Slingshot. Approaching the buoy on port tack, there were a couple of third-start boats on starboard tack trying to round. Slingshot maneuvered behind them but Full Moon was able to quickly tack into a hole between boats and round ahead. Full Moon then took off for the finish line, gaining on Triple Time, which wasn’t far ahead, while working to hold off Slingshot. The boats finished in that order, with Full Moon 14^th as best we can tell. Zephyr was still well ahead and appeared to finish 10^th.

At least one boat really got into the theme. Nice job!

Secret Identities

Looking south down the lake on the first lap. We're gaining!

Full Moon crew Randy “Zero Percent” Olsen, Chuck “Butt Hitch” Weldy, Katie “Overtime” Freels, Daniel “Club Coke” Mengedoht and skipper John “8.5” Mengedoht donned masks to protect their secret identities for the Super Hero Duck Dodge Tuesday, enjoying gorgeous weather and a fresh NW breeze. Maneuvering for a port tack start, Full Moon had to duck Zephyr on starboard tack, which then immediately tacked to windward. Full Moon put the lee bow effect to work, though, and eased out ahead, making a straight shot to the Freeway buoy with good speed.

Full Moon rounded the buoy right on the transom of the J30 Slingshot, was briefly trapped to leeward, and then tacked. Zephyr and a J27 tacked closer to the buoy to pull abreast to leeward but Full Moon slowly pulled out ahead, leaving Slingshot behind as well. Full Moon did especially well with the puffs on the leg past Gasworks, gaining on boats ahead, including speedy Scat, and putting more distance on the boats behind. Meanwhile, a barge and tug emerged from under the Fremont Bridge, helping affirm an initial decision to keep a southerly line.

Approaching the Aurora buoy (after the barge was gone), a hail of “Starboard!” was heard, followed shortly after by a loud thump as the J24 J’Estalt on port tack t-boned the J22 Freedom. Both boats kept going so we assume there were no injuries but it serves as a reminder to keep a good lookout on such a crowed lake!

A J24, Zephyr, and Slingshot trying to keep up on the first run.

The mighty Equalizer went up smoothly after going around the Freeway buoy and Full Moon enjoyed great speed with the wind shifting between a beam reach and full run. The takedown was a little tougher with the wind on the beam but things were quickly put under control to head back north upwind. Approaching the Committee Boat, Scat appeared on starboard tack, coming from the east, but Full Moon easily crossed ahead. Not sure why Scat went that direction but it was great to be in front of them!

The second lap went much like the first with Full Moon pulling farther ahead of all the boats behind except for tenacious Scat. Heading downwind under spinnaker, a quick count showed Full Moon to be up to fourth place, though the first three had a big lead. Unfortunately, the spinnaker takedown resulted in the jib sheets trapped under the spinnaker pole on deck and Scat nipped by as Full Moon struggled to get the genoa flying properly. There was no catching Scat upwind and Full Moon crossed the line a still-excellent fifth with a big gap to Distance in sixth. A J27 was next, followed by arch-rival Zephyr in eighth.

A full moon rising over the post-race raft-up.

Bronze Me!

Full Moon handing off the traditional gift to the Race Committee before the start.

Our friends on Cinc-O-Sink getting in the Duck Dodge spirit.

Full Moon returned to racing this week with the first Duck Dodge of the 40^th Anniversary season. Crew Michael “I Love You” Medina, Dave “Metropolitan” Pulsifer, Judy “Boom!” Tiffany, Grace “Good Luck” Eun, Daniel “Pop!” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Best On The Lake” Mengedoht were running a bit heavy with two very full coolers and lots of food on a light breeze night but managed a great start, second across the line after a dark blue J24.

Heading upwind on the first leg in second place!

Full Moon held position to the Freeway buoy then played the wind shifts across the north end of Lake Union to sneak past the J24 while also holding off the T-bird Valkyrie. With a quick launch of the mighty Equalizer spinnaker at the Aurora buoy, Full Moon established a solid lead. Reaching down the lake, Full Moon also caught up and passed the C&C 99 Crush from the first start before a clean spinnaker drop at the AGC buoy.

Heading back north to complete the first lap, Full Moon retained first place but Valkyrie was clearly gaining. Approaching the Freeway buoy, the wind went very light and Valkyrie had some good momentum to cruise on past, dropping Full Moon to second, just as Full Moon passed Penelope, another C&C 99 from first start.

After rounding the buoy, all the boats struggled in extremely light wind. Full Moon took a more southerly route, which paid off to close the gap with Valkyrie before rounding the Aurora buoy. The space between boats waxed and waned under spinnaker but Valkyrie proved tough to pass and held her lead to the AGC buoy. Meanwhile, always-speedy 25-foot Scat had been slowly gaining ground.

After another relatively clean spinnaker drop, Full Moon rounded the AGC buoy for the final leg. Valkyrie was uncatchable and, unfortunately, Scat is also very fast upwind, managing to slide past to windward about half way to the finish line. Full Moon easily retained third place, though, to score the coveted Bronze Duck, an excellent result for the first race!

Daniel secures the Bronze Duck!

It was a gorgeous evening!

Adding the spiffy 40th Anniversary Bronze Duck sticker to one of the last places left on the boom...