Sailing Reindeer

Jeremy and Kate - always photogenic!

Full Moon crew Michael “Jibe Talkin” Medina, Don “Mis-Tack” Caffrey, Kate “You Do It” Austin, Jeremy “Where’s My Wig” Jones, and skipper John “Falling Antlers” Mengedoht came prepared with antlers and Rudolf noses for the Christmas in July Duck Dodge on yet another sunny, warm Tuesday evening. Full Moon set up for a starboard tack start near the east end of the line but got the timing mixed up when the Race Committee failed to signal the first start and crossed the line a full minute late. This may have been a good thing, though, as there was apparently a collision between the J24 Fat Chance and the J80 Heart Attack and Full Moon was well clear of any of that.

Cap'n John sports wind-blown antlers.

Heading upwind to the Freeway buoy, Full Moon had a good turn of speed in a nice breeze and began to reel in a few boats, rounding the buoy in about 20^th place. It was then a straight shot west on a tight reach to the Aurora buoy. The mighty Equalizer went up smoothly for a port jibe run down the lake but the wind became very light and shifty, slowing progress. Even so, Full Moon still picked off a boat or two and gained a bit on rival Zephyr (San Juan 28) the Thunderbird Selchie plus the speedy Hotfoot 27 Flash Point.

Thundorca makes a nice Committee Boat.

A group of boats converged at the AGC buoy, unfortunately with Full Moon on the outside. The Equalizer came down cleanly and the rounding was smooth and, once clear, Full Moon took off upwind. About 2/3 up the lake, Full Moon crossed tacks with Zephyr but had to duck as Zephyr was on starboard. This was repeated in the opposite fashion at the next crossing and Full Moon pulled ahead for good with a nice line to the Freeway buoy.

Jeremy trims the jib as Full Moon scoots past Gasworks Park.

The leg to the Aurora buoy was again a straight shot on a starboard reach. There was a brief delay hoisting the Equalizer due to some pole issues, then Full Moon took off on what was now a beam reach as the wind had shifted to the northeast. The T-birds Valkyrie and Selchie were battling each other, which allowed Full Moon to make some gains but Full Moon couldn’t get past them to leeward. Meanwhile, the J24 Beagle took a course farther to windward and eventually got past all three boats. Flash Point was also in the thick of things as the boats converged at the AGC buoy. Full Moon was again outside but also just a bit behind the group of boats. This created an opportunity to tack into clear air just past the buoy while the others continued in a tight mass on port tack at roughly 90 degrees to the desired course to the finish!

Selchie and Valkyrie battle on the second lap. Full Moon is out of the picture to the right.

The group eventually broke up and the chase was on with Valkyrie directly behind Full Moon, Flash Point off to the east in clear air, and Selchie and Beagle farther back. Flash Point steadily chipped away at Full Moon’s lead but the others could not make any gains. In the end, Full Moon held on to beat Flash Point by inches to take about tenth place, a great finish given the competition and the late start.