Scat and Mouse

Prestart. It was a bit cold but it was nice to have wind.

At the invitation of the Race Committee, Full Moon opted for the second start for Goosebump Race No. 3. Crew Michael “Dayquil” Medina, Kate “North Face 1” Freels, Allison “North Face A” Bahe, Chad “Harley” Harnish, and skipper John “Boom-Boom” Mengedoht enjoyed an excellent start near the middle of the line and were able to lay down some “dirty” air to a cluster of boats close behind, eventually popping free into first place! Speedy Scat got by approaching the AGC buoy and then the chase was on under spinnaker for the long downwind leg.

Kate, John, and Chad hard at work upwind.

Approaching the Freeway buoy, Scat appeared from the west on a “hotter” line and then jibed, running neck and neck with Full Moon – but with the inside line for the buoy. This gave Scat the edge to pull ahead again but it was great fun to be hanging in there with a relatively fast boat. It was a straight shot to the Aurora buoy before turning upwind again to start the second lap. Scat took a course further east while Full Moon favored the western shore, which paid off as Full Moon nearly closed the gap before rounding the AGC buoy.

Michael at his post on the pointy end.

Full Moon held position to the Freeway buoy under spinnaker and for another straight shot to the Aurora buoy. Heading for the finish line, Scat was uncatchable but no boat was seriously challenging Full Moon from behind. Sure enough, Scat scored first with Full Moon second! Necessary Evil (Catalina 30) took third, not too far behind.

The second place sticker goes on the mast!

Unfortunately, it turns out the Race Committee had intended all boats to go through the finish line to complete the first lap, though this was not crystal clear from the sign boards on the Committee Boat. This explained Scat’s course toward the east, which brought them across the line. Necessary Evil, on the other hand, sailed a course similar to Full Moon and did not cross the line. The Race Committee has not chosen to change the results, perhaps because a lot of boats didn’t understand the requirement. So Full Moon is still officially second, but it would have been much better if all boats had sailed the same course. Regardless, win, place, or lose, it was great to be out there!