Super Bowl Pregame

Kate and Adam enjoy some Goosebumps.

Lake Union was dead calm on Superbowl Sunday until about 45 minutes before Goosebump Race No. 4 when a light breeze magically appeared out the NW. Full Moon crew Randy “Teacher” Olsen, Adam “Halyards” Michalak, Kate “Groundhog Knot” Adams, and skipper John “Vintage Sails” Mengedoht lined up for a port tack start toward the east end of the line, which worked well apart from being about 20 seconds late to the start. Boats farther west sailed a longer but lower and faster course, leading to a convergence of boats approaching the Freeway buoy.

Flying the ancient orange spinnaker.

After surviving the congestion at the buoy, Full Moon stayed on port tack for a short distance before tacking into a relatively clear lane. The wind shifts heading west worked in Full Moon’s favor, Full Moon crossing just ahead of old rival Zephyr before a final tack to the Aurora buoy. The tack cost a bit of speed, though, and Full Moon rounded even with Zephyr but on the outside.

Full Moon is flying the orange spinnaker in the middle, chasing Zephyr on the far right.

With a reduced crew, the decision had been made to fly the ancient standard spinnaker rather than the oversized Equalizer. This provided Zephyr with the opportunity to pull back ahead. A stuck spinnaker halyard messed up the takedown but Zephyr must have had some issues as well since Full Moon nearly caught up again to start the final leg. Full Moon was pointing higher but Zephyr was moving faster and managed to pass in front and provide a dose of disturbed air. Still, it was clear Zephyr would need one more tack to make the finish line while Full Moon would not. In the end it was extremely close but Zephyr prevailed to take fifth place with Full Moon a very respectable sixth.