Bronze Martinis

The final Duck Dodge of summer is always Martini Night aboard Full Moon and the boat was well equipped to create the classic adult beverage (along with some Cokes for the high school boy). Crew Randy “OJ” Olsen, Michael “Morocco Mole” Medina, Dave “Rare Bottle” Pulsifer, and Daniel “Shaker” Mengedoht voted to give third start a try in lieu of second start as usual, if only in order to shorten the racing to one lap. Skipper John “Two Olives” Mengedoht agreed, curious if the influx of ever-faster boats in second start has been mirrored in third start. The Race Committee was fine with this, which was not a surprise.

Pano shot of the Full Moon crew heading for the Chandler's Cove buoy.

Approaching the starting line, it was clear that Full Moon would be early and, rather than reach down the line away from the favored end, a last-minute donut was employed. This was successful at absorbing the extra time but killed a bit too much speed in the light southwest breeze, resulting in a worse than average start. Once moving, though, Full Moon began picking off boats while also gaining distance to windward in hopes of reaching the AGC buoy without tacking. This almost worked but the now very light wind began to shift on approach to the buoy and a quick double tack was needed, Full Moon slipping around the buoy just in front of two other boats.

Boats behind had an enough tougher time making it to the Chandler's buoy.

The second leg was downwind but the wind was so light that spinnakers were not filling so Full Moon stayed with the genoa, heeling the boat with crew weight. This paid off and Full Moon was able to pick off a few more boats while oozing along to the Chandler’s Cove buoy. Watching other boats on the next leg, it was clear the wind was shifting to the northwest so the Equalizer remained in the bag after rounding the buoy. This also paid off well as the wind continued clocking around, resulting in a nearly upwind leg to the Freeway buoy. The final leg to the finish line was a close reach in a slightly stronger breeze and Full Moon managed to stay ahead of any challengers to get the horn for third place and the Bronze Duck.

So, was it appropriate for Full Moon to opt for third start? 40-foot Thundorca and 40-foot Stella Blue, which placed first and second, are third start regulars, despite their size and speed potential. Full Moon never had much hope of beating them, even in such light air. Boats such as Slingshot (J30), Flashpoint (Hotfoot 27), Monomoy (J24), and Freedom (J22) have all raced and placed in third start this year. If those boats are appropriate, then so is Full Moon. But maybe it shouldn’t be appropriate for those boats to be in third start, either. If the Race Committee won’t do more to define the starts, there is no answer for this!

Pretty in Pink

Ignitor with a very special mainsail!

The Pink Boat Regatta Night Duck Dodge featured a lot of pink clothing and decorations, including a fabulous painted mainsail on Ignitor and the usual exuberance aboard Deception. Full Moon crew Randy “Reunion” Olsen, Debra “Quick Draw” Ricard, Sophie “Oh Poo!” Ricard, Marcelle “Boom Chick” Van Houten, Daniel “No Pink” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Strategerlicious” Mengedoht bought a bunch of pink duck stickers in support of breast cancer research and then set up for what should have been a pretty great start until thwarted by Zephyr to windward refusing to yield to Full Moon to leeward, both boats on starboard tack and side by side. (Gary, you’ve done a lot for the beer-can sailing community but that doesn’t give you diplomatic immunity from the Colregs!) Nevertheless, Full Moon had a good first leg to the AGC buoy. The short leg to the Chandler’s Cove buoy was a speedy reach and then it was time to launch the Equalizer for a long downwind run.

 

A drone captured Full Moon dousing the Equalizer on the first lap.

Rather than tax the foredeck crew with a lot of jibes, Full Moon at times sailed a bit “by the lee” and holding the boom in place. Sailing a “hotter” course and jibing would have been a bit faster but Full Moon still maintained enough speed to get past a boat or two. After a clean drop approaching the Freeway buoy, it was a straight shot to the Aurora buoy on a very close reach before heading upwind again to start the second lap.

Debra, Sophie, Marcelle, and Randy enjoying another beautiful evening on the lake.

Apart from 34’ Runaway finally getting past, the leg to the AGC buoy went very well, as did the quick reach to Chandler’s. On the downwind run to the Freeway buoy, Full Moon slowly passed a J22 and Necessary Evil (Catalina 30) while nearly catching a speedy yellow Moore 24. Full Moon never did quite catch the Moore but held off the others on the final two legs to finish about 12^th, quite good considering the competition in second start these days.

It gets dark so early these days!