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!