Anarchy Rules?

The Goosebump series has been taken over by the Seattle Singles Yacht Club and the first race displayed a few glitches with the new management. The Committee Boat was over half an hour late and, for whatever reason, no course buoys were set apart from the pin end of the start-finish line – which stretched nearly the entire width of Lake Union! The good news was the beautiful sunshine, which offset the cold temperatures and made up a bit for the lack of wind.

Not much wind for the first Goosebumps race.

Following a couple of years of precedent, Full Moon crew Randy “Sippy Cup” Olsen, Michael “Rock n’ Roll” Medina, Marcelle “HBR” Van Houten, and skipper John “Why Not” Mengedoht elected to go in the first start, which raised a few eyebrows on the Race Committee, but with Scat (custom 25’) and Selchie (T-bird) also selecting first start, this is probably appropriate. Positioned comfortably away from the cluster of boats at the Committee Boat but not so far down the line as to make for a longer first leg, Full Moon enjoyed an excellent start, though the Soverel 33 Tipsy Gypsy nailed it, quickly forging out to a lead under spinnaker. Several other boats also deployed spinnakers on the reach south but Full Moon stuck with steady speed with the new genoa, knowing the spinnaker could easily collapse in such light air.

John, Michael, and Randy, working hard on the first leg.

40’ Surt caught up on the outside and Selchie on the inside approaching the AGC buoy when 33’ Anarchy lived up to its name by barging in with no rights whatsoever (under either the racing rules or the Colregs) and then very nearly bashing Full Moon as their stern swung out while turning at the buoy. (Attention skipper: Your boat pivots around the keel, not the rudder!) There was not much we could do other than make as much room as possible but it was a totally unnecessary move on their part and could have easily caused damage to several boats.

Full Moon is in the foreground. Note the collapsed spinnakers behind.

Once around the buoy, Full Moon found a bit of wind coming down the east side of the lake and stayed in it while trying to figure out when to tack toward what should have been an Aurora buoy. A Facebook search showed the Committee had changed the course to AGC, Freeway, Aurora, which made much more sense for port roundings, but there were no buoys to be seen. Typsy Gypsy tacked between the buoys defining the Lake Union “test” course but Anarchy and a small dinghy continued north. Full Moon tacked and then tacked back as the word went out via Facebook to round “the farthest buoy,” which could only mean the fixed Gasworks buoy.

Approaching the Gasworks buoy, speedy Scat and Selchie finally caught up to Full Moon. At this point, Full Moon went west, still following Anarchy in case there really was an Aurora buoy, while the other boats took a more southerly course. Much to our surprise, Typsy Gypsy then reappeared, heading for the Gasworks buoy in an effort to sail the “correct” course. Given the light wind, that had to have been a painful decision!

Full Moon on the final leg with 40' Surt parked in front but to leeward.

Anarchy eventually rounded a virtual buoy (about where an Aurora buoy might sometimes be found) but then ran into a dead zone with no wind at all. Full Moon turned toward the south in an effort to round outside of the west “test” course buoys so as to at least round outside every actual buoy in the north half of the lake! At this point, the Anarchy crew began vigorous rocking the boat, pumping the sails to move forward. Given the chaos thus far, the fading wind, and the low angle of the sun, the Full Moon crew decided to do the same, as did the crew of Quandary (505 dinghy). Astoundingly, the Race Committee then awarded first place to Anarchy, second to Full Moon, and third to Quandary as we all crossed the finish line, despite the very obvious human propulsion!

A new red sticker adorns the mast.