Lake Union Gyre

On approach to the Aurora buoy. Eventual winner Tatonka is the yellow boat in the background.

Full Moon crew Michael “Sticky Cards” Medina, Chuck “Tacky Whacky” Weldy, Doug “Walking Man” Schoemaker, Troy “Red Lobster” Charlesworth, Daniel “Weapons Officer” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Fend Off” Mengedoht enjoyed an excellent port tack start for the Tropical Night Duck Dodge and started catching second-start boats before even reaching the Freeway buoy. After a tight inside rounding in lots of traffic, Full Moon waited to tack for a while and then enjoyed nice clear air most of the way to the Aurora buoy. A quick hoist of the Equalizer at the buoy led to a fast beam reach south, Full Moon appearing to be in the lead.

Going nowhere fast...

Unfortunately, the wind completely died near the AGC buoy, Full Moon coasting to a stop among a vast cluster of boats going nowhere. The usual tactics of sculling, rocking, and even pulling by swimmers ensued. Full Moon eventually made it to the floating “island” for free beer (thanks, Fremont Brewing!), at which time the wind began to fill back in. Two tacks later, Full Moon crossed the line to take the Bronze duck, Tatonka and Thundorca having somehow managed to get through or around the AGC buoy area unnoticed.

The wind returns! First start winner Freja is close to windward.