Rainbow Wigs!

Full Moon runs past the Committee Boat in the prestart.

Full Moon took a week off so the Cap’n and Cabin Man could go to the Snarky Puppy concert. Alas, the Cap’n got sick and couldn’t make the show, though he couldn’t have sailed, either… Regardless, Full Moon crew Marcelle “Cleat Sitter” van Houten, Michael “Tiny Bubbles” Medina, Alex “Dry Drop” Almerico, Clay “Low Rider” Anderson, Daniel “Perfect Pack” Mengedoht, and skipper John “The Impaler” Mengedoht returned to racing for the Crazy Wig Duck Dodge. A good start near the middle of the line paid off fairly well with relatively clear air for the close reaching first leg, though the breeze seemed a bit stronger toward the west.

Full Moon was doing a decent job holding off the yellow Ranger until the spinnaker pole snagged a yellow buoy!

Converging traffic on approach to the AGC buoy made for a congested rounding but Full Moon was on the inside for once, passing a few boats in the process before heading upwind towards the Freeway buoy. This proved to be a straight shot with no tacks, Full Moon then continuing toward Gasworks before tacking toward the Aurora buoy. A couple more tacks were needed to round and then the mighty Isis was launched to great effect for the reach/run to the AGC, Full Moon hitting nearly six knots.

Heading for the finish. It looks pretty calm but we hit over six knots on this final leg!

After a clean drop and rounding, it was back upwind again. Unfortunately, the “turbo” spinnaker pole projecting from the starboard bow was positioned perfectly to skewer the top metal hoops on one of the yellow buoys marking the “speed zone” in the middle of the lake. This led to a sudden full stop and 180 degree turn before the pole could be disengaged. Thankfully, there was no damage to the boat, pole, or buoy! With a quick recovery, it was on to the Freeway buoy and Aurora buoy where Full Moon took a very wide line to avoid a very slow moving Catalina 270. Mighty Isis was again deployed for the final leg, allowing Full Moon to slide past 40’ Stella Blue to finish roughly tenth. It was great to have both sun and wind, though the temperature still doesn’t feel like summer.