Boys Night Out

Full Moon is out of the picture as second start heads for the Freeway buoy.

The women bailed for the Mardi Gras Duck Dodge so the Full Moon crew of Randy "Raindrop" Olsen, Dave "Hat" Pulsifer, Daniel "Dry" Mengedoht, and skipper John "Sponge" Mengedoht was smaller than normal. Opting for the middle of the line for clear air proved a mistake as the Committee Boat end was heavily favored, old rivals Fortis and Ignitor both leading Full Moon to the Freeway buoy by a healthy margin. The Aurora buoy was again set very far to the north but some good strategy allowed Full Moon to gain on several boats on the second leg.

Big fat raindrops came down twice during the race. Was that in the forecast?

After rounding, the Equalizer allowed Full Moon to slowly reel in Fortis by going a good distance to leeward and more toward the middle of the lake. Ignitor was also in range until Full Moon fell into a large wind hole with several larger boats to windward near the AGC buoy. Soon, a couple of third start boats came by a bit farther to leeward, still with a bit of wind, though they all had trouble dousing their spinnakers at the buoy.

Full Moon's blue and white spinnaker can just be seen chasing Fortis's red one.

After finally making it around, Full Moon headed east in hopes of stronger wind while Ignitor went west into the downwind traffic. The wind remained very light but was stronger on the east side, allowing Full Moon to beat her old rival, though still behind two third start boats.

Once the rain quit, it was a gorgeous evening.