Poo to Two

Full Moon rolls by the Committee Boat prior to the start.

Starboard tack has right of way over port tack, but this doesn’t work to perfection when there are clusters of overlapped port tack boats, some of which can’t even see the starboard tack boats coming. Third start for Sci-Fi Night was just that sort of calamity. Full Moon was forced to do anything and everything possible to avoid collisions, resulting in many close calls and countless tacks just to clear the line. Eventually, crew Randy “12:14” Olsen, Michael “11:46” Medina, Rolf “Take Down” Van Houten, Daniel “Old Pro” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Adrenaline” Mengedoht emerged from the chaos on port tack to leeward of a giant Tartan 4300 but somehow managed to claw ahead into clear air. The good news is that we were then able to lay the Freeway buoy with good speed.

Full Moon zipping along on the first leg upwind.

Full Moon delayed tacking at the buoy, waiting to cross in front of a J30. This was good news/bad news since this put the J30 in a “lee bow” position for a little while until they pulled ahead – but this allowed Full Moon to take advantage of better pointing ability. When the J30 eventually tacked back, they had to duck Full Moon while avoiding the Ranger 26 Where’s The Beef. Preparing for the final tack to the Aurora buoy, Full Moon opted to duck behind Where’s The Beef to ensure making the buoy, then rounded close behind and a bit to windward before launching the Equalizer.

Full Moon with the Equalizer.

Full Moon then slowly pulled away from WTB and began to gain on other boats. About halfway down the lake, Full Moon made it past two SYC J22s battling each other a bit too close to shore in lighter wind. On approach to the AGC buoy, Rolf wrestled the nylon monster down and Full Moon had a nice rounding onto the final leg. Full Moon slowly gained on the San Juan 24 Great Escape but not enough to get by. To our astonishment, Great Escape got the horn for first place, followed by our own horn for second! We had been certain our terrible start had doomed all hopes of a top three finish. Following in third place was the Harbor 20 Scamp. (One of the SYC J22s was actually ahead of Scamp but they hadn't checked in with the race committee before the race.)

Daniel grabs the coveted silver sticker.

Yes, we have lots of duck stickers but we've been dodging ducks since 1995...

Solid Gold!

Quite a few boats turned out for Pajama Night.

Every once in a very great while, Full Moon ends up perfectly positioned for a start and so it was for the Pajama Night Duck Dodge. Crew Randy “Extra Credit” Olsen, Michael “Green Fleck” Medina, Marcelle “Take Down” Van Houten, Daniel “Foredude” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Smokin’” Mengedoht nailed the timing close to the Committee Boat and enjoyed a straight shot in clear air to the Freeway buoy, putting distance on the entire third start fleet.

Cap'n John loves leading the fleet!

Full Moon then enjoyed a nice, consistent breeze and only a few tacks to the Aurora buoy, increasing our lead and passing some second-start boats. Once around, Daniel did his first tour of duty on the foredeck, with supervision by veteran Randy. With the Equalizer up and flying well, Full Moon not only pulled even further ahead but passed still more of the second start boats.

Full Moon has the blue, white and black spinnaker. All the boats in front are from second start!

After a conservative take-down approaching the AGC buoy, it was time for a romp to the finish line and a horn for first place! While the J22 Freedom and a boat with a wide green stripe stayed somewhat close on the first leg, it was a different story at the finish, Freedom taking second a full five minutes after Full Moon. Great starts always help a lot, but this was amazing!

Daniel snags the coveted gold duck sticker from the Committee.

Horror Movie

Some pre-start action. Nice weather for early May!

Full Moon skipped the first Duck Dodge but returned to racing action for Horror Movie Night. With a smaller crew than normal, it was decided to forgo the spinnaker and try out the new fourth start, which is basically third start without spinnakers. Crew Randy “Palm Springs” Olsen, Daniel “Live Band” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Rusty” Mengedoht ended up at the unfavored end of the starting line on starboard tack, Cap’n John perhaps unconsciously wanting to avoid the pile-up of boats vying for space on port tack at the heavily favored Committee Boat end. This was safe but not a recipe for racing success and it took multiple tacks to make it to the Freeway buoy.

Boats headed for the AGC buoy, including first start boats on their second lap.

Full Moon sailed the second leg to the Aurora buoy hard on the wind in a straight shot, passing several boats. There was a bit of traffic at the Aurora buoy, and it took a little time to get clear before turning fully downwind. In theory, it is fastest to sail “hotter” angles downwind (requiring a number of jibes) but, with sufficient wind, it is also possible to sail “wing and wing” with the jib opposite the mainsail. Full Moon successfully employed this tactic, holding dead even with a Ranger 26 under spinnaker for most of the leg and gaining on other boats ahead flying spinnakers, all from third start. If Full Moon returns to fourth start for another race, though, we’ll probably try the hotter angles approach, which would also allow staying closer to the middle of the lake where there is often a bit more wind.

The final leg was another straight shot upwind, Full Moon passing a few more boats but not quite able to reach the top three finishers. Meanwhile, it was a beautiful evening, if still a bit chilly when the sun started dropping behind Queen Anne Hill.