Flag Day

With a variety of flags flying, Full Moon crew Randy “Fender” Olsen, Daniel “Conch Republic” Mengedoht, Robert “Groom” Leykam, Lucienne “Bride” Grace, and skipper John “Tight Squeeze” Mengedoht made certain not to be over early for the Red, White and Blue Duck Dodge but still managed a decent second-row start. The unusual northeast wind made the “pin” end of the line favored but Full Moon only needed two tacks to reach the Freeway buoy, passing a boat or two in the process.

Full Moon in the prestart before hoisting sails.

Initially favoring a northward track, the Aurora buoy was spotted farther south, and it was easy to fall off to the layline. Unfortunately, Leo Kai and another large boat from the second start were clogging the works near the buoy, moving very slowly. With another boat coming in on port tack from the north (which should have avoided all the starboard tack boats), there suddenly was no room to maneuver, resulting in a bit of bumper boats action.

Full Moon is in the second row for the start.

Once around, Full Moon hoisted the mighty Equalizer, though the wind angle and strength made it a struggle to hoist the final four feet. Meanwhile, Full Moon still had great speed southbound which only improved once the hoist was completed. Takedowns can be challenging in reaching conditions so Full Moon was a bit conservative with a slightly early drop but there didn’t appear to be any direct competitors nearby. Leo Kai had managed to get barely back ahead at the AGC buoy (sometimes size matters) but Full Moon tacked after rounding for clear air while Leo Kai rumbled eastward.

Full Moon (blue, black and white spinnaker) getting past Leo Kai approaching the AGC buoy.

Approaching the finish line, Full Moon needed two tacks to cross but had to yield to the Capri 25 Tailwind as well as an unnamed J30. Since Tailwind also needed a couple of tacks, this led to a tacking duel, Tailwind prevailing at the end (they’d had the advantage from the beginning) to take second place with Full Moon third for another Bronze Duck. By virtue of the new Duck Dodge rules, this means Full Moon will have to be in second start for the next three weeks.