Light Wind in the Wild West

Full Moon's vote for the Black Duck was this Catalina Canoe.

The Western Night Duck Dodge featured mild to sometimes nonexistent wind out of the southwest along with clearing skies and fairly warm temperatures. Full Moon crew Marcelle “Holy Shoes” Lynde, Dave “New Shoes” Pulsifer, Judy “No Shoes” Tiffany, Michelle “Sporty Shoes” Mathison, Daniel “Blue Shoes” Mengedoht and skipper John “Old Shoes” Mengedoht maneuvered for a fairly decent start near the Committee Boat but still got stuck in bad air from several boats and no good opportunities to tack for clear air. Eventually, things cleared out enough to tack to the west but this still involved ducking several boats on starboard tack. Fortunately, the next tack saw those same boats needing to duck behind Full Moon!

Full Moon flies the Equalizer on the second leg.

With lots of oncoming traffic at the AGC buoy, Full Moon delayed hoisting the mighty Equalizer spinnaker for a short while but then made good use of the nylon monster with a speedy beam reach straight to the Freeway buoy. This included passing a few boats to finally get into the front half of the fleet and leaving boats such as rival Zephyr well behind.

A line of third start boats heading for the finish. It was gorgeous out there!

After a clean drop of the spinnaker, it was another straight shot upwind to the Aurora buoy. The next leg was a fairly close reach back to the Committee Boat. The J24 Beagle was gaining from behind but chose to try and pass to windward between Full Moon and another boat. Full Moon called “leeward!” and attempted to head Beagle up before it was too late but Beagle forged ahead between boats and didn’t even attempt to get the other boat to change course. (Memo to Beagle: In a serious race, that would have cost you a protest or penalty turn – don’t try to pass to windward unless you have room to head up!) Oh, well, it is the Duck Dodge…

Full Moon enjoys the sunset after the race.

After rounding the AGC buoy, the Equalizer was hoisted again and Full Moon pulled back ahead of Beagle while also gaining on speedy Dreams (Olson 25). Unfortunately, the wind was getting lighter heading toward the Freeway buoy. Full Moon caught up to Dreams with some separation on their leeward side but Beagle was able to ride the following wind longer to get around the leeward side of Full Moon. Full Moon rounded the mark just outside of Dreams while Beagle stayed further out. This benefited Beagle for a while as Full Moon suffered in the wind shadow off Dreams and had to fall off a bit toward Gasworks. Up ahead, though, it was clear that the wind was getting ever lighter, especially closest to the north shore of the lake where Beagle was heading.

A good turnout for the post-race raft-up!

Dreams and Full Moon were just south of the dying breeze and, while Dreams looked like they could make the Aurora buoy, Full Moon was going to have to take a hitch to the south. Full Moon waited patiently for a little more breeze before tacking and then tacking back with a perfect line to the buoy. Unfortunately, a trimaran had come to nearly a dead stop right at the buoy! Dreams stayed wide but Full Moon was able to just tack into the slowly enlarging hole between the trimaran and the buoy. The choice to keep south and good timing for the tacks allowed Full Moon to pass five boats on this one leg, including Beagle and the T-birds Valkyrie and Selchie! Full Moon wasn’t quite done, though, and managed to pass one more J24 and hold off Dreams to cross the line in eighth place, a great result for a challenging race.

On Second Thought...

In my previous post, I briefly described a contentious rounding at the Aurora buoy between Full Moon and the T-bird Valkyrie. The course to the buoy was approaching but not quite close-hauled. Full Moon was clear ahead. Valkyrie had been slowly gaining and maneuvering to windward, apparently hoping to gain an inside overlap at the buoy. Full Moon responded by also maneuvering to windward to block the attempt. Upon reaching the zone within 3 boat-lengths of the buoy (my opinion), Full Moon then fell off a bit to lay the mark, confident that Valkyrie could not legally establish an inside overlap.

Valkyrie, however, still was moving slightly faster and maneuvered to create an inside overlap. Believing that Valkyrie had no rights, having established an overlap too late, Full Moon tacked just after reaching the mark. Valkyrie also tacked (they might have been able to duck behind but maybe not) and rounded the buoy without contacting either Full Moon or the buoy. There was a bit of yelling back and forth, though, regarding (A) when the overlap had been established and (B) whether Full Moon had the right to tack.

The Duck Dodge, of course, does not enforce the official Racing Rules as published by the ISAF but many racers voluntarily attempt to follow these rules anyway since they are designed specifically for fair competition and to keep boats from harming each other. I certainly try to follow them, at least as best I understand them, and Valkyrie's crew seemed to be in the same mode.

Anyway, my contention had been along the lines of Rule 18.2 (c) (2) which states "When a boat is required to give mark-room by rule 18.2 (b), if she becomes overlapped inside the boat entitled to mark room, she shall also give that boat room to sail her proper course while they remain overlapped." Full Moon's "proper course" was to tack as soon as possible and, by this rule, Valkyrie would be required to give Full Moon room to do that.

All would be well for Full Moon but for the next part of the rule which states "However, if the boat entitled to mark-room passes head to wind [tacks] or leaves the zone [3 boat-length zone around the buoy], rule 18.2(b) ceases to apply." What this means is that Full Moon could do most anything at all except to tack. In other words, Valkyrie was correct - I did NOT have the right to tack - and I sincerely apologize to them for not understanding that.

What I should have done was head up and force Valkyrie to miss the buoy. That would have been completely fair under the rules and would not have involved tacking. And, if Valkyrie intended to follow the rules, they would have had to fall off and circle back around the buoy (even the Duck Dodge requires that you go around all the buoys!). I had assumed Valkyrie would not dare cut inside and didn't realize they had done so until it was too late. My mistake - but I won't make that one again if I can help it!

I also can't resist a parting shot. The next part of Rule 18.2 is section (d), which states "If there is reasonable doubt that a boat obtained or broke and overlap in time, it shall be presumed that she did not." Translation: If you hope to establish an inside overlap coming from behind, you better make damn sure you do so in time and that the other boat is fully aware of it because the burden of proof is all on you!

T-Bone Pirates

The Seafair Pirates have nothing on the Duck Dodgers!

Full Moon crew Randy “Early Riser” Olsen, Art “Twisted Stick” Teller, Doug “Late Boat” Schoemaker, Eileen “No Shrimpin” McHugh, Daniel “Twizzler” Mengedoht, and skipper John “No Overlap” Mengedoht had a decent start for the Pirate Night Duck Dodge until getting rolled by the much bigger Norlin 34 Runaway. Tacking out of Runaway’s slipstream would have meant ducking too many boats, so Full Moon suffered in bad air for a while. Eventually, things opened up and Full Moon tacked toward the Westlake shore and better breeze, though our ancient rival Ignitor had found even better breeze near the Eastlake shore and very nearly poked out in front.

Meanwhile, toward the middle of the lake, the big and heavy Buchan 37 Distance was cranking along on port tack and apparently oblivious to the Santana 27 Shogun crossing on starboard. The resulting t-bone created that horrific sound nobody likes to hear and we hope that Shogun (and especially all her crew) will be okay.

Full Moon rolls by Runaway under the Mighty Isis.

Full Moon delayed jibing and raising the spinnaker after rounding the AGC buoy to provide a little separation from all the traffic still heading south. Once hoisted, the Mighty Isis (aka the Equalizer) proved its worth downwind, as Full Moon quickly took off and chased down Runaway while also keeping a decent lead on speedy Scat. The Mighty Isis came down smoothly at the Freeway buoy, though it took a while to get things sorted and the jib properly trimmed and somehow the mainsail outhaul got released (!).

Another view. Full Moon is moving pretty fast judging by the bow wave!

Once settled into a groove, it was a straight shot to the Aurora buoy, though Full Moon had to maneuver a bit to hold off the T-Bird Valkyrie. The rounding then got a little ugly as Valkyrie attempted to poke inside without having established an overlap the requisite three boat-lengths out (our opinion and, of course, part of the racing rules but not officially part of the Duck Dodge rules, though many boats follow them anyway). Full Moon tacked just after the buoy, forcing Valkyrie to tack as well, which proved unpopular on the other boat. Apparently, Valkyrie’s skipper had hoped to prevent Full Moon from tacking for a while. Better luck next time! (Not really. Is there a reason they keep an inflatable lamb stuck on their bow?)

Heading back south, Cap’n John very nearly forgot that the course instructions required crossing the finish line at the end of the first lap. The resulting late course change set Ignitor out in front but it was better than ignoring (or forgetting) the rule as happened to Valkyrie, Runaway, and at least two other boats. The Race Committee was actually watching for this, too, and those boats were all disqualified, not that any were in serious contention for a top three finish. Regardless, Full Moon passed Ignitor before reaching the AGC buoy so all was well.

Seaquest snags the Aurora buoy!

The second spinnaker run went very smoothly, as did the takedown at the Freeway buoy. It was another straight shot to the Aurora buoy, too, though a third-start boat named Seaquest had managed to snag the buoy with their rudder and Full Moon had to round both the buoy and the boat! Once around, it was a straight upwind haul to finish seventh (as best we could tell). Scat was next with Ignitor two boats further back and Zephyr another two boats after Ignitor. This makes seven straight races with no rain! (Hope I didn’t just jinx us for next week…)

Lots of boats out enjoying yet another fine Tuesday evening.

Team Spirit

Full Moon in prestart maneuvers. Time to polish that hull!

Full Moon crew Randy “Corona” Olsen, Dave “Scotch” Pulsifer, Judy “Seltzer” Tiffany, and skipper John “Summer Ale” Mengedoht got caught in a tight squeeze between Scat and another boat at the start of the Superbowl/Team Spirit Duck Dodge and were quite literally shoved back into the second row in extremely light breeze. Spotting more wind toward the Eastlake shore, Full Moon tacked away from the direct course to the Freeway buoy. This meant being only a few yards from the start line five minutes later but did eventually pay off fairly well, though a number of boats were still ahead, including arch-rival Zephyr and the T-bird Zoe.

More of the prestart. Not much wind...

The Freeway mark rounding was tight and slow but Full Moon was still in the hunt and only 300 yards or so behind giant Neptune’s Car from the first start (with Full Moon regular Michael Medina aboard). In such light air, a spinnaker can be a liability if it can’t be kept full and Full Moon elected to stick with the jib instead and hold it out to catch any wind. This may or may not have been a wise choice as some boats passed by with spinnakers. Full Moon worked south into a bit more breeze, though, and repassed all the boats that had done well under spinnaker plus a few more. This move also set things up nicely to round the Aurora buoy, coming in on starboard jibe with right of way.

70' Neptune's Car in first start with Michael Medina on board.

The rounding was again crowded with Full Moon on the inside, Scat next but a bit forward, and a good sized pinwheel outside of Scat. Zephyr was somewhere in the middle and, based on the shouting, must have cut inside a boat or two without having rights to do so.

Second start and third start boats mix it up downwind. Full Moon is out of the picture to the west.

Escaping the buoy, Scat was in the perfect lee-bow position and slowly pulled out ahead as Full Moon clawed to windward to gain some separation. Full Moon stayed close to Scat and closed up a bit on speedy Dreams while continuing to climb to windward to maintain clear air in a slightly building breeze. With several boats battling, the windward position paid off as Full Moon passed the Capri 25 Triple Time and Zoe while holding off the big Buchan 37 Distance. Distance then poked their bow between Full Moon and Scat, setting things up well for Full Moon to have the inside position at the AGC buoy.

Another great sunset!

Reaching to the finish line, Full Moon made sure Distance could not get by to windward but could not stop them from dropping down to leeward. A bigger boat with much taller sails, Distance slowly gained to nip Full Moon by just a few feet at the finish line to take 5th with Full Moon an excellent 6th and Scat back in 8th. Zephyr appeared to finish 12th a few minutes later.

Double Trouble

Verity displays some nice duct tape creativity.

The Duct Tape Duck Dodge featured light to non-existent wind out of the southwest and slowly clearing skies. Full Moon crew Michael “Everything is Awesome” Medina, Marcelle “Beautiful Bellevue” Lynde, Tammy “Ridiculous Redmond” Cross, Chuck “Cheez-Its” Weldy, Daniel “Movie Magic” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Vodka!” Mengedoht set up for a decent start near the buoy end of the starting line but a large blue boat named Asystole (which means no cardiac activity) had the same general idea. Unfortunately, they were a bit late tacking for the starting line and in the process they delayed Full Moon as well.

Tammy, Michael, and Daniel enjoying the first upwind leg.

Once moving the right direction, Full Moon found some stronger wind on the eastern side of the lake and put this to good use to get past a few boats, including rival Zephyr. Approaching the AGC buoy, a different Zephyr struggled to make the buoy on starboard tack (and didn’t make it) as Full Moon successfully rounded outside and to windward. Rival Zephyr then elected to skip the buoy altogether rather than swing around outside other boats approaching on starboard tack. This was cheating, of course, for both Zephyrs, but it put them both in front of Full Moon.

Full Moon passes "non-rival" Zephyr as the Equalizer collapses.

After clearing the buoy area, Full Moon hoisted the mighty Equalizer spinnaker but the wind was extremely light and what there was of it was very shifty. Full Moon got past non-rival-Zephyr and then ended up on starboard jibe coming alongside rival-Zephyr on port jibe, both boats going the same direction. Slightly different wind 15 yards apart! Unfortunately, Full Moon eventually had to jibe, which allowed rival-Zephyr to pull back ahead. Incredibly, Zephyr then chose to skip the Freeway buoy rather than deal with going behind a small group of boats working their way around. Full Moon must look terrifying when gaining from behind! 

Heading west in light air - but we're gaining!

Full Moon, of course, rounded properly and then took a southerly route toward the Aurora buoy, seeing more wind that way. This paid off very well as Full Moon picked off several boats, including some J24s and speedy Dreams (Olson 25), before rounding the buoy in a tight cluster of boats. Zephyr was forced to the outside (at least they didn’t cheat this one!) but a J24 trying to sneak around inside had to have a crewman on the bow push off Full Moon’s stern to avoid a rear-ender. (Thanks for the push!)

Concentration apparently pays off...

On the final leg, Full Moon gathered a little speed in the light air but the relative giant Norlin 34 Runaway began to gain from behind. Full Moon squeezed a bit higher to weather, though, and established the classic lee-bow position, slowing Runaway and initiating some good-natured banter between boats. Full Moon then slowly pulled out ahead until there was room to tack. Unfortunately, once separated, Runaway was able to generate a bit more speed to pull back in front on the next tack and hold the lead to the finish – with more close-quarters banter, of course! In the end, Full Moon was an excellent seventh, ahead of all the J24s and T-birds and still happily ahead of the double-cheaters on Zephyr.

Post-race relaxation with a cup of bubbly.

Boobs N' Beads

Sunny skies and good wind brings a good turnout for Mardi Gras Night.

The wind angle and course often favor a port tack start for the Duck Dodge but to do so is risky given the need to avoid traffic approaching on starboard tack. Full Moon crew Art “Humus Soup” Teller, Dave “No Cups?” Pulsifer, Judy “Voodoo Doughnuts” Tiffany, Neil “Slippers” Piispanen, Daniel “Cap’n Crunch” Mengedoht, and skipper John “No Cups!” Mengedoht proved this point on Mardi Gras Night with a port approach and a nearly impenetrable line of starboard tack boats. Two tacks later, Full Moon was wallowing in bad air at the back of the fleet, though perhaps in a better mental state than several others who very nearly collided! The only good news was that Full Moon was far enough west to make the Freeway buoy without tacking.

An unusual sight on the first leg, Fortis ahead of Scat!

This proved very helpful as Full Moon picked off several boats before rounding and several more after a delayed tack and then a straight shot past Gasworks to the Aurora buoy. With a smooth launch of the mighty Equalizer spinnaker, Full Moon took off south to pass yet more boats, including the Buchan 37 Distance and J30 Slingshot, to round the AGC buoy in seventh place!

Art monitors the competition on the second leg past Gasworks.

Repacking the spinnaker and sorting the lines and pole proved challenging on the long upwind leg as the wind had increased to around 15 knots and Full Moon was well heeled-over. As motivation, though, rival Zephyr wasn’t too far ahead and Full Moon was gaining! After rounding the Freeway buoy, Full Moon nearly caught up, crossing just behind before tacking toward the Aurora buoy.

Full Moon (far right) still has a lot of boats to pass on the first run.

Once again, the Equalizer went up smoothly at the Aurora buoy and Full Moon chose a relatively straight course in hopes of passing Zephyr, which had jibed toward the middle of the lake. Unfortunately, the J24 Beagle then decided to try and steal Full Moon’s wind and attempt to pass to windward. Trying and doing are not the same, of course, and Full Moon quickly headed up to pinch off the attack. The good news was that Beagle could not get by, try as they might. The bad news was that the spinnaker battle was allowing Zephyr to cruise back into a more comfortable lead.

Beagle tries to get by. Not happening!

After a slightly shaky rounding of the AGC buoy, Full Moon headed back upwind toward the finish line. Beagle came up quickly from behind but Full Moon adjusted position to provide them with bad air and slow them down until they tacked away. In the end, Full Moon was sixth with Zephyr just ahead in fifth, Beagle seventh, and the big Buchan 37 Distance in eighth. Speedy Scat and Dreams were in the top four and maybe Wizard, the J27. All the J24s, Thunderbirds, and Slingshot were behind, a pretty amazing result given the awful start and the fairly strong wind!

It was a bit chilly but gorgeous out there.

The Slingshot Maneuver

Lots of boats were out enjoying the sun and wind!

The Sesame Street Duck Dodge featured mostly sunny skies and some fairly strong gusty wind. Full Moon crew Michael “Uh-Oh” Medina, Marcelle “Wardrobe Change” Lynde, Allison “Slightly Wet” Bahe, Adam “Popsicle” Michalak, Daniel “Twisted Mister” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Master of Disaster” Mengedoht went for the heavily favored buoy end of the start line on port tack but were a bit late and had to duck behind Zephyr coming on starboard. Zephyr then tacked immediately and was able to roll ahead to windward, the first time they have been ahead all year.

We must be gaining on somebody!

The first leg was fast but seemingly full of drifting power boats and a few brave kayakers. Full Moon overstood the lay line to the Aurora buoy, which was set farther south than normal but got a decent launch of the mighty Equalizer spinnaker. This proved a bit of a handful on the beam reach south but produced some great speed, up over 7.5 knots at a few points. Full Moon passed a few boats and gained on the Capri 25 Triple Time but, unfortunately, Zephyr maintained a comfortable lead.

 

That boy just keeps growing!

The Equalizer was reluctant to come down quickly and got a little damp but, worse, the pole got caught in the jib sheets (two weeks in a row!). Once sorted, Full Moon took off north on the long close reach to the Freeway buoy, holding off a hot VX-One 19’ dinghy and playing tag with Triple Time but still not able to close the gap on Zephyr.

The cabin boy pours some bubbly. Thanks, Michael!

After rounding the Freeway buoy, it was a straight shot upwind to the Aurora buoy. Unfortunately, the spinnaker repacking had not gone well and the Equalizer went up with a big twist. Before that could be cleared, the guy popped out of the spinnaker pole. That got sorted only to have the sheet come free from the clew! By this time, Full Moon was halfway down the lake and so the Equalizer was brought down to windward and the mess cleared away.

Post-race sunset. It was nice out there.

The next leg proved interesting as the line upwind to the Freeway buoy was directly opposite the line of boats returning to the finish line. Full Moon successfully avoided any head-on collisions and steadily gained on the J30 Slingshot. Approaching the buoy on port tack, there were a couple of third-start boats on starboard tack trying to round. Slingshot maneuvered behind them but Full Moon was able to quickly tack into a hole between boats and round ahead. Full Moon then took off for the finish line, gaining on Triple Time, which wasn’t far ahead, while working to hold off Slingshot. The boats finished in that order, with Full Moon 14^th as best we can tell. Zephyr was still well ahead and appeared to finish 10^th.

At least one boat really got into the theme. Nice job!

Secret Identities

Looking south down the lake on the first lap. We're gaining!

Full Moon crew Randy “Zero Percent” Olsen, Chuck “Butt Hitch” Weldy, Katie “Overtime” Freels, Daniel “Club Coke” Mengedoht and skipper John “8.5” Mengedoht donned masks to protect their secret identities for the Super Hero Duck Dodge Tuesday, enjoying gorgeous weather and a fresh NW breeze. Maneuvering for a port tack start, Full Moon had to duck Zephyr on starboard tack, which then immediately tacked to windward. Full Moon put the lee bow effect to work, though, and eased out ahead, making a straight shot to the Freeway buoy with good speed.

Full Moon rounded the buoy right on the transom of the J30 Slingshot, was briefly trapped to leeward, and then tacked. Zephyr and a J27 tacked closer to the buoy to pull abreast to leeward but Full Moon slowly pulled out ahead, leaving Slingshot behind as well. Full Moon did especially well with the puffs on the leg past Gasworks, gaining on boats ahead, including speedy Scat, and putting more distance on the boats behind. Meanwhile, a barge and tug emerged from under the Fremont Bridge, helping affirm an initial decision to keep a southerly line.

Approaching the Aurora buoy (after the barge was gone), a hail of “Starboard!” was heard, followed shortly after by a loud thump as the J24 J’Estalt on port tack t-boned the J22 Freedom. Both boats kept going so we assume there were no injuries but it serves as a reminder to keep a good lookout on such a crowed lake!

A J24, Zephyr, and Slingshot trying to keep up on the first run.

The mighty Equalizer went up smoothly after going around the Freeway buoy and Full Moon enjoyed great speed with the wind shifting between a beam reach and full run. The takedown was a little tougher with the wind on the beam but things were quickly put under control to head back north upwind. Approaching the Committee Boat, Scat appeared on starboard tack, coming from the east, but Full Moon easily crossed ahead. Not sure why Scat went that direction but it was great to be in front of them!

The second lap went much like the first with Full Moon pulling farther ahead of all the boats behind except for tenacious Scat. Heading downwind under spinnaker, a quick count showed Full Moon to be up to fourth place, though the first three had a big lead. Unfortunately, the spinnaker takedown resulted in the jib sheets trapped under the spinnaker pole on deck and Scat nipped by as Full Moon struggled to get the genoa flying properly. There was no catching Scat upwind and Full Moon crossed the line a still-excellent fifth with a big gap to Distance in sixth. A J27 was next, followed by arch-rival Zephyr in eighth.

A full moon rising over the post-race raft-up.

Bronze Me!

Full Moon handing off the traditional gift to the Race Committee before the start.

Our friends on Cinc-O-Sink getting in the Duck Dodge spirit.

Full Moon returned to racing this week with the first Duck Dodge of the 40^th Anniversary season. Crew Michael “I Love You” Medina, Dave “Metropolitan” Pulsifer, Judy “Boom!” Tiffany, Grace “Good Luck” Eun, Daniel “Pop!” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Best On The Lake” Mengedoht were running a bit heavy with two very full coolers and lots of food on a light breeze night but managed a great start, second across the line after a dark blue J24.

Heading upwind on the first leg in second place!

Full Moon held position to the Freeway buoy then played the wind shifts across the north end of Lake Union to sneak past the J24 while also holding off the T-bird Valkyrie. With a quick launch of the mighty Equalizer spinnaker at the Aurora buoy, Full Moon established a solid lead. Reaching down the lake, Full Moon also caught up and passed the C&C 99 Crush from the first start before a clean spinnaker drop at the AGC buoy.

Heading back north to complete the first lap, Full Moon retained first place but Valkyrie was clearly gaining. Approaching the Freeway buoy, the wind went very light and Valkyrie had some good momentum to cruise on past, dropping Full Moon to second, just as Full Moon passed Penelope, another C&C 99 from first start.

After rounding the buoy, all the boats struggled in extremely light wind. Full Moon took a more southerly route, which paid off to close the gap with Valkyrie before rounding the Aurora buoy. The space between boats waxed and waned under spinnaker but Valkyrie proved tough to pass and held her lead to the AGC buoy. Meanwhile, always-speedy 25-foot Scat had been slowly gaining ground.

After another relatively clean spinnaker drop, Full Moon rounded the AGC buoy for the final leg. Valkyrie was uncatchable and, unfortunately, Scat is also very fast upwind, managing to slide past to windward about half way to the finish line. Full Moon easily retained third place, though, to score the coveted Bronze Duck, an excellent result for the first race!

Daniel secures the Bronze Duck!

It was a gorgeous evening!

Adding the spiffy 40th Anniversary Bronze Duck sticker to one of the last places left on the boom...

The Magic Tack

Full Moon's skipper went for a wild ride Saturday, crewing on the Catalina 30 Magician in the Cruising Class for the Smith Island Race. There was plenty of sunshine but the wind rapidly built into the low 20s out of the south. A spinnaker run north to the southern tip of Whidbey Island from Shilshole was fun and fast but the return trip was a long bash upwind and into the waves.

Clever skipper Brian Berg covered our closest competition, the Santana 27 Sunshine, along the western shore of the Sound until both boats tacked to cross the Sound to the finish line. Calling this tack nearly four miles away is tough but Magician arrived lined up perfectly with the finish with Sunshine some 60 yards to leeward (and needing to tack to finish).

In the end, Magician finished first in Class 7 under PHRF handicapping and also corrected out ahead of all the boats in Class 6, which had used the same course. Fun times!

Stayin' Alive!

The final 2014 Goosebump Race featured very strong, gusty wind, and a mix of sunshine and rain. Full Moon crew Randy “Pot O’ Gold”Olsen, Michael “Low Rider” Medina, Marcelle “Woo-hoo!” Lynde, Daniel “Video” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Round Up” Mengedoht had a decent start with the big boats and settled into sixth place on the first leg.

Full Moon cruises by the Committee Boat, signaling "first start."

Rounding the AGC buoy, the mighty Equalizer was left in the bag as Full Moon proved plenty fast downwind with just main and jib and there was no reason to push things. The wind died down approaching the Freeway buoy but then filled in again as Full Moon rocketed across the north end of Lake Union with speeds popping up over 7 knots.


Yankee III gives an idea of the wind strength.

Returning upwind after rounding the Aurora buoy, the wind continued strong and big boats Yankee III and Stella Blue got past, along with a Hobie 21. Still, rivals Cinc-O-Sink and Poco Mas were either missing or well behind and, with Tipsy Gypsy also a no-show, it was looking good for a second place overall in the series!

Poco Mas also gets well heeled over.

On the second downwind run, the J30 Slingshot threatened from behind under spinnaker but could not get past Full Moon, again sailing under main and jib, until just after the Aurora buoy. Full Moon still made Slingshot work for it on the final leg but Slingshot prevailed to take ninth, with Full Moon tenth and Poco Mas a bit further back in eleventh.

Randy checks out the full arc rainbow.

As it turned out, Cinc-O-Sink came out but the wind was too much and they returned to the dock rather than risk capsizing (a very real possibility in a 505 dinghy!). Despite dropping one race, Cinc-O-Sink finished fifth overall in the series. Full Moon was, astoundingly, second in the series (it really pays to show up for every race!) with T-bird Poco Mas third just two points back. Many thanks to the Race Committee and to NW Riggers for putting on this winter series!

Collecting the series award for second place!

Popsicle Toes

Full Moon crew Daniel “Frosty” Mengedoht and skipper John “Slushy” Mengedoht had to spend a little time brushing an inch of snow off the boat to get ready for Goosebump Race No. 5. Despite being short-handed, Full Moon got a great start, third across the line behind giant Nimble and the two-man dinghy Bete Noire in very light wind.

On the close reach southeast to the Cove buoy, the 40 foot Yankee III threatened from behind but Full Moon proved hard to pass and held position to round the buoy. Heading back north and upwind, Full Moon tacked to escape the wind shadow of Nimble and stayed toward the east side of the lake, splitting from most of the fleet. At first, this appeared a bad move as Yankee III and T-bird Poco Mas pulled ahead toward the west. Then the wind filled in a little bit on the east side and the more direct course to the Freeway buoy paid off. Full Moon again rounded in third behind Bete Noire, though Yankee III and Poco Mas were not far behind.

Reaching and running across past Gasworks, Yankee III began to catch up again but still could not get by once Full Moon jibed for the final approach to the Aurora buoy. Poco Mas threatened as well, but there wasn’t enough wind to keep their spinnaker full, negating any advantage it might have provided.

Once around the Aurora buoy, Poco Mas lost some ground switching from spinnaker to jib as Full Moon soldiered slowly on toward the finish line. Full Moon gained on Bete Noire but could not quite catch up and crossed the line in third place. Poco Mas was fourth, Yankee III fifth, with Cinc-O-Sink seventh. With Tipsy Gypsy and Surt failing to show, this places Full Moon and Cinc-O-Sink in a tie for second place with Poco Mas just one point back. Smaller boats rule!

"Slushy" adding to the collection of vinyl stickers.

Super Sunday!

Lake Union not long before the race start!

The wind was nearly nonexistent before the start of the Superbowl Sunday Goosebump race, just enough to move. Full Moon crew Randy “Triple Jibe” Olsen, Michael “No. 3” Medina, Eileen “Legion of Boom” McHugh, Daniel “Perfect Pack” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Low and Slow” Mengedoht set up for a port tack start near the “pin” end of the line, with excellent timing for once. Unfortunately, and inexplicably, there was no starting horn from the Committee Boat. Full Moon, Tipsy Gypsy, Nimble, Poco Mas and one or two others all crossed the line anyway only to turn around to restart as the horn sounded a full minute and half late! Fortunately, the wind had filled in enough to make this possible and Full Moon ended up in decent shape, briefly ahead of the fastest boats, though well behind speedy little Cinc-O-Sink, which had wisely chosen to stay back near the starting line.

Full Moon is too hard to see but is heading for the orange buoy for the start, just left of the Aurora Bridge. Glad the wind filled in a bit!

The line to the Freeway buoy was a straight shot on port tack for Full Moon, which rounded in fourth place not far ahead of Poco Mas, thanks partly to Distance allowing Full Moon to tack inside and round the mark. The line to the Aurora buoy then looked like a straight shot on starboard tack but the wind was clearly lighter near the buoy and Full Moon sailed a higher course to buy some room in case the wind shifted. Big but aptly-named Nimble and 33-foot Tipsy Gypsy easily slipped past on this leg (as they should) but the C&C 41 Surt had to work for it, finally getting by just before the buoy as all boats put in a couple of tacks to get around.

The Equalizer went up smoothly with the pole to starboard, anticipating a westerly shift moving south down the lake. Unfortunately, the wind did not cooperate and, after delaying far too long, Full Moon jibed the nylon monster and shifted the jib to the starboard side. Poco Mas and the Ranger 23 Blazing Zipper sailed smarter, jibing sooner and sailing higher angles for more speed in the light air. Surt, on the other hand delayed their jibe way too long, eventually losing the breeze altogether close to the Westlake shore. Naturally, the wind shifted back, and Full Moon jibed again, though the jib stayed in place in anticipation of yet another jibe. That final shift never came and, while Full Moon rounded the AGC buoy just ahead of Poco Mas and Blazing Zipper, the jib could not be hoisted until the spinnaker and pole were down.

Poco Mas and Blazing Zipper both pulled ahead just past the buoy and, halfway up the final leg, giant Surt came roaring by. In the end, while Full Moon gained back some distance on Blazing Zipper, Poco Mas was fifth, Surt sixth, Blazing Zipper seventh, and Full Moon eighth, not bad for being in the first start fleet. Cinc-O-Sink managed third, just ahead of Tipsy Gypsy. Meanwhile, partly by virtue of sailing in every race, Full Moon and Poco Mas are now in a tie for fifth place overall in the series, 4 points behind Cinc-O-Sink.