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.

Far, Far Away

Full Moon on approach to the starting line, two boats to the right of Kitiwake's stern.

Full Moon skipped Duck Dodge No. 2 (skipper was out of town) but returned for Star Wars Night. Crew Randy “Jibe Ho!” Olsen, Chuck “The Count” Weldy, Tina “Skewers” Hein, Ian “Jawa” Mengedoht, Daniel “Yoda” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Obi Wan” Mengedoht enjoyed a pretty decent start in clear (but very light) air. Finding or staying in pockets of better breeze would be the mode all evening but Full Moon did pretty well on the first leg to the Freeway buoy.

Full Moon leads Tuesday to the AGC buoy on the second lap.

With an unusual easterly wind, spinnakers were flown to advantage on the leg to the Aurora buoy, which, thankfully, was not moving around this week. The long leg to the AGC buoy was mostly a reach but not deep enough for a symmetrical spinnaker. Then it was back upwind to start the second lap. Rinse and repeat…

Full Moon (left) finishes in the waning light.

With two laps and light air, the race took quite a while but Full Moon did fairly well given six people and two full coolers aboard. Old rival Ignitor was never a threat and we even managed to stay ahead of one J24!

A classic light air evening on the lake.

Gettin' the Bugs Out

Full Moon lookin' good.

Full Moon returned to racing with the first Duck Dodge of the year. Crew Randy “Back in the Saddle” Olsen, Michael “Rusty” Medina, Dave “Shorts” Pulsifer, Judy “Skirt” Tiffany, Ian “Beermeister” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Lee Bow Effect” Mengedoht enjoyed a gorgeous evening on Lake Union, though the wind was relatively light for much of the race.

3rd Start fleet in a typical Duck Dodge scene.

Full Moon managed a decent start near the Committee Boat but would have done better flying a spinnaker for the first leg as the beam reach turned into more of a run. A tidy rounding of the AGC buoy led to a long close-hauled leg and lots of interaction with the J22 Freedom and the relative giant 40’ Stella Blue. Our old rival Ignitor somehow made it past on this leg, though we’d fix that on the second lap.

 

Lots of boats were out. That may be Full Moon on approach to the AGC buoy under spinnaker.

After rounding the Freeway buoy, the search was on for the Aurora buoy, which proved to be a moving target, a number of boats snagging the buoy mooring line and dragging it toward the south. Full Moon also fell prey to this trouble as the mooring line was mostly floating near the surface, making it impossible to get around without taking a very wide approach. Perhaps a heavier line or a shorter scope would be helpful in the future?

 

Ignitor finishing behind as the sun sets.

Once clear of the snag, the Equalizer was hoisted to good effect and Full Moon began to gain on boats ahead. Traffic approaching the AGC buoy led to a late drop and, unfortunately, the pole snagged in the jib sheets as Full Moon returned upwind. This was soon cleared up and the game was on to choose the best places to tack in the decreasing wind. Full Moon did pretty well with this, though the final approach to the Freeway buoy brought us very close to one marina.

 

It was full dark coming back to the marina.

Crossing the lake to the west, it was evident that the Aurora buoy had been dragged even farther south and close to the Westlake shore. Full Moon headed for it and then bailed as we got close as yet another boat fouled the mooring line, leaving it questionable whether there would be room to get around. The Equalizer was hoisted, initially with a classic “Mae West,” and Full Moon headed slowly for the finish line in the fading light. In the end, we had a lot of fun in the sun and it was great to be back doing the Duck Dodge again!

Full Moon Dog

The wind was very light at the start and for most of the race.

The Full Moon crew jumped ship for the Rum Run, opting to take out Moon Dog, a Ranger 26 from the Carefree Boat Club stationed at Shilshole. With a tired main and genoa and evidence of “deferred maintenance,” this was not an ideal choice for racing but it was nice not to have to deal with the Locks. Speaking of which, the Committee Boat was delayed getting out to the Sound and the race start was a full hour later than scheduled!

For whatever reason, Moon Dog was able to keep up with the J24 Cobalt!

In the very light wind, it was difficult to time the start. Crew Tina “TKE” Hein, Adam “Hot Wire” Michalak, John “Tack-tician” Mengedoht, and skipper Michael “Chili” Medina did a decent job getting to the starboard end of the line until encountering relative giant Twisted Journey barging to windward and then using their engine to get clear (!). After escaping the wind shadow from Twisted Journey, Moon Dog stayed on starboard tack for a while to clear traffic before heading west for better breeze. This lead to a protracted game of cat and mouse with the J24 Cobalt, crossing tacks multiple times on the painfully long beat to the West Point buoy.

At the raft-up at last! Go Cougs!

Cobalt rounded the buoy first but didn’t deploy a spinnaker, allowing Moon Dog to slowly reel them in on the broad reach to Point Monroe. Moon Dog carried the chute as long as possible as the wind finally increased, then switched to the genoa for the finish. Unfortunately, the Committee Boat had abandoned the finish line by the time we arrived but then it wasn’t like we were going to win any ducks…

The full Moon Dog crew enjoys decent wind on the return to Shilshole.

Moon Dog joined the raft-up in Port Madison, enjoying some home-made chili, beers, rum – and even a Martini for Michael. Eventually, it was time to go in order to make it back to Shilshole before dark. The wind was fresh for the close reach back, making for a nice sail to end the day.

Michael enjoying drinking and driving (it was just coffee...)

Summer Season Recap

Twenty-two different crew members sailed on Full Moon this summer, continuing the tradition of providing the Duck Dodge Experience for lots of people. Unfortunately, skipper John had to miss a whopping five races due to conflicts as Daniel, the fabulous "Cabin Boy," graduated from high school and prepared to start college.

Full Moon raced in both second start and third start this season, as has been discussed previously. In second start, Full Moon had a median finish of sixth, with a best finish of fourth place and a worst of fifteenth. In third start, Full Moon had a median finish of second with one gold, two silvers, and one bronze duck to decorate the mast.

Regardless of starts or finishes, it was a great summer on the water with most races featuring both sunny skies and decent wind, not to mention a great group of people to share the experience.

Full Moon will likely skip the Rum Run but some of her crew may race on another boat. Stay tuned!

Martinis!

The final Duck Dodge is always Martini Night aboard Full Moon, though there is always the customary gift for the Race Committee, given the official theme. With a whopping nine people aboard (adding more than 50% of the weight of the boat itself) plus a desire to race for one lap instead of two, Full Moon elected to go in third start – a reasonable choice given some of the competition (T-birds, J24s).

Not quite a Full Moon record but that's a lot of "crew!"

Crew Randy “Boom Box” Olsen, Marcelle “Magic Fingers” Van Houten, Michael “Pole Control” Medina, Dave “Too Tall” Pulsifer, Judy “Blanket” Tiffany, Camille “Chicken” Elliott, Jean “Big Smile” Van Houten, Rolf “Chute Scooper” Van Houten, and skipper John “Three Olives” Mengedoht approached the line on starboard tack but had to tack to avoid a group of port tackers (tonnage trumps right of way!) and then duck behind another starboard tack boat, resulting in a mediocre start. Suffering in the resulting “dirty” air didn’t help and Full Moon was in about 20^th place at the Freeway buoy.

Third start heads for the Freeway buoy. Full Moon is somewhere behind these boats...

Clear air on the second leg helped a bit, along with some crisp tacking, allowing Full Moon to pick off a few boats before rounding the Aurora buoy and hoisting the mighty Equalizer for the downwind run. While a couple of gybes would have been beneficial, it could have been difficult with all the people crowded on deck so Full Moon made do with sailing nearly dead downwind. The Ranger 22 True Blue did a great job to stay in front until a boat with a cruising chute took them up a bit to windward, opening a lane for Full Moon to get past to leeward. Full Moon also managed to get past a number of other boats on this leg, though most were not flying spinnakers.

Randy and Camille are loving this stuff!

A smooth drop at the AGC buoy and a quick gybe brought Full Moon onto the final leg. Amazingly, Full Moon had nearly caught up to a couple of second start boats and, as the J24 Beagle crossed the line just ahead, a horn sounded for third place. Full Moon was fourth! Tuesday (Columbia 26) was first and Wandering Angus (Thunderbird) took second.

Nightfall comes way too early these days. Would you believe Full Moon beat that big Beneteau?

Once the jib was dropped, it was time to fire up the cocktail shaker and break out the late “dinner” munchies. It was a beautiful evening on the water and a great way to finish the summer season!

Hazy Daze

And we're off! Speedy Scat is in the foreground with Full Moon in front.

Full Moon went a little conservative for the start of the Tropical Night Duck Dodge, opting to approach the line on starboard tack instead of the favored port tack, but still enjoyed a decent start. Crew Randy “Vitamin R” Olsen, Chuck “Boomer” Weldy, Judy “Chips” Tiffany, Dave “Footballer” Pulsifer, Daniel “Last Race” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Cheap Leis” Mengedoht had a straight shot to the Freeway buoy (in the usual converging traffic), followed by heading to the “beach” at Gasworks and then a tack toward the Aurora buoy.

Tropical crew of Full Moon.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to lay the Aurora buoy without more tacking and Full Moon ended up tacking ahead of a Catalina and just to windward of Invader (T-bird), the result being a Full Moon sandwich to squeak around the buoy. Once around, the Equalizer was soon hoisted for speeds up to 6.13 knots on a nice long beam reach. The Equalizer came down cleanly to round the AGC buoy and then it was time to head for the floating “island” serving as the Chandler’s Cove buoy.

Heart Attack gets their beers at the "island."

The J80 Heart Attack was inexplicably slow on approach to the island so Full Moon went wide on an attempted pass. Heart Attack then found some speed to pull clear ahead and Full Moon hardened up so as to go just behind Heart Attack to grab a few free beers from the island, while letting the sails luff a bit to ensure we didn’t bump Heart Attack from behind. Unfortunately, this move apparently messed up the approach from behind by the Catalina 30 Necessary Evil, her skipper having a few unkind words. Like it or not, Full Moon was obligated not to run into Heart Attack from behind and Necessary Evil had the same obligation toward Full Moon whether beer was able to be obtained or not…

Wildfires in Canada and Eastern Washington provided a smoky haze.

The long upwind leg north required only two tacks to nicely lay the Freeway buoy before again heading to the Gasworks Park bulkhead. Two more tacks brought Full Moon to the Aurora buoy, this time with no traffic to worry about. The wind had dropped quite a bit by this time and the spinnaker reach/run was a lot slower. On approach to the AGC buoy, the wind dropped and then shifted to the NE, leaving Full Moon on the wrong gybe as we raised the jib and dropped the Equalizer. This allowed Necessary Evil to get by, sailing inside Full Moon at the buoy.

Selchie had a bigger crew than normal but were still very hard to beat!

There were a lot of boats milling about the island in light air and they usually run out of beer during the first lap so Full Moon elected to stay clear instead of tacking a few times for a beer run. This paid off handsomely, allowing Full Moon to pass not only Necessary Evil but also Tonic (Peterson 34) and Selchie (T-bird) to finish in what we believe was fifth place.

Briefly Glorious

The stars aligned for the Sock Hop Duck Dodge and Full Moon nailed the start near the favored Committee Boat end of the line. Crew Randy “Rainier” Olsen, Dave “Bodi” Pulsifer, Judy “Baba Ganoush” Tiffany, Katie “Fremont” Freels, Daniel “Perfect Pack” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Guido” Mengedoht were neck and neck with the Ranger 33 Seoladh until they faded back to dodge a drifting power boat. Speedy Scat tacked for the Westlake side of the lake but the wind proved better in the middle and Full Moon rounded the AGC buoy solidly in first place!

The Equalizer was soon launched for the long leg north, the apparent wind clocking from a beam reach to nearly dead downwind. It was a bit scary to thread through traffic on port gybe and needing to yield to every boat coming our way but Full Moon made it safely to the Freeway buoy for a clean drop and still in first place. The SSW wind direction made for a straight shot to the Aurora buoy but, unfortunately, the Norlin 34 Runaway managed to slip past before rounding.

Returning upwind, Scat and the Peterson 34 Tonic also managed to get by. However, Full Moon again kept to the middle of the lake, holding off on tacking to the west, and this paid off as the boats converged closely together to round the AGC buoy. Under spinnaker, Full Moon initially passed Runaway to move into third place but this didn’t last.

After another clean drop at the Freeway buoy, it was on to the Aurora buoy – but it had moved to the north! On approach, a couple of boats were coming at the buoy on starboard tack for some reason, though moving quite slowly. Full Moon took the stern of both boats (better safe than sorry) but a J22 and the J24 Monomoy cut between the starboard tackers in order to pass Full Moon. On the final leg, Full Moon could not quite overtake the two J-boats and had to settle for sixth place but it was still a terrific race and amazing to be first for a while. With all boats ahead save the J22 being inherently faster boats, this was a great finish!

Hot Jammies

The Pajama Night Duck Dodge was once again very warm with clear blue skies AND wind! Full Moon crew Michael “No Overlap” Medina, Marcelle “Flipper” Van Houten, Bill “Parental Judgment” Altemeier, Nick “Not Yet” Altemeier, Daniel “Not My Pack” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Twisted Pack” Mengedoht  opted for a fairly conservative starboard tack start and were only briefly held up by a large boat to windward before tacking to cross the line. The wind angle and placement of the Freeway buoy led to many boats converging at different angles. Speedy Selchie (T-bird) achieved an early overlap to windward to go inside Full Moon but some other boats converging from behind ran out of room. The result was an E-Scow bashing into Full Moon’s outboard.

Lotsa boats behind.

[At least that’s the way I understand it. With one of my crew watching for overlaps and not seeing any, I drove for the mark once Selchie was clear. Anybody with an inside overlap of Full Moon would have been forced to miss the buoy to windward of Full Moon and that very clearly did not happen. The E-Scow crew, on the other hand, clearly felt I caused a problem for boats behind Full Moon, including them. If anybody can (calmly) explain that perspective to me, I’d actually like to hear it. If I could reasonably have done something differently that would have avoided getting hit, I certainly want to know. Otherwise, if you’re coming up behind a boat that is moving slower (same tack, same general course), it’s on you to avoid the collision!]

Weren't quite ready for this shot, were you?

Anyway, once around the Freeway buoy, Full Moon headed for the Gasworks shore before tacking toward the Aurora buoy. This allowed Full Moon to lay the mark without additional tacks, though it was a close thing. The Equalizer was then hoisted quickly for a fast beam reach straight to the AGC buoy. The takedown was difficult due to the wind angle but the spinnaker came down in time for a clean rounding and Full Moon headed back upwind to the north.

Marcelle likes this stuff!

The Freeway buoy was pleasantly free of traffic and Full Moon again headed for the Gasworks shore before tacking toward the Aurora buoy. This time, Full Moon overstood slightly and Westward (large C&C?) took advantage of a much longer waterline to sail past. Once the Equalizer was back up, though, Full Moon had the speed edge and, after some maneuvering, returned the favor by passing to leeward.

After another smooth rounding of the AGC buoy, it was on to the finish line but Westward wasn’t quite done. Passing to windward was not going to work (Full Moon can point pretty high!) so Westward eventually fell off to leeward. The finish line was favored at the windward end, though, and Full Moon still managed to stay (just) in front to take what we believe was sixth place.

Themeless in Seattle

Perhaps the best response to the "no theme" race was this herd of dinosaurs.

Due to protests on social media, the July 17 Duck Dodge became “Themeless in Seattle,” at least for the Race Committee. Full Moon crew Randy “Twisted & Tangled” Olsen, Judy “Wet” Tiffany, Dave “Wetter” Pulsifer, Erin “Cookies” Osberg, Daniel “Frenchy” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Crumbles” Mengedoht managed a front row start but were squeezed between a couple of T-birds to windward and speedy Scat to leeward, the other boats eventually managing to ease forward into clear air. Tacking wasn’t a good option, though, so Full Moon suffered a while in bad air. Calling the tack westward toward the AGC buoy was tricky with all the first start boats coming back under spinnaker but Full Moon had a decent rounding before launching the Equalizer for the long reach/run north.

Heading south toward the AGC buoy. Clear skies!

The drop was somewhat last-minute before rounding the Freeway buoy, the spinnaker only getting a little wet… Then it was a fairly straight shot past Gasworks to the Aurora buoy. Unfortunately, the tack at the buoy revealed jib sheets tangled with the spinnaker pole and several boats paraded by before the mess could be cleared. The rest of the leg south was uneventful and the Equalizer went up smoothly for the second northbound leg. All was not well on the take-down, however, as we did a bit of “shrimping” before the nylon monster was fully onboard.

Sunglasses required heading west into the sun.

The final two legs went just fine, thankfully, Full Moon finishing approximately tenth even with the struggles. Meanwhile, it was yet another sunny Tuesday evening with wind – it was great to be sailing on the lake!

Le French Cabin Man takes beverage orders...

Pyrate Night

Dread Pirates Neil, Randy, and John.

Full Moon crew Randy “Warm Seltzer” Olsen, Chuck “Cabin Guy” Weldy, Chad “Cupcake” Harnish, Neil “HDR” Piispanen, and skipper John “Ate the Parrot” Mengedoht attempted a pin-end port tack start for the Pirate Night Duck Dodge but were thwarted by starboard tack boats and ended up pretty far back in the fleet before crossing the line. Once out of the wind shadows of other boats, speed picked up nicely for a straight shot to the Freeway buoy.

There was WIND!

Without immediately knowing where the Aurora buoy was located, choosing when to tack was a gamble, but Full Moon managed to make it past Gasworks and to the buoy without additional tacks. Once around, the wind seemed a bit too far forward of the beam so the choice was made not to fly the Equalizer. Unfortunately, this proved costly when the wind shifted aft and got lighter on the reach/run to the Aurora buoy.

Third start must be getting kind of scrappy given the fenders left out...

The upwind leg was very puffy and Full Moon was on the verge of rounding up a couple of times but it sure was fun! Two fairly well placed tacks were necessary to reach the Freeway buoy and then it was back across the lake to where the Aurora buoy was supposed to be? It turns out the buoy was never properly anchored and it had migrated a bit south for the second lap!

Gotta love Cake or Death's spinnaker!

This time, the Equalizer was launched after rounding and some distance made up on boats ahead, though not enough to really matter. With a clean drop and tidy rounding of the AGC buoy, it was on to the finish line, Full Moon well out of contention but having had a blast on a sunny breezy evening.

Some boats REALLY get into this theme...

Prom Kings

And we're off!

The breeze was up for the Prom Night Duck Dodge and, while the sun was out, the temperature was on the cool side. Full Moon crew Randy “Seltzer” Olsen, Adam “IPA” Michalak, Troy “Beer Warmup” Charlesworth, Daniel “The Graduate” Mengedoht and skipper John “Za Viggle” Mengedoht were hampered in getting a good start by several larger boats delaying the desired tack onto port. Once pointed the right direction, though, it was a straight shot to the Freeway buoy with good speed.

The Freeway buoy.

Hardening up and heading nearly to Gasworks before tacking resulted in nailing the layline to the Aurora buoy where the Equalizer was soon launched to good effect, helping Full Moon to pass a few boats. Unfortunately a large RIB with a video crew came zooming across our bow, generating a huge wake in the process. Apparently some people think they are immune to the 7 knot limit on the Ship Canal and Lake Union!

Comin' through to leeward...

Dropping the spinnaker was held a bit late and jibing around the AGC buoy caused the jib sheets to get snagged on the pole but this was soon cleared up for the long upwind leg. Traffic at the Freeway buoy was thick enough for Full Moon to tack earlier rather than later, setting up the need to tack twice approaching the Aurora buoy, the last tack coming just inside Necessary Evil. The maneuvers delayed hoisting of the Equalizer but, once up, it again proved helpful, allowing Full Moon to get past a few boats which had gotten by upwind.

Closing in on bigger boats with the Equalizer.

The final leg saw the wind reduced a bit and the finish line was a bit cluttered with third start boats but Full Moon nearly held position, losing out only to the Santana 30/30 Blackout (which should have been much farther ahead!). It was difficult to tell our exact placement but Full Moon was in the top ten, having done fairly well on an evening favoring the larger boats.

Smaller Boats (Mostly) Rule!

Full Moon returned to second start for the Disney Characters Duck Dodge. Crew Randy “One Beer” Olson, Dave “Big Pull” Pulsifer, Judy “Popcorn” Tiffany, and skipper John “Slow Ride” Mengedoht struggled to reach the starting line in very light breeze, and then had to dodge some third start boats inexplicably on the course side of the line. The result was that the leaders were already around the Freeway buoy while Full Moon still had half a leg to go but the somewhat good news was that speedy Scat was still within sight, less than 100 yards ahead.

Chasing Chi Chi and the Ranger 33 on the second lap.

The breeze began to fill in approaching the Freeway buoy, which favored the boats ahead, but Full Moon accelerated nicely, rounding the buoy with good speed, heading nearly to the Gasworks seawall and then passing a few boats on the ensuing two tacks to the Aurora buoy. The spinnaker pole was preset on the wrong side, delaying the hoist of the Equalizer, but once it was up, Full Moon was able to engage the J24 JEstalt and even gain a bit on Scat as they battled the J22 Chi Chi.

The final leg. Other contenders are out of sight to the right.

The Equalizer came down smoothly just in time to round the AGC buoy and then it was back upwind for the second lap. Full Moon continued to hang in there with JEstalt and Chi Chi but a faded yellow Ranger 33 (Seoladh?) snuck up the east side of the lake to ease in front. The favor was returned on the leg from the Freeway buoy to the Aurora buoy and then the Equalizer put matters to rest vs. the Ranger.

Cake or Death (San Juan 24) with a new (?) spinnaker.

Unfortunately, the wind began to fade approaching the AGC buoy and it began to look like it might turn into a parking lot with a cluster of slower third start boats. Full Moon was just able to keep the Equalizer flying, though, and then head a bit east for clearer air after rounding. A tack back to the west brought slightly stronger breeze but then it faded again. In the end, the J24 Rajun Cajun was first, followed by the M34 trimaran and Scat. Full Moon managed to stay ahead of both Chi Chi and JEstalt and was either fourth or fifth depending on whether the Moore 24 Amorillo was in second start or third.

Back to the Future

Last year, Full Moon switched from second start to third start in hopes of racing against boats that are more comparable in performance instead of against the many boats in second start that arguably should be in the first start. (My opinion but one that is widely shared!) This was a reasonable choice given there were quite a few other third start boats such as J22s, Thunderbirds, Capri 25s, etc., not to mention 40 footers such as Stella Blue (Nordic 40) and Thundorca (Tartan 41) that rate the same or much faster than Full Moon.

However, for whatever reason, apart from one T-bird and the 40-footers, Full Moon has not had the same level of competition in third start this year. The ducks are on the mast and not coming off but I don’t want to create the same problem for third start that others are creating in second start – so Full Moon will return to second start.

We’re back to the old status quo – a lightly populated first start and a huge second start fleet. The Race Committee could fix this, of course, either by knowledgeably directing boats to the various starts as in days of old or by suggesting some parameters such as PHRF-NW break points. The Committee does not appear concerned about this issue, though, so I'm not holding my breath. We race for the fun of it, not the ducks, but it would nice not to face off against boats that rate more than 100 seconds per mile faster!

Still Ducky!

Full Moon managed an adequate start with clear air for the Zombies Duck Dodge but not near enough the heavily advantaged “pin” end where Slippery When Wet (Santana 20) was perfectly positioned. Crew Michael “Pink Cans” Medina, Marcelle “Green Cans” Van Houten, Doug “Nikon” Schoemaker, Tina “Zombie Shoes” Hein, and skipper John “Silver Cans” Mengedoht gained on several boats on the first leg but a tack to westward was followed immediately by a big header, allowing the leaders to stay comfortably ahead. Another tack right at the “beach” led to a very tight line and a snug rounding of the AGC buoy.

Marcelle, Skippy, Tina, and Doug enjoy the sunny evening.

The Equalizer was soon launched and proved very helpful against any boats not flying a spinnaker. However, the wind was not quite strong enough to allow Full Moon to overtake Slippery When Wet before the Freeway buoy. The Equalizer came down smoothly, though, and the chase was on toward the Aurora buoy.

Aurora buoy moving hazard...

Unfortunately, the Aurora buoy became a moving target, having been snagged by a J22 from second start. In the confusion, Full Moon had to tack to avoid other boats and then luff hard to avoid hitting the J22, nearly coming to a halt. Meanwhile, Slippery When Wet as well as a bigger cruising boat, Solara, were able to clear the traffic on the outside before Full Moon could get back up to speed.

Fortunately, we just got the sticker, not the entire arm!

Full Moon gained some distance on the final leg but not nearly enough to catch Slippery When Wet or Solara. Fortunately, all the other boats in the vicinity proved to be in second start, allowing Full Moon to finish third for the bronze duck.

This is just June, right?