Fleece Togas

Distance will have to work hard to catch this bunch!

Cloudy skies and cooler temperatures returned for the first time since late June for the Toga Night Duck Dodge but there was decent wind. Full Moon crew Randy “Halyards” Olsen, Michael “Twisted” Medina, Marcelle “Layers” Lynde, Daniel “Packer” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Comeback” Mengedoht were well positioned for a good start until the Pearson 30 Tenacious tacked just in front. Full Moon suffered in the resulting wind shadow and then just couldn’t seem to get going, rounding the Freeway buoy in a dismal seventeenth place.

Tacking immediately at the buoy for a clear lane, Full Moon then began chipping away at the boats in front, passing quite a few. Distance (Buchan 37) rolled by to windward approaching the Aurora buoy but Full Moon returned the favor, slicing inside as Distance made a wide turn tacking at the mark.

The Equalizer, aka Mighty Isis, does it's thing.

The Equalizer was quickly launched to good effect as Full Moon passed more boats and stayed ahead of Distance. Approaching the AGC buoy, Distance poked inside (with no rights since overlap wasn’t established until nearly rounding the mark) but speedy Scat had strayed far to the right, allowing Full Moon to easily slide in front and into ninth place. Heading back upwind, Full Moon stayed hard on the wind while Distance and Scat cracked off a bit for more speed. This cost them both as they had to tack to cross the start-finish line to complete the first lap while Full Moon easily cleared the Committee Boat and pulled ahead.

And that wasn't the fastest - we saw over seven knots under spinnaker.

The wind went a bit light crossing the lake toward the Aurora buoy and Distance fell behind. Scat did better in the light stuff and rounded the Aurora buoy just behind Full Moon. The Equalizer bought a little cushion heading south but, unfortunately, the drop at the AGC buoy was problematic and Scat caught back up. Once again, Full Moon stayed hard on the wind while Scat eased the sheets a bit for more speed. Unfortunately, this time Full Moon could not quite lay the Committee Boat and Scat was able to tack in front to take seventh with Full Moon very close behind in a still-excellent eighth.

Insomniacs

J, Daniel, John, Tammie, and Kristen in the prestart maneuvers.

Pajama Night once again provided both sunny skies and a decent but very shifty breeze. Full Moon crew Art “I’m Ready” Teller, Tammy “Wrapped Up” Cross, J “Twinkle Toes” Irons, Kristen “Winch Wench” Bakken, Gary “Free Ride” Greene, Daniel “Multi-tasker” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Hemline” Mengedoht nailed the start on port tack at the “pin” end of the line in close company with several other boats, most of which were bigger, faster, or both. Big Mata Hari (Catalina 36) quickly pulled out ahead with speedy Dreams (Olson 25) not far behind.

The Thunderbird Valkyrie is dead ahead just after rounding the Freeway buoy - but Selchie is still behind!

What looked like a nice close reach to the Freeway buoy didn’t quite work out as the wind shifted about 150 yards out and Full Moon lost a couple of places with an extra tack. Once around, the wind went light and very shifty heading past Gasworks. The well-sailed Thunderbird Selchie made the best of this to get past before rounding the Aurora buoy (drat!).

After a brief delay to hoist the pole, the Equalizer was launched and Full Moon took off south, passing Selchie to leeward (hooray!) and gaining on the other boats ahead. The spinnaker came down cleanly at the AGC buoy and Full Moon headed north to complete the first lap.

Tammie gets into the spinnaker take-down.

The second lap had similar wind conditions as the first but Full Moon held her own, gaining and losing distance here and there but not passing or being passed. The spinnaker take-down got a bit messy but it stayed out of the water and Full Moon cruised to the line with an excellent 10^th place finish, still ahead of Selchie and more than 20 other boats. 

Island Jam

Full Moon crew heading out from the dock.

Full Moon crew Sara “Quick Tack” Schroeder, Marcelle “Quick Study” Lynde, Michael “Quick Fix” Medina, Daniel “Quick Pack” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Quick Start” Mengedoht had an awesome start for the Tropical Night Duck Dodge, bested only by one or two boats risking a port tack approach. The line to the Freeway buoy was a straight close reach and Full Moon rounded in close company with Dreams (Olson 25), Scat (custom 25), Mata Hari (Catalina 36), and Distance (Buchan 37).

What is that huge nylon cloud?

Dreams was out in front and stayed there for a while but Full Moon mixed it up well with the other three across Gasworks and to the Aurora buoy, along with the J27 Summer Babe. Troubles with the spinnaker pole delayed launching the mighty Equalizer, preventing any gains on the long beam reach to the AGC buoy. After rounding the buoy, the fleet headed for the floating “island” sponsored by the 48 Degrees North sailing magazine that was dispensing free beer. As all boats had to round the “island,” this made for some interesting maneuvers for those boats most determined to collect some beer!

A thirsty crew approaches the "island."

After the island, boats were required to go through the start/finish line to start the second lap, though apparently the skipper of the big Baba 40 Airloom forgot this detail. Ahem… Regardless, Full Moon had managed to pass Distance somewhere north of the island and rounded the Freeway buoy ahead of both Distance and Airloom. Full Moon continued to hold off Airloom on the beat toward the Aurora buoy but elected to duck behind Distance when crossing tacks approaching the buoy (Full Moon might have crossed in front but better safe than sorry).

Full Moon gains on the fleet on the second lap.

The Equalizer was quickly deployed again for the beam reach south to the AGC buoy and Full Moon reeled in a J24 and J22, which had gotten past at some point, while gaining a fair bit on Mata Hari and then also passing Distance. The J24 gained back some ground approaching the island but then opted not to try and round it, probably due to some slow-moving third start boats clogging the area. Full Moon rounded properly, though it did take a while to get clear as some of the boats were clearly far more interested in the beer than in actually making their boats move!

Approaching the finish line, Distance was gaining from behind but could not quite catch Full Moon, which placed an excellent fifth, discounting the J24, which “cheated” by not rounding the island. The sun set far too early but a great time was had by all!

Team Tropical

Full Moon crew Randy “Bose” Olsen, Debra “Raspberry” Ricard, Don “Supportive Seat” Caffrey, Daniel “Twisted” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Pineapple” Mengedoht suffered from theme confusion for the Team Spirit Duck Dodge (skipper error!) but managed a fairly good start near the middle of the line. The ensuing close reaching drag race saw a convergence of boats at the Freeway buoy but no collisions and Full Moon emerged with a clear lane toward the Aurora buoy. This track worked out fairly well with Full Moon crossing tacks with speedy Scat and 36’ Mata Hari approaching the Aurora buoy.

The pole was hoisted before the buoy and the mighty Equalizer was quickly launched for a thrilling very fast reach toward the AGC buoy. Full Moon could not quite catch Mata Hari but Scat’s move toward the middle of the lake did not pay off and they rounded the AGC buoy a bit behind.

Heading back upwind was another no-tacks drag race toward the Freeway buoy. Scat eventually got past to windward and the big Buchan 37 Distance worked past to leeward but Full Moon was holding her own in the leading group of boats.

Full Moon flies past Gas Works on the second lap. Jeremy Jones photo.

Full Moon headed a little closer to Gas Works on the second lap in hopes of finding an advantage but the wind was pretty even across the north end of the lake. Still, Full Moon crossed tacks with Scat approaching the Aurora buoy – a good indicator that Full Moon had good speed.

Chasing Mata Hari (blue spinnaker) and Distance on the second lap.

Unfortunately, the Equalizer had a twist going up, delaying the hoist slightly and getting the clew wet. Still, Full Moon had good speed, matching Scat’s pace, as well as Mata Hari and Distance ahead. Unfortunately, it was soon clear that the wind had died around the AGC buoy as a large and growing pack of boats were essentially parked. The fleet was soon compressed with Full Moon nearly catching Selchie while even Ignitor and Zephyr caught up from behind. In the densely packed drift-a-thon of bumper boats, Full Moon was forced to take whatever path was available, very slowly inching around the buoy.

At this point, several boats started rocking back and forth to induce some forward motion (not exactly legal…) and Shogun came roaring by under power tossing water balloons. Two balloons landed on Full Moon, Don nicely deflecting one to prevent dilution of the beverage cups, but the spiffy new hypodermic style squirt gun was ready to hand and Full Moon returned fire, getting at least two of the Shogun crew wet before they could escape.

The wind eventually began to fill in from the north, leading to a nice romp to the finish line. Our best guesstimate is that Full Moon finished around 12^th but it was hard to tell. Ignitor fared well rounding the AGC buoy and had maneuvered ahead, catching the wind first to defeat Full Moon for the first time all summer. Zephyr, however, took a very wide rounding to avoid the mess and this cost them in the end. 

Spinnaker Surprise

Prestart maneuvers. That is Full Moon in the middle, sailing directly away from the camera.

The wind was very light and out of the SW for the Prom Night start and Full Moon crew Michael “No Sheet” Medina, Dave “No Tail” Pulsifer, Judy “No Smile” Tiffany, Daniel “No Tunes” Mengedoht, and skipper John “No Wind” Mengedoht ended up crossing the starting line a few minutes late. A tack toward the Westlake shore paid off well for a while until the wind filled in a bit in the middle, allowing the Capri 25 Triple Time and rival Zephyr to pass by. Approaching the AGC buoy, traffic had stacked up and Full Moon rounded in a tight sandwich between Salsa (J29) and Penelope (C&C 99) from the first start.

Daniel likes his post by the mast upwind.

Full Moon delayed hoisting the spinnaker briefly to allow a bit more space between boats but then the giant Equalizer was put to use and Full Moon began to gain on the fleet ahead. Creeping up on Zephyr, Full Moon took a jog to windward, somehow maintained momentum in what looking like no wind at all, and approached the Freeway buoy having passed a number of boats. The big Buchan 37 Distance, however, was closing on the buoy on starboard with right of way so Full Moon swung wide. Distance lost a bunch of speed in their turn and gybe, though, and Full Moon nosed out ahead.

Full Moon is the second spinnaker from the right not long before passing Zephyr.

Unfortunately, while the spinnaker came down cleanly, the jib sheets were thoroughly tangled and, without power from the jib, Selchie, Triple Time, and Distance were able to get by from behind. Finding good wind close to Gasworks, Full Moon made up some of the losses, made a good tack to lay the Aurora buoy, and once again launched the Equalizer in a light NW breeze.

Heading for what turned out to be the finish, Full Moon was able to steal Triple Time’s wind and then roll to leeward to just barely eke out sixth place, an awesome finish given the poor start. Meanwhile, it was time to break out the Prom Night treats including a well-iced bottle of pink champagne! (Thanks, Dave!).

The Lost Buoy

Katie, John, and Randy enjoy some good breeze on the first leg.

Full Moon crew Randy “Variety Pack” Olsen, Art “Water Boy” Teller, Chuck “Boom Boom” Weldy, Katie “Detroit Brownies” Freels, Daniel “Head Banger” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Skippy” Mengedoht had an excellent front row start for the Duck Dodge this week, tacking to port at the horn with a clear lane toward Gasworks. Unfortunately, the boat then felt a bit sluggish with a J24 and rival Zephyr (San Juan 28) rolling by to windward. A strategic series of tacks toward the Aurora buoy paid off to put Full Moon back in front of those two. Then it became apparent that the buoy was missing!

Chuck and Daniel like where we are. That is Selchie to the far left.

Since this has never happened before (not!), most boats, including Full Moon, simply picked a spot roughly where the buoy is normally to be found and made their turn. Once around the invisible buoy, the mighty Equalizer was quickly launched to good effect and Full Moon headed south toward the AGC buoy in seventh place only about 200 yards behind the lead boats.

Cap'n John catches flies while Daniel keeps the jib nicely trimmed.

Approaching the AGC buoy, which was actually there, the wind died down substantially and Full Moon coasted around the buoy to close within only 50 yards of always-speedy Scat. Then the wind began to fill back in from the north and the front-runners pulled back ahead to a more substantial lead, though Full Moon also put some distance on the boats behind.

The wind goes light near the AGC buoy. There are a LOT of boats behind us!

Full Moon again felt a bit slow upwind on port tack (time to check the bottom for slime?), allowing Selchie and a speedy trimaran to get by before rounding the Freeway buoy. However, as with the first leg, Full Moon improved on the leg to the Aurora buoy location and passed both boats before blasting off again with the Equalizer.

Rounding the AGC buoy, Full Moon was just ahead of the J27 Summer Babe. The J-boat had to work for it but got by just at the Freeway buoy before making the U-turn toward the finish line. In the end, Full Moon was an excellent eighth place, ahead of Selchie and all the normal rivals save Runner, which had a great start and a terrific race. Next up: Prom Night!

Reality Check

Daniel hangs on to the jib sheet as Eileen supervises and Dad eyes the competition.

Tammy pulls in the sheet after another nice tack.

Art enjoys his post-launch handiwork as the Mighty Isis flies downwind.

Rounding the Freeway buoy before the dash to the finish line.

Full Moon crew Art “Matzo” Teller, Doug “Clouds” Schoemaker, Tammy “Twister” Cross, Eileen “Cookies” McHugh, Daniel “Stuffer” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Ray Charles” Mengedoht went for a conservative starboard tack start for Egyptian Night but got caught up in traffic and took a while to find a clear lane to windward. Sailing nearly to Gasworks paid off fairly well before tacking west toward the Aurora buoy, which was set pretty far north and close to moored barges and ships. Fellow-Mooner Michael Medina hovered near the buoy in a kayak and told us we were in 11^th place, having already passed several boats, including Penelope from the first start.

A quick launch of the Mighty Isis (aka the Equalizer) and a move toward the center of the lake got Full Moon past the Olson 25 Iolar and a light blue Capri 25 plus Rachel from the first start. Unfortunately, the Ranger 26 Runner went even further toward the east and found enough more breeze to slide by to leeward before rounding the AGC buoy.

Heading back upwind and then around the Freeway buoy, Full Moon was evenly matched with Runner and the Capri. The Aurora buoy was now in a nearly windless hole with light wind touching down randomly. Runner managed to get past, as did the black Redline (not sure if that is the boat name?) but, once around, Full Moon sat parked with the Capri on one side and Runner on the other, spinnakers drooping. Finally the wind began to fill in from the northeast and Full Moon got by Runner, the Capri, and even the 40’ Bolero on the long reach to the AGC buoy.

Returning upwind, Full Moon held off Runner and the Capri but the Buchan 37 Distance got by in the freshening breeze. Near the Freeway buoy, Full Moon was on starboard tack with the Capri approaching on port. As the Capri ducked behind, Full Moon tacked for a textbook “slam dunk” and, after one more tack, rounded just in front of the Capri. Both boats launched spinnakers for the reach to the finish but Full Moon stayed directly in front to take 8^th place – an excellent finish given the poor start and strong competition.

Red, White and Bronze!

Kate and Jeremy enjoying the sunshine.

Chuck demonstrates being "ship-faced."

The Equalizer just after launch.
Daniel likes going fast as dad steers with his knees.

Daniel prepares to receive the coveted vinyl sticker.

Cap'n John prepares to add to the duck collection on the boom.

With wind out of the NW and the starting line set more or less due east-west, Full Moon crew Michael “Hot Dog” Medina, Chuck “Ship-Faced” Weldy, Kate “Nicknamer” Austin, Jeremy “Justified” Jones, Daniel “Coke Abuse” Mengedoht, and skipper John “The Enabler” Mengedoht opted to try a port tack start at the heavily favored west (Committee Boat) end of the line. Unfortunately, a number of other boats had the same idea, with predictable carnage as the mass of port tackers met the line of starboard tack boats with right of way. Full Moon somehow managed to emerge unscathed and near the front of the fleet, though not exactly according to plan...

The J30 Slingshot powered out ahead of Full Moon, as did a white Thunderbird, but Full Moon did very well on the next tack to the west, nailing the approach to the Aurora buoy and passing several boats including the white T-bird and always-speedy Selchie. With a quick launch of the mighty Equalizer spinnaker, Full Moon took off on a hot reach southward, putting substantial distance on boats behind and reeling in Slingshot before rounding the AGC buoy. Heading back north to complete the first lap, Full Moon was up to sixth place, just behind relative giant Bolero and a dark blue Olson 25.

Some well-timed tacks approaching the Freeway buoy saw both Bolero and the Olson drop behind and suddenly Full Moon was fourth and not far behind the J-27 Summer Babe in third. A crowded rounding of the Aurora buoy caused Summer Babe to lose ground and Full Moon managed to round inside and into third!

The Equalizer did its thing on another smoking reach to the AGC buoy, which was another crowded rounding as the lead second start boats started passing some first starters as well as lapping some slow third start boats. Full Moon got by first-starters Penelope (C&C 99) and a heavily loaded Heart Attack (J-80) on the long upwind leg back to the Freeway buoy, then threaded through tight traffic at the buoy before launching the Equalizer one last time for the reach to the finish. Summer Babe and Slingshot were not too far behind but couldn’t catch Full Moon as she scored the Bronze Duck for an astounding third place finish, our first duck in second start in a long long time. Huzzah!!!

Drenched!

Fierce pirates John, Marcelle, and Randy at the dock.

Michael puts his one eye to work.

Cap'n John appears to have found the rum while Daniel stays warm and dry.

According to Derek Zoolander the merman, “Moisture is the essence of wetness and wetness is the essence of beauty.” Thus, Lake Union was full of very beautiful pirates this week as the rain dumped hard on the Duck Dodge fleet. Full Moon crew Randy “Sour Lime” Olsen, Michael “Floatus” Medina, Marcelle “Squishy” Lynde, Daniel “Soggy” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Main Rain” Mengedoht nailed the start, though with ample company on both sides. Speedy Selchie was behind at first but managed to get by before the AGC buoy.

Under spinnaker, Full Moon held her own toward the Freeway buoy while battling the Buchan 37 Distance. Then the wind shifted forward and died. Full Moon somehow harnessed tiny hints of breeze to pull well ahead of Distance, pass the J30 Slingshot, and gain substantially on Selchie as the wind began to fill back in. After a clean drop of the soaking wet spinnaker, Full Moon then maintained a tight angle to the Aurora buoy. Selchie and Slingshot needed two tacks to lay the mark and Full Moon rounded ahead of both boats, staying ahead to complete the first lap.

Randy embraces the wetness while John peers ahead through the rain.

The sun breaks out at last!

Unfortunately, Selchie again managed to get past before the AGC buoy, though Slingshot could not quite catch up. Under spinnaker, Slingshot slowly gained and rounded the Freeway buoy just behind Full Moon. On the line to the Aurora buoy, Slingshot was forced to sail in the disturbed wind behind Full Moon and still could not get past. As the wind got lighter near the Aurora buoy, Full Moon pulled ahead and then maintained the lead to the finish to take an outstanding seventh, not far behind Selchie.

A rainbow appears over Capitol Hill after the race.

Michael and Marcelle enjoy some post-race beverages.

Inconsistent Shift

Cap'n John catches flies while watching the Windex as Dave and Daniel hang on upwind.

Judy shows off the Big Hat for Wild West Night.

J-boats, dead ahead! (Slingshot in red)

The Hot Tub boat was out again enjoying the sun.

The Wild West Duck Dodge proved wild indeed with strong, gusty wind at the beginning and one very serious t-bone collision that nearly resulted in a sunken boat, though, thankfully, no injuries were reported. Full Moon crew Art “Water Boy” Teller, Dave “Trapped” Pulsifer, Judy “I’m Pulling!” Tiffany, Daniel “Beer Anyone?” Mengedoht and skipper John “Sneaky” Mengedoht were a bit early for the start and, even after a doughnut to kill time, ended up nearly at the pin before heading up to cross the line. The bad news is that this was the disadvantaged end of the line. The good news is that this was well away from the dense traffic at the other end!

The first leg to the Aurora buoy included one full round-up in a gust and a couple of painful extra tacks near the buoy but otherwise went well. The wind was strong enough that any plans to fly the Equalizer on the northbound leg were abandoned and the bulk of the trip to the Freeway buoy was spent swapping over to the standard pole and spinnaker while still making somewhat decent speed with just the jib and main.

The Aurora buoy was set very far north, somewhat close to a barge, and in the usual zone of light wind. Full Moon stayed above the direct line to the buoy and was able to nip right around, passing Runner (Ranger 26), Iolar (Olson 25), and several other boats in one easy move. Heading back south upwind, Full Moon held off any challengers from behind while gaining a bit on a J24. The wind, meanwhile, had gone a fair bit lighter, though with lots of random shifts and puffs to provide some frustrating driving conditions.

After rounding the AGC buoy, the shifty wind made unplanned jibes a constant threat until things settled down into a beam reach in the north half of the lake as the wind clocked into the NE. The Equalizer would have been helpful in the now-lighter breeze but the ancient orange chute still got the job done. Rounding the Freeway buoy and then heading west to the Aurora buoy, Full Moon was not far behind the J30 Slingshot and still well ahead of rivals such as Zephyr.

Heading for the finish line, a spinnaker would have been helpful at first, though the wind angle changed to a very tight reach as Full Moon headed south. Slingshot stayed ahead under spinnaker but barely cleared the end of the finish line. In the end, Full Moon was about 12^th with Runner and Iolar a few places back and Zephyr a full ten boats behind. The thundershowers that had been forecast never appeared and the sun remained out until well past the end of the race. Wind and sun two races in a row!

A fun time-lapse of the race from Gasworks Park can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_nAc0X-2Gqs. 

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge!

Don and John, heading out from the marina.

Tammy and Marcelle enjoy the sun. Is that a Thrift Shop coat? 

The sun starts heading down through the Aurora Bridge. 

Yep, he's a teen now, caught looking grumpy, though he wasn't!

The Thriftshop Night Duck Dodge defied the forecast with sunny skies and strong and gusty wind. Full Moon crew Michael “Twinkle Toes” Medina, Marcelle “Color Coat” Lynde, Tammy “Fast Tack” Cross, Don “Pinball” Caffrey, Daniel “Hoody” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Deck Wash” Mengedoht were about 30 seconds late for the start near the Committee Boat and then bashed upwind with a bit too much sail up, trying not to round up in the gusts.

Approaching the AGC buoy, Full Moon ended up just to windward of the J24 Fat Chance, which then appeared to have some kind of trouble tacking, overstanding the mark by a wide margin. Once around, Full Moon delayed hoisting the spinnaker as it was set up for what turned out to be the wrong side of the boat. Once launched, the oversized Equalizer quickly proved to be WAY too much to handle, sending Full Moon flying at around 8 knots prior to a fairly spectacular broach! The nylon beast was brought back under control just in time for a clean douse at the Freeway buoy, though the pole ended up fouled in the jib sheets.

Foredeck cleanup was more than a little perilous as Full Moon zipped along toward the Aurora buoy and, unfortunately, the vintage 1978 foreguy shackle chose this moment to expire, launching the pin and spring into the lake. With the wind continuing strong, it was decided to skip trying to re-rig for the smaller spinnaker and pole and take our chances with just the jib. With all that, Full Moon still rounded the Aurora buoy ahead of Fat Chance and with a solid lead on rival Zephyr!

Full Moon continued to hold off all comers upwind with the exception of relative giant Verity and another even bigger boat, Thundorca. Approaching the AGC buoy, though, a last-second tack went wrong and speedy Fat Chance got by. Sailing “wing and wing” downwind, Full Moon then maneuvered behind Fat Chance, “stole” her wind, and managed to get by before the Freeway buoy. With good tactical positioning, Full Moon stayed ahead to the Aurora buoy, rounded, and then tightened up on port tack before tacking for the beat to the finish.

Fat Chance (behind) and Verity (ahead) both tacked right at the buoy, which put them on a lower course. Full Moon then played the shifts for a straight shot to the line, beating both boats to take somewhere around 12^th place (it was very hard to keep track!). It was great fun trading places back and forth with Fat Chance and nice to have both wind and sun two weeks in a row! Meanwhile, the San Juan 24 Orca, which blew out her spinnaker in a big gust, has our sympathies. That could just as easily have been Full Moon if we’d flown the ancient standard spinnaker.

Olson Sandwich

Full Moon in the prestart.

A bigger than usual turnout.

The mighty Equalizer reaches down the lake.

Full Moon is near the left side of this shot.

Kate and Jeremy enjoy their first Duck Dodge on Full Moon.

Mata Hari experiments with spinnaker technology. 

The Hot Tub Boat was out with an all-female crew. Not sure why  there isn't a crowd of guys near by?

Duck Dodge No. 5 brought out more than the usual number of boats, enticed by the beautiful sunny skies and a nice northerly breeze. Full Moon crew Randy “Doubly Perfect” Olsen, Art “Rusty” Teller, Kate “Chaos” Austin, Jeremy “T-Bone” Jones, and skipper John “Contender” Mengedoht absolutely nailed the start near the pin end but unfortunately were helpless to prevent a few rockets (brand new J70) and bigger boats (Mata Hari) from working on by. Still, at the Aurora buoy Full Moon was hanging in there with three Olson 25s, Scat, and other fast boats while comfortably ahead of traditional rivals Ignitor and Zephyr.

After a brief hiccup, the mighty Equalizer was launched for the long reach to the AGC buoy. Full Moon actually passed Scat for a while (no pun intended) but then had difficulty with the wind shadow of boats to windward. At the buoy, a clean spinnaker drop and tight rounding kept Full Moon in the thick of things.

Heading upwind to the Freeway buoy and then across to the Aurora buoy saw Full Moon trading places back and forth with Iolar and another Olson 25 while also passing the Santa Cruz 27 Shazam and first-starter Penelope (C&C 99), which was pretty astounding. After rounding at Aurora, the Equalizer was hoisted again to good effect but, as before, it was challenging to pass anyone to leeward and Full Moon proceeded most of the way south with an Olson 25 on each side.

On the second trip northbound, Full Moon held off Iolar and picked off a J100 from first start as well. Rounding the Freeway buoy and then reaching south to the finish, Full Moon continued to hold off Iolar to take an excellent 11^th in a larger than normal fleet.