Recovery for the Bronze

Full Moon heads toward the Aurora buoy. Most of the boats ahead will soon be behind!

Full Moon crew Randy “Popcorn” Olsen, Daniel “Soundtrack” Mengedoht, Robert “Solo Cup” Leykam, and skipper John “Relaxed” Mengedoht were late to the starting line for the Olympics Duck Dodge, crossing the line near the back of the fleet. The Race Committee unusually chose a downwind start, the wind having shifted from the southwest to nearly due south. With a relatively short first leg and anticipating a reach instead of a run, Full Moon opted not to use a spinnaker and, amazingly, managed to use clear air to claw past nearly half the boats ahead before rounding the Freeway buoy.

Full Moon about to round the AGC buoy. The T-bird will be passed on the final leg.

Full Moon had good speed on the close reach past Gasworks, but the wind dropped to nearly nothing heading to the Aurora buoy and a group of boats converged. Then, with a (relatively) wide gap between other boats and the buoy and nobody hardening up their course, Full Moon easily slipped inside and around for another large gain.

Daniel tests the Bronze Medal for third place.

The long upwind leg south featured different wind directions on different parts of the course and Full Moon was able to enjoy a long stretch pointing nearly straight down the lake, gaining significantly on boats farther east. This good fortune wouldn’t last, though, as conditions became very shifty and lighter approaching the AGC buoy and multiple tacks were needed to get around.

The skipper adds to the 2024 Duck Collection.

The Equalizer was put to good use for the final leg, the course being directly downwind. Much to our amazement, a horn sounded as Full Moon crossed the finish line – Full Moon had taken third place for the Bronze Duck!

Tropical Silver

Full Moon (top center) heads up the Eastlake shore just after the start. TaTonka (yellow boat) and SYC 2 are briefly in the lead.

Full Moon crew Randy “Halyards” Olsen, Daniel “Hold My Beer” Mengedoht, Chad “Gift To Neptune” Harnish, Logan “Late Substitution” Pulsifer, and skipper John “Slow Start” Mengedoht returned to third start for the Tropical Night Duck Dodge. With the pin end favored, Full Moon again went with a starboard tack start, just behind eventual winner Raptor (T-bird) before tacking a bit early to head up the Eastlake shore.

Raptor leads Full Moon around the AGC buoy.

Starting on port tack with at full speed initially favored TaTonka (SJ24) and SYC 2 (J22) but they both lost ground on the upwind leg as Raptor pulled into the lead with Full Moon second. A slow moving second-start boat created a tacking challenge for Full Moon at the Freeway buoy, giving Raptor a greater lead and allowing TaTonka to nearly catch up.

Daniel and Chad scoring beers from the floating "island."

The order remained for the second leg, though Full Moon gained a bit. The Equalizer provided its usual magic on the long reach south to the AGC buoy, Full Moon gaining a lot on Raptor while leaving TaTonka far behind.

It was yet another sunny but breezy evening!

The next short leg was free of other traffic and Full Moon was able to score quite a few (partial) cups of beer buzzing by the floating tropical “island.” The final leg was a straight shot upwind where Full Moon received the horn for second place and another Silver Duck for the mast.

Adding the Silver Duck to the collection on the mast.

Beating Leo Kai

Full Moon crew Randy “Movies” Olsen, Anne “Muscles” Gustavson, Daniel “Hazardous Conditions” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Trim!” Mengedoht went in second start for the Christmas in July Duck Dodge to complete our atonement for three top-three finishes in third start. With a starting line favoring a starboard tack approach, Full Moon was well-positioned but a little too early and had to run the line, losing distance to boats that nailed the buoy-end start. Worse, Mr. Nibbles (Ultimate 20) was close to windward, preventing an earlier tack that would have helped (both of us!). Still, there were quite a few boats behind, including the giant (40’+) Beneteau Leo Kai.

A gaggle of little Hobies joins the Duck Dodge.

The first leg was a tight reach and Full Moon rounded the Freeway buoy in close company with a few other boats. On the second leg past Gasworks, Full Moon made some strategic gains on small boats but not on the large ones, which had an advantage in the relatively strong breeze.

Full Moon is on the left on approach to the AGC buoy.

Leo Kai had caught up by the Aurora buoy and provided a massive wind shadow until Full Moon could escape eastward with the Equalizer. Full Moon passed a few boats on the southbound leg, including Leo Kai, which favored the Westlake shore. A conservative spinnaker drop allowed a J-22 to barely sneak inside at the AGC buoy, Full Moon working to avoid them as well as some drifting power boats hanging out by the buoy.

The J22 sneaks inside with spinnaker still flying. Leo Kai takes up the rear.

On the upwind fourth leg, Leo Kai came romping by and speedy Runaway (Norlin 34) finally caught Full Moon at the Freeway buoy (there are two laps in second start). The rest of the second lap was similar to the first except that Full Moon managed to vanquish Leo Kai at the finish line, coming across about seventh. It was a beautiful evening on the lake and nice to escape the heat with the solid breeze.

Covidians

Being shorthanded already and with ace foredeck crew Daniel "Positive" Mengedoht out with COVID, Full Moon elected to sit out the Anything But Clothing Duck Dodge. Assuming the skipper stays healthy, we'll be back next week!

Big Shrimp!

Full Moon crew Randy “Dry Spot” Olsen, Daniel “Bonk” Mengedoht, and skipper John “The Shrimper” Mengedoht were “promoted” to second start for the Red, White and Blue Duck Dodge. Crossing the line nearly on time but not up to full speed, Full Moon was about seventh up the first leg to the Freeway buoy, which was set a bit farther north than usual. After rounding, Full Moon mixed it up on the second leg with Bad X-Ample (X-Yachts 342) while making gains on the relative giant Beneteau Leo Kai.

Full Moon was fourth across the start line, not counting Rajun Cajun and the Kettenburg, which were both over early.

With the pole set low and nearly on the forestay, the Equalizer paid dividends on the long beam reach south with Full Moon eventually passing Leo Kai and gaining a lot on the lead boats. Unfortunately, bringing down the Equalizer proved challenging with a small crew and a lot of it ended up in the water and slowing Full Moon, though it was retrieved before a nice rounding at the AGC buoy.

Full Moon (blue, black and white spinnaker) works past Leo Kai while gaining on the leaders.

By this point, Full Moon was fifth behind Touch of Grey, Rawhide (J22), Honey Bee (Ranger 26), and Rajun Cajun (J24) and that proved to be the finishing order. Other than Touch of Grey, second start seems like reasonable competition for Full Moon. I guess we’ll find out more next week!

Invisible Buoy

The fire boat Chief Seattle greeted the Duck Dodge fleet.

The Pride Night Duck Dodge featured decent wind and sunny skies. Full Moon crew Michael “Historic” Medina, Daniel “Gordian Knot” Mengedoht, Anne “Dry Drop” Gustavson, and skipper John “Legendary” Mengedoht set up for the favored port tack start as starboard tack would barely cross the line. Unfortunately, several boats opted for starboard tack anyway and Full Moon had to duck a few then tack as well. When the dust settled, Full Moon was about eighth, though several positions were regained on the upwind leg.

Chasing down other boats with the Equalizer.

After rounding the Freeway buoy, Full Moon suffered in the wind shadow of a large Catalina until finally crawling a bit to windward at Gasworks. A few more boats were picked off on this leg, which ended in confusion as nobody could find the Aurora buoy!

Full Moon chases down Tailwind.

Heading south, the Equalizer was quickly launched to good advantage, Full Moon passing another boat or two including a T-bird and, nearing the AGC buoy, the speedy Capri 25 Tailwind. While the spinnaker came down cleanly, the pole ended up fouling the jib sheets and both Tailwind and the T-bird passed by during the untangling. Once detangled, Full Moon caught the T-bird again and gained on Tailwind but not enough. Much to our surprise, though, Tailwind got the horn for first place with Full Moon second for the silver duck! Looks like we’ll be in second start for the next few races…

T-bird and Tailwind chasing Full Moon with flogging jib.

Vertigo!

Full Moon (middle left) heads into the lead just after the start.

Full Moon skipped 70s Night due to a blown-out water pump impeller. Returning to action with the outboard repaired, skipper John “BPPV” Mengedoht was suffering from vertigo (inner ear issue) but crew Randy “Vertigo Knot” Olson, Daniel “Vertigo Pole” Mengedoht, and Chad “Becalmer” Harnish helped Full Moon enjoy an excellent start for the Mardi Gras Duck Dodge, leading the fleet to the Freeway buoy. The Harbor 20 Scamp was close behind, though, and chose a better course on the second leg to round the Aurora buoy ahead.

Dizzy skipper enjoying the lead on the first leg. Lotsa boats behind!

The Equalizer was quickly launched and, once clear of a much bigger (second start) boat, Full Moon headed off on the (mostly) beam reach south, passing several second start boats. Scamp, meanwhile, had headed more for the middle of the lake, finding better wind about halfway down the leg, and was able to hold their lead at the AGC buoy.

Adding the silver duck sticker to the mast.

Full Moon gained on the final upwind leg but couldn’t quite catch Scamp. In the end Full Moon second for the silver duck – an excellent result. Third-place went to the Ranger 26 Honey Bee, which was considerably farther behind.

Predictably Unpredictable

Full Moon skipped Movie Night due to the forecast, though it turned out to be a decent evening. Bummer!

Skipper is multitasking while the Foredeck crew checks the Mariners score.

Wind at the dock prior to the Commodore’s Ball Duck Dodge was solid out of the west-southwest but had faded to next to nothing by the start. Full Moon was well positioned for the start until forced to go around a boat completely stalled on port tack. The first leg to the AGC buoy was then painful in the very light air, a late shift adding a couple of tacks before rounding.

Isn't the pole supposed to be on this side?

The pole was preset assuming the forecast southwest wind would continue but it was not to be as the wind had clocked around to the southeast (!), though it was at least filling in. So Full Moon broad-reached on starboard tack for a good portion of the leg before finally gybing and launching the Equalizer. Even then a wind shift forced a gybe back, though we continued with the pole on the “wrong” side until the wind shifted back again.

The sun attempts to poke through. It wasn't warm but not freezing either.

The take-down went smoothly at the Freeway buoy and it was then a straight shot in a building breeze to the Aurora buoy, which was set further south than usual and closer to the Westlake shore. The final leg was upwind but only required a few tacks and Full Moon finished eighth, not bad given the poor first leg and lack of spinnaker for so much of the second leg.

Skipper's Choice

The third Duck Dodge these was Skipper's Choice and, given the forecast, Full Moon's skipper chose not to race! Based on weather radar at 6:40 PM, this was wise, though apparently the rain stopped before the first start.

Space Cadet

The Equalizer (masthead spinnaker) was nicely packed but forgotten at home by skipper John “Space Cadet” Mengedoht. Adding insult to injury, the skipper managed to position Full Moon poorly for the start of the “Onesie” Duck Dodge, crossing the line about 17^th. Fortunately, crew Randy “Chips” Olsen, Daniel “Trunk Monkey” Mengedoht, and Rob “Pack Up and Go” Lane were more adept and Full Moon began slowly picking off the competition on the first upwind leg to the Freeway buoy.

Full Moon continued to gain on the leg to the Aurora buoy. After rounding, the standard spinnaker was hoisted but the skipper had set things up to use the masthead (wrong) halyard, the result being a relatively small spinnaker high above the deck with the pole angled skyward. This still worked but Full Moon struggled to escape from being stuck in bad air with a boat to either side for half the leg.

That yellow and orange spinnaker looks funny....

Regardless, Full Moon managed to advance to seventh place just before the AGC buoy. Unfortunately, the jib sheet hung up during the jibe at the buoy and a T-bird got past during the chaos. The final leg was a tight reach in gusty conditions. A sleek old Kettenburg (Sommerfugl) managed to get by to windward and Full Moon dropped back to ninth, still remarkable given the start.

Silver to Start

Nice way to start the season!

Full Moon crew Randy “Rusty” Olsen, Daniel “Long Drink” Mengedoht, and skipper John “Lucky” Mengedoht enjoyed an excellent start for the first Duck Dodge of 2024, leading the fleet until the speedy Ultimate 20 Mr. Nibbles slid past. (Mr. Nibbles continued on to an easy win.) A white T-bird (Makima?) also got past on the way to the Freeway buoy, dropping Full Moon to third.

Full Moon and Tailwind after finishing.

The second leg was largely strategic, trying to go where the light breeze was stronger while playing the shifts upwind. Full Moon passed the tail end of the second start fleet and managed to catch up to the T-bird but couldn’t quite cross on port tack and had to duck behind before rounding the Aurora buoy.

Full Moon enjoying the sunset after the race.

Once around, the Equalizer was deployed, at first wanting to collapse in the light air. Then the wind began to fill in and shift forward and Full Moon soon left the bulk of the fleet behind, including the T-bird. We also were slowly gaining on more second start boats, including the Choate 27 Gift Horse.

It wasn't that warm but it was a beautiful evening!

With just three aboard, the spinnaker drop was started a bit early, but it went well, the pole properly stowed just before rounding the AGC buoy. Then it was a straight shot close reach to the finish line with Full Moon taking second place for the silver duck. The Capri 25 Tailwind wasn’t too far behind to take third.

Finale Drifter

Full Moon had a decent start. For perspective, Shogun (ahead and two boats toward the bottom) was over the line early.

The SW wind was very light for the final Duck Dodge and it proceeded to get even lighter. After a decent start, Full Moon crew Randy “Steel Trap” Olsen, Michael “Tanglefoot” Medina, Marcelle “Deck Ornament” Van Houten, Daniel “Week 19” Mengedoht, and skipper John “No Damage” Mengedoht made it very slowly south for a large pinwheel rounding of the AGC buoy but only went about halfway into the second leg before dropping the spinnaker and firing up the iron sail. The running lights were on by then and it was time for the traditional final race “Martini Night” cocktails.

Full Moon is on the left, not long after rounding the AGC buoy.

Despite the lack of wind, it was a very pleasant evening on the lake, our naturally well-insulated skipper not even bothering with a jacket until well after dark.

The Equalizer only helps if it has wind...

It has been an excellent summer with Full Moon appearing in three different starts depending on circumstances and doing well in all three. In third start, Full Moon managed three gold ducks and one silver. In fourth start (no spinnaker), Full Moon received one gold duck and one bronze. Bumped to second start for two weeks by the Race Committee, Full Moon still managed a fifth and a sixth place, though well off the pace of the fastest boats. Not counting two skipped races and the abandoned finale, Full Moon had a median and average finish of fourth place! Much more importantly, we had a lot of fun out there.

Randy surveys his martini glass holder, vintage 1997.

Next up, maybe, is the Rum Run – depending on weather and how many of the crew are up for it.

The city looks fabulous from Lake Union. Yes, some boats were still racing well into the night.

Fair Weather Sailor

The skipper elected to skip the Team Spirit Duck Dodge due to forecast rain and light wind. We'll be back for the finale.

Slow Death at the Aurora Buoy

The wind was fairly strong and out of the south/southwest for the start of the Decades Night Duck Dodge. With starboard tack near the pin end (Westlake shore) strongly favored, Full Moon crew Michael “Jackson” Medina, Daniel “60s” Mengedoht, Robert “Pilsner” Leykam, Lucienne “Deck Ornament” Grace, and skipper John “Wet T-Shirt” Mengedoht ran the line on port tack, ducked a few boats, and tacked to cross the line in roughly tenth place. Calling tacks on the shifts proved challenging, and, with a fair amount of traffic, Full Moon ended up with a couple of extra tacks before rounding the AGC buoy, though Full Moon still got past a few boats on this leg.

Once around, Full Moon headed east for a short distance before gybing and hoisting the Equalizer. This enabled passing a few more boats, including some from second start, though it was difficult to get by some others. A conservative drop allowed the less risk-averse to close a bit from behind but getting the nylon monster down was a bigger priority.

The next leg should have been an easy and fast reach and so it was for a while. However, the Aurora buoy had been placed as far north as possible (not sure why) and in a relatively windless hole. Full Moon had taken a northly course (shortest distance between two points…) and this proved disastrous as the wind was worst closest to shore (or ships). While not exactly moving fast, other boats coming from further out were able to get by.

The final leg was a straight shot on a close reach, some boats staying closer to Westlake while Full Moon and some others decided the Committee Boat was closer – and maybe in better wind. In the end, Full Moon finished about eighth, not bad all things considered. Unfortunately, some rain interrupted the post-race cruising, though it was dark by then anyway!

Beat The Heat!

 

Daniel supports the WGA and SGA strikes.

With temperatures in the low 90s, it was great to get out on the lake for the Mardi Gras Duck Dodge. Full Moon crew Daniel “Long Drink” Mengedoht, Logan “Cranberry” Pulsifer, and skipper John “Clean Air” Mengedoht went in fourth start (no spinnaker), crossing the line very near the front of the fleet and then rolling the J24 Beagle with only a Harbor 20 slightly ahead to windward.

Full Moon rolls past Beagle (yellow/orange J24) at the start.

Once past the Freeway buoy, Full Moon did a few tacks to escape the wind shadow of other boats. Two more tacks brought Full Moon to the Aurora buoy, having passed several third start boats, including our old ex-rival Ignitor.

The Mengedoht Men at work, heading for the Aurora buoy.

Full Moon maintained good speed on the broad reach south until Ignitor caught up under spinnaker, creating a wind shadow. A quick dive to windward brought Full Moon behind Ignitor but in relatively clean air. At the AGC buoy, Ignitor took a slightly wide turn while dropping their spinnaker, leaving ample space for Full Moon to zip inside and ahead.

Result!

It was then a straight shot in nice breeze to the finish. In the end, Full Moon scored the Gold Duck, having led the fleet for the bulk of the race.