Duck Dodge Sailboat Race Mardi Gras Night

The Duck Dodge sailboat race has been happening on Seattle's Lake Union every Tuesday evening from Memorial Day to Labor Day for more than 30 years now. Unlike most sailboat races, which can be serious affairs, Duck Dodge is just for fun. No handicaps, no protests, and a very simple set of rules including: don't make any ducks alter course. Hence the name - Duck Dodge.

To make the race even more fun, there are theme nights, such as Pirate Night, Prom Night, and Tropical Night.

On this particular Tuesday, the theme was Mardi Gras Night. People came decked out in beads, and the committee boat marking the start/finish line was right in line with the theme. It was a stern wheeler named Banjo, which, after enough beers, made one almost believe they were in the big easy. My friend Kim DuBois, A.K.A. Queen of Duck Dodge, heads up the all-volunteer race committee, and her husband Matthew Wood, a buddy of mine from serious yacht racing, sets the buoys that mark the course from his trusty inflatable dinghy with its little outboard.

I headed out on my boat Sublime for the race with my friends Mark Brower and John Barr. My old boat fit right in with the fleet, which is comprised of a bunch of funky, slow boats with a few hot, fast boats mixed in.



We maneuvered for the start with about a hundred boats all jockeying for position. The race is separated into four classes that start at five minute intervals, but to the untrained eye, it looks pretty much like pandemonium. Lots of boats bumping into each other and some raised voices, but eventually all the boats make it off the starting line in the general direction of the race course.

The traffic gets tight when the boats round the buoys that mark the corners of the course, and we managed to pass several boats at each rounding. The wind was light, and it took nearly until sunset to complete the course. Boats in each class are awarded a gold, silver or bronze duck decal to paste onto their boom for winning first, second or third place. The boat with the best interpretation of that night's theme gets a green duck. The most coveted duck of all is the black duck, which is awarded for inappropriate behavior. I'm not kidding.

After the race, dozens of boats raft up to the committee boat, crank up their stereos, and party. Imagine a floating Mardi Gras festival with several hundred revelers, watching the glow of the sunset reflecting off the skyscrapers in downtown Seattle.

Boats raft up for the party at Duck Dodge Mardi Gras Night



Duck Dodge has many wonderful traditions. Since I am the captain of my boat, one of my favorite traditions is the one that calls for Duck Dodge Virgins - women at their first Duck Dodge - to walk the entire width of the raft of boats and kiss either the boat's mast or master. Not many masts get kissed.

At around ten o'clock, the party either breaks up voluntarily or the police boat lets us know we have worn out our welcome. The boats separate from the raft and sail home in the dark. A couple of weeks ago, there were a bunch of people from another boat on my boat when the raft broke up and they had to hitchhike home with us.

For more information on the Duck Dodge, check out www.duckdodge.org