NAWILIWILI — OZone held on to claim the latest Nawiliwili Yacht Club Horse and Pony Series Race No. 4 by a mere six seconds to claim the final race of the series Thursday in 10-to-15-knot winds blowing out of the northeast at Nawiliwili Harbor.
Following a clean start, the pack of Fast Company, OZone and Bonjolea II separated from the fleet of seven boats in the first of three legs on the 5.8-nautical-mile course.
Fast Company held onto a slight lead heading to the far leeward mark when Kato came out of the field to foul Bonjolea II with OZone staying clear of the action that saw Bonjolea II drop following a difficult spinnaker douse, said NYC Interim Vice Commodore Doug Tiffany.
Kato fiddled with the penalty two-turn maneuver to keep the race between Fast Company with OZone challenging out to the second leg. The two boats involved in the foul used the wind to stay in the chase through the second leg.
Heading into the third and final short leg inside the harbor, the fleet sprayed out as skippers took differing tacks to the finish line where Kato had overcome its penalty and sounded the finish horn at 1 hours, 7 minutes, 51 seconds, first overall, followed by OZone crossing the mark at 1:08.04.
However, the lower handicap correction hurt Kato as OZone emerged the race winner on a corrected 1:08:29 PHRF reading, chased 6 seconds back by Kato (1:08:35 PHRF).
Out on the water, Fast Company crossed the line 1:08:25 elapsed, second overall and just 21 seconds behind OZone, but corrected to 1:08:50 PHRF for third place.
Other boats in the fleet included Weatherly (1:09:47 elapsed, 1:10:13 PHRF), Bonjolea II (1:09:05 elapsed, 1:13:37 PHRF), Papa a‘u (1:18:11 elapsed, 1:15:31 PHRF), and Iwa (1:23:40 elapsed, 1:21:32 PHRF).
Despite the first finish by OZone, the Horse and Pony Series trophy was presented to Kato in the PHRF Series with OZone, despite getting wins last week, and this week, settling for the No. 2 spot followed by Fast Company. Bonjolea II was presented the top spot in the Club class followed by Weatherly and Speedy.
The NYC Race Committee hosts the first of its Wahine Series, where a female needs to be at the boat’s wheel, Thursday when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. The public is invited to join the NYC Race Committee in viewing the competition at no charge in the jetty wall parking area.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
