“Lelele,” a Wells 30, grasped the lead off the start and never let go. That earned her a first finish in the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Dick Becker Memorial Series, Race No. 4 which was held under 10 to 15 knot
“Lelele,” a Wells 30, grasped the lead off the start and never let go.
That earned her a first finish in the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Dick Becker Memorial Series, Race No. 4 which was held under 10 to 15 knot winds blowing out of the Northeast.
Sharon Gibson, the NYC scorekeeper for the event, said with the return of the trades, the Race Committee sent the fleet out to the (Ninini) lighthouse for two legs. That offered the boaters a race course of 5.12 miles.
“Fast Company,” one of three Olson 30s that turn out regularly for the NYC races, jumped the gun on the start, but according to Gibson, made a nice recovery and thrilled the jetty wall spectators by sailing so close to the wall she had them gasping.
Overall, the two long courses saw “Lelele” maintain her lead off the line and finish a minute and 19 seconds ahead of “Fast Company” who, after getting one first finish in the series, is seeking a second one.
But the faulty start relinquished “Fast Company” into third place by 43 seconds following the PHRF correction.
“Lelele” picked up her second straight first finish with an elapsed time of 55:35 and a PHRF correction of 55:25 followed by “Papa‘au,” an Express 27, who crossed in fifth place at 58:47 elapsed, but soared to second place following the PHRF correction of 56:19.
“Fast Company,” finishing second overall at 56:54, was seeded third following the PHRF corrected time of 56:59.
“Speedy,” another of the Olson 30s, filled in fourth (57:51 PHRF, 57:46 elapsed) followed by “OZone,” the third Olson 30, and normally a strong contender for the lead filling in fifth (58:10 PHRF, 58:05 elapsed). “Coyote,” a C&C 38, rounded out the field with a 1:04:31 PHRF time.
In the series, “Lelele” has captured three first finishes in four races with two more races remaining in the Dick Becker Memorial Series.
The public is invited to view the competition for free from the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty wall on Thursday.
The first flags fly from about 4:45 p.m.
