NAWILIWILI — “OZone,” an Olson 30, was bested by “Fast Company,” another Olson 30, in the opening race of the Horse and Pony Series, Thursday. “OZone” slipped through the “Horse” portion of the race on an elapsed sail of 35:50
NAWILIWILI — “OZone,” an Olson 30, was bested by “Fast Company,” another Olson 30, in the opening race of the Horse and Pony Series, Thursday.
“OZone” slipped through the “Horse” portion of the race on an elapsed sail of 35:50 (35:53 PHRF), but lost the race when the “Fast Company” Pony slipped ahead for an elapsed sail of 15:29 to “OZone’s” 16:23 elapsed sail.
The combined Horse and Pony times, with the PHRF correction applied to the Horse times, determined the final winner, and in Thursday’s race, the “Fast Company” Pony overtook “OZone” for a win with just six seconds to spare.
Both skippers, Jim Saylor of “Fast Company” and Chris Jordan of “OZone” commanded both the horses and ponies during the Thursday race.
During the horse portion of the race, the ponies, or lasers, are tied at the dinghy dock.
Nawiliwili Yacht Club Rear Commodore Bruce Heckman served as the judge for the finish of the horses and the starter for the ponies.
Following the hotly-contested 1-2 finish, “Lelele,” a Wells craft, slipped into third on a 53:45 combined sail. This time puts the top three boats in serious contention for top finishes in the next two coming races.
Fourth and fifth finishes went to “Speedy” (59:56 combined) another Olson 30, and “Papa‘au” (57:07 combined), an Express 27, respectively. “Papa‘au” logged an OCS, or “on the course side” in the race for jumping the start and failing to correct for the error.
“Coyote,” a C&C 38, rounded out the six-boat fleet, recording an RAF, or “retire after finish” due to navigating a mark in the wrong direction and failure to correct the error.
The public is invited to view the keen competition in the multi-boat race as the Horse and Pony Series, Race No. 2 gets underway Thursday.
First flags fly at 5 p.m.
