Malihini took advantage of good sailing conditions to stay ahead of Fast Company and pick up its second straight win in the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s Rum Series, Thursday. “It was gray, but no rain, and the winds were steady and
Malihini took advantage of good sailing conditions to stay ahead of Fast Company and pick up its second straight win in the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s Rum Series, Thursday.
“It was gray, but no rain, and the winds were steady and the seas were flat — good sailing conditions,” said NYC scorekeeper Sharon Gibson in an e-mail.
Winds blowing in the 10-15-knot range out of the East-Northeast was enough to keep the 35-foot catamaran ahead of the seven-boat fleet throughout the race. The good sailing conditions also prompted the NYC Race Committee to offer up a three-leg course.
“There were a lot of spinnakers and lots of spectators at the jetty,” Gibson said.
Malihini pulled across the finish line in just over an hour with a 1:06.08 elapsed sail and with the PHRF correction was docked in at 1:06.47 for first place.
Fast Company, an Olson 30, crossed less than two minutes later (1:06.56 elapsed, 1:07.02 PHRF).
The tight race of the day came in the third, fourth and fifth places, as Papa‘au, a strong contender last week, pulled out third place by less than a minute on the PHRF correction (1:09.16) over Lelele, the pretty Wells 30 that settled at a PHRF corrected time of 1:09.59 for fourth.
On the surface, Lelele crossed almost two minutes ahead of Papa‘au at 1:10.12 elapsed over the Papa‘au’s 1:12.21 elapsed time.
That battle was overlapped by Lelele and OZone, another Olson 30, fighting to cross the finish first as the Wells 30 eked out a finish over OZone by less than a minute, OZone crossing on a 1:10.50 elapsed sail, but relegated to fifth on the 1:10.57 PHRF correction.
Speedy (1:13.07 elapsed, 1:13.14 PHRF) and Coyote (1:23.30 elapsed, 1:18.12 PHRF) rounded out the field, Coyote’s CLUB adjustment giving her first place in the Club class on a 49:26 CLUB over Speedy (55:43 CLUB) and OZone (58:08 CLUB).
The public is invited to view the competition as the seven-race series continues Thursday afternoon from the jetty wall area of Nawiliwili Harbor.
First flags fly at 5 p.m.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
