NAWILIWILI — The wind — or, rather, a lack thereof — extracted a different set of skills from yacht skippers Thursday. For the last two weeks, skippers were taxed by brisk Northeasterlies and worked their boats for a first finish while avoiding
NAWILIWILI — The wind — or, rather, a lack thereof — extracted a different set of skills from yacht skippers Thursday.
For the last two weeks, skippers were taxed by brisk Northeasterlies and worked their boats for a first finish while avoiding incidents at the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s Rum Series races.
On Thursday, all of that changed, as the winds died and skippers were tasked with working tack lines for best advantage in the 5-knot whispers.
The wind took its toll, as three of the nine boats in the race could not finish the race by the deadline of 30 minutes after sunset.
Fast Company, an Olson 30, took advantage of pre-race staging to study the wind patterns, and worked its magic for best positioning at the 5 p.m. start.
With Jim Saylor at the helm, Fast Company was able to hold its lead for a first finish following the PHRF adjustment that gave her a 1:35:14 finish over her second overall finish of 1:34:20 elapsed.
Malihini, a 35-foot cat that NYC Race Committee members felt would be at a disadvantage in the whispering breeze, proved them wrong with a first finish overall at 1:34.20 elapsed. But with the PHRF correction, Malihini was relegated to second at 1:36.43.
Papa‘au followed at 1:39.33 PHRF for third. A gap of almost five minutes saw OZone, another Olson 30, fill in fourth (1:47.23 PHRF) followed by Lelele, a Wells 30, at 1:48.35 PHRF, and Speedy, another Olson 30, at 1:58:39 PHRF, that boat being pushed to the farthest end of the starting line.
Bonjolea, an X-342 back from New Zealand, Coyote, a C&C 38 making the line with four minutes to spare, and Trinity, an F-28R trimaran that NYC Race Committee members felt had the best shot in the quiet wind, all were unable to finish the race before darkness set in.
The public is invited to view the competition from the harbor jetty as the series continues on Thursday afternoon with Race No. 4 of the seven-race NYC Rum Series.
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
