Alison Fornari piloted OZone to the top of the Monohull class and Lindsey Vail drove Malihini to another Open class win, Thursday. But that belied the excitement that reigned over the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Wahine Series, Race No. 3, the
Alison Fornari piloted OZone to the top of the Monohull class and Lindsey Vail drove Malihini to another Open class win, Thursday.
But that belied the excitement that reigned over the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Wahine Series, Race No. 3, the final race in the series.
“There was so much going on, you didn’t know which way to look,” said Sharon Gibson, the NYC scorekeeper in an e-mail.
At the start, Fast Company with Ayla Millet at the helm, and OZone, skippered by Fornari, were both a little early and running down the line.
Fast Company turned just a little too soon and was over the line before the horn, Gibson said.
“She was flagged ‘over early,’ and despite calls on the VHF radio, she did not restart so was OCS, or ‘on the course side,’ automatically taking last place at that moment,” Gibson said. “But Fast Company did not realize her plight so sailed the remainder of the race with her usual gusto.”
Fast Company continued to stir the pot, heading to the finish with Lelele on different courses.
Fast Company approached the line on a port tack with a little more speed than Lelele, who tacked to starboard to cross the line resulting in a near collision at the No. 6 can, or the marker closest to the jetty wall.
That sprouted a red flag of protest, one of three in this race of 4.5 miles in wind speeds of 10-20 knots.
A liberal sprinkling of spinnaker wraps, knockdowns, and round ups added spice to the final race of the Wahine Series where a female had to be at the wheel for the boat to qualify.
Vail piloted Malihini to an elapsed sail of 46:03 and corrected out to 47:13 PHRF, followed by OZone crossing on a 48:32 elapsed sail and correcting to 48:36 PHRF.
Papa‘au filled in third place on a 51:54 elapsed sail, correcting to 49:41 PHRF, followed by Lelele with Susan LeHoven at the stick crossing on a 52:02 elapsed sail and correcting to 51:52 PHRF.
Coyote crossed on a 58:43 elapsed sail and corrected to 55:00 PHRF and 45:36 Club for top honors in that class.
Speedy crossed on a 56:07 elapsed sail and corrected to 56:12 PHRF, followed by Bonjolea getting across the line in 1:00:02 and correcting to 57:43 PHRF and 50:29 Club, good for second place in the Club class.
Final standings in the Wahine Series will be forthcoming once the results are tallied and audited.
Visit www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org for more information.
