NAWILIWILI — Malihini’s gamble to stay out of the pack paid off as the 35-foot catamaran won the first race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Pete Peterson Memorial Rum Series, Thursday. Steering wide of the pack made up of Speedy,
NAWILIWILI — Malihini’s gamble to stay out of the pack paid off as the 35-foot catamaran won the first race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Pete Peterson Memorial Rum Series, Thursday.
Steering wide of the pack made up of Speedy, OZone and Fast Company jockeying for the lead, Malihini capitalized on the 10-20 knot winds out of the East-Northeast to cross the six-mile course on an elapsed sail of 1:06:00, correcting to 1:07:40 PHRF for top honors.
“This was a great start for this series,” said Sharon Gibson, the NYC Race Committee starter. “We had a good turnout, both in boats and spectators with perfect winds.”
Speedy, one of three Olson 30s in the eight-boat fleet, shot off the line for an early lead which she held until the start of the second leg. At that point, OZone, another Olson 30, capitalized on traffic of a harbor fisherman and the incoming Tiger 7 tugboat to slip into the lead as Fast Company, contending with spinnaker woes at the final turn, filled in the third spot.
But the see-saw for the second spot was settled by Fast Company, winner of the recent Shakedown Series, who ended the race on a 1:08:03 elapsed sail and corrected to 1:08:09 PHRF, less than a minute back of Malihini.
Following Fast Company — a spectator favorite due to its wahine boat spotter on the bow — were OZone (1:08:47 elapsed, 1:08:53 PHRF) and Speedy (1:09:07 elapsed, 1:09:13 PHRF) filling out the first half of the pack.
Papa‘au, an Express 27, locked up fourth place, a position she held throughout the three-leg race on a 1:13:56 elapsed sail, correcting to 1:10:47 PHRF.
She was followed by Bonjolea (1:16:37 elapsed, 1:13:40 PHRF) who corrected to 1:04:01 Club for top honors in that class over Papa‘au (1:05:23 Club).
Coyote, a C&C38, followed with a 1:22:15 elapsed crossing, correcting to 1:17:02 PHRF. Windspan, a Catalina 38, rounded out the fleet with a 1:32:26 elapsed sail and corrected to 1:30:05 PHRF.
“It was really special to have Nina Peterson and her party of friends at the race to enjoy the evening with us,” Gibson said, Nina glowing in the field of spectators with a lei.
Nina said the series was a nice way to remember Pete because they don’t even own a yacht.
“The way we got in was they asked us if we liked to party,” Nina said.
Gibson said following the race, there was a nice party at the NYC Clubhouse at the Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor where the crew from Lelele cooked up lasagna.
The public is invited to join the excitement, Thursday when the Pete Peterson, a former TGI news carrier and cruise ship greeter, Memorial Rum Series continues with its second race.
There is no admission charge and the first flags fly at 5 p.m.
Visit www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org for more information.
