Fast Company pulled off a victory in light winds of 10 to 12 knots out of the northeast Thursday as the Nawiliwili Yacht Club hosted the inaugural Joel Ehrlich Memorial Rum Race Series at the Nawiliwili Harbor. Fast Company, finishing
Fast Company pulled off a victory in light winds of 10 to 12 knots out of the northeast Thursday as the Nawiliwili Yacht Club hosted the inaugural Joel Ehrlich Memorial Rum Race Series at the Nawiliwili Harbor.
Fast Company, finishing second to OZone in the recently-completed Paul Pond Memorial Series, crossed the two-leg 4.8-mile course on an elapsed time of 57:49, correcting to 57:54 PHRF for the top honor.
OZone, topping the overall Paul Pond series, was relegated to third place on a 59:06 elapsed sail, crossing the line second overall, but correcting to 59:11 PHRF and settling in third place when Papa‘au, crossing third at 1:00.56 elapsed, corrected to 58:20 PHRF for the runner-up berth.
“We had a lovely race and party,” said Sharon Gibson, the NYC scorekeeper. “Ten boats started the race in light winds and every boat flew their spinnaker on their way back from the outside mark. There was a good crowd at the jetty to watch this.”
Bonjolea, piloted by the Tiffany ‘ohana, filled in fourth place on a 1:01.42 elapsed sail, correcting to 59:20 PHRF. She further corrected to 51:33 Club for top honors in that class.
Maeva, an F-24 Trimaran, (1:02.08 elapsed, 1:05.15 PHRF), Speedy (1:05.44 elapsed, 1:05.50 PHRF), Coyote (1:14.01 elapsed, 1:09.19 PHRF), Malolo, a Hobie 33, (1:09.48 elapsed, 1:10.14 PHRF) and Windspan (1:19.35 elapsed, 1:17.33 PHRF) filled out the field.
Mapuana started the race, but quit the race early to get things started at the clubhouse and posted a “Did Not Finish,” Gibson said.
“The crew from Mapuana fired up the barbies and cooked up some awesome Aussie Burgers, a spicy burger which included grilled pineapple, pickled beets and a fried egg amongst other ingredients on the bun,” Gibson said. “Then, Tony LeHoven, Mapuana’s skipper, and his Gunga La Gunga band played rockin’ music for the crowd’s dancing pleasure for the rest of the evening. It was all great fun.”
The public is invited to view the excitement Thursday when the NYC hosts the Joel Ehrlich Memorial Rum Race Series, Race No. 2 with the first flags flying at 5 p.m.
Visit www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
