NAWILIWILI — Bonjolea, with Bonnie Tiffany at the wheel, topped the horse phase, but Papa‘au, finishing in the No. 2 spot in the horse race, topped the pony phase to edge past Bonjolea for top honors Thursday when the Nawiliwili
NAWILIWILI — Bonjolea, with Bonnie Tiffany at the wheel, topped the horse phase, but Papa‘au, finishing in the No. 2 spot in the horse race, topped the pony phase to edge past Bonjolea for top honors Thursday when the Nawiliwili Yacht Club opened its four-race Horse and Pony Series at the Nawiliwili Harbor.
Working through windy, gray conditions in winds of 15 to 25 knots out of the northeast, the fleet battled weather conditions and heaving swells while trying to jockey for position in the wind-blown waters punctuated with debris from Kalapaki Stream and the Hu‘uleia River.
Bonjolea eked out a lead, getting help from good spinnaker work, while Fast Company, holding the lead coming in from the long course to Ninini Point, relinquished it on a tack by Bonjolea heading inland.
Sharon Gibson, the NYC scorekeeper, was thrilled because the PHRF correction kept Bonjolea on top despite the close 1-2 positioning of the boats.
Coming from behind, OZone wrestled the No. 2 position from Fast Company and challenged Bonjolea during the second leg, but tack decisions from Papa‘au relegated the two Olson 30s to the No. 3 and 4 positions at the finish line.
Bonjolea topped the horse phase on a 44:05 elapsed sail, correcting to 42:23 PHRF, just 29 seconds ahead of Papa‘au who posted a 44:47 elapsed sail and corrected to 42:52 PHRF.
OZone crossed on a 43:30 elapsed sail and corrected to 43:34 PHRF, staying just 15 seconds ahead of Fast Company, who crossed on a 43:45 elapsed sail and corrected to 43:49 PHRF. Speedy, the third Olson 30 in the fleet, rounded out the field on a 47:09 elapsed sail and corrected to 47:13 PHRF.
But the pony phase determined the final placement as Papa‘au, working one of three Toppers on the high tack, crossed the Red No. 6 can first and headed for home, unchallenged, giving Papa‘au top honors at 3 points.
Bonjolea’s pony finished fourth for second place overall with 5 points followed by OZone and Fast Company ending in a tie with 6 points, respectively after OZone’s pony came in third over Fast Company.
Speedy rounded out the fleet with 10 points.
Gibson said the scoring for this series combines the points from the horse race and the points from the pony race for each boat’s individual score for each race.
In the event of ties, the tie will be resolved at the end of the series according to the Racing Rules of Sailing.
The public is invited to view the excitement on Thursday when the first flags for the horse race fly 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.
