NAWILIWILI — Victories in the Horse and Pony races pushed Fast Company into the standings lead Thursday at Nawiliwili Harbor. Following last week’s opening race in the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Horse and Pony Series, there were ties for first and
NAWILIWILI — Victories in the Horse and Pony races pushed Fast Company into the standings lead Thursday at Nawiliwili Harbor.
Following last week’s opening race in the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Horse and Pony Series, there were ties for first and third places.
Jim Saylor changed all that Thursday, sweeping in on Bonjolea II to eke out the Horse race on a 28:13 elapsed sail and correcting to 28:13 PHRF.
He jumped aboard the Topper and stayed ahead of Shale Shore, one of the Kauai Sailing Association instructors in the Learn to Sail program, and sailing the Pony for Weatherly.
The sweep puts Fast Company just three points ahead of the pack with six points, challenged by Papaau, finishing second Thursday. Papaau crossed the Horse finish line on a 30:32 elapsed sail and corrected to 29:14 PHRF for its second place finish. But Ed Tschupp, aboard the Topper, could not overtake Shore and settled for third place in the Pony race for an overall second place, getting nine points in the standings.
OZone fills in the third spot, crossing the Horse finish line on a 29:16 elapsed sail and correcting to 29:19 PHRF, just five ticks back of Papaau.
Bill Evslin, the skipper aboard OZone, took the Topper out, but could not get past Tschupp, settling for fourth in the Pony race.
Weatherly filled in fourth in the Horse race, crossing on a 32:36 elapsed sail and correcting to 32:39 PHRF. Shore anchored its position with her second place Pony finish.
Speedy crossed the Horse finish on a 32:25 elapsed sail, ahead of Weatherly, correcting to 32:28 PHRF, 11 seconds ahead of Weatherly. But Mark Brewer, piloting the Topper in the Pony race, could not overcome Shore and settled for fifth place.
Bonjolea II was clearly in the lead coming in from the long Ninini Point turnaround. The lead stood through the final inland turn.
With Fast Company breathing down her neck, Bonjolea II opted for a tack taking her to the southern line of the harbor while Fast Company squeezed its gap on a more northern tack.
The finish line loomed close, but Bonjolea II never corrected, giving the edge to Fast Company by a mere five seconds in the elapsed sail (28:15).
After correcting to 30:06 PHRF for fourth in the Horse race, its Pony, piloted by John Ross finished at the end of the field, bringing the crew to round out the field.
The public is invited to view the third race of the four-race series Thursday with the NYC Race Committee when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. at the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty wall.
Info: www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org
