NAWILIWILI — Fast Company, Speedy, and Bonjolea II were bunched at the start of the final race for the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s Carmen Miranda Memorial Rum Series Thursday afternoon. When the starting horn sounded in winds blowing out of the
NAWILIWILI — Fast Company, Speedy, and Bonjolea II were bunched at the start of the final race for the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s Carmen Miranda Memorial Rum Series Thursday afternoon.
When the starting horn sounded in winds blowing out of the north-northeast at 10 to 15 knots, Fast Company slipped into the lead, hotly challenged by Speedy and Bonjolea II. Out of the jetty wall, Trinity, an F28 trimaran, drove into the pack, but was stalled as right-of-way lapsed and the trimaran watched the fleet sail by.
Taking a tack to the breakwater, Trinity worked for the lead in the opening inland leg of the 4.51-mile course.
At the end of the leg, Fast Company, having its hands full with spinnaker woes, Bonjolea II and Trinity were nearly neck and neck, a situation which changed returning from the Ninini Point turnaround.
Trinity had taken the lead, and through its use of the sock, commanded the lead over Bonjolea II and Fast Company.
That lead was not enough to bump the Olson 30 piloted by Jim Saylor as Trinity crossed on an elapsed sail of 52 minutes, 29 seconds and corrected to 59:45 PHRF and fifth place. Bonjolea II followed on a 53:21 elapsed sail and corrected to 56:51 PHRF and second place. All was not lost as Trinity corrected to 46:54 Club for top honors in that class.
Fast Company sounded the finish horn in third overall at 55:10 elapsed sail and corrected to 55:15 PHRF for top honors in the final race of the six-race series, unofficially taking the series based on the number of first finishes the boat accrued over the six races.
Speedy, mixed in with the leaders at the start, finished on a 57:27 elapsed sail and corrected to 57:32 PHRF and third place.
OZone, who struggled through the series with a problem rudder, crossed on a 58:23 elapsed sail and corrected to 58:28 PHRF and fourth place followed by Trinity, and Weatherly, piloted by 13-year-old Risa Whetzel, crossing on a 59:54 elapsed sail and correcting to 1:00:00 PHRF, just four seconds ahead of Rebel (1:17:53 elapsed, 1:04:05 PHRF).
Coyote rounded out the full fleet on a 1:11:21 elapsed sail and corrected to 1:06:50 PHRF.
Sharon Gibson of the NYC Race Committee said the next race will be the second in the Offshore Series where the boats will race to Hanalei on May 23 where the fleet will be greeted with a potluck party at the Hanalei Pavilion.
The fleet races back to Nawiliwili on May 25.
Following the Offshore Series race, the NYC Junior Invitational, where each boat is required to have a “junior” between 8 and 18 years old aboard for each race, will launch on May 28 with the first flags flying at 5 p.m.
