The battle between the ninjas aboard Kato, and the trio of ghosts moving Weatherly treated spectators on the mole to some exciting races Thursday in light and variable Kona winds. “A single lap using the Red No. 4 buoy (yes,
The battle between the ninjas aboard Kato, and the trio of ghosts moving Weatherly treated spectators on the mole to some exciting races Thursday in light and variable Kona winds.
“A single lap using the Red No. 4 buoy (yes, the Red No. 2 is still missing) was raced so the crews could be sure to reach the costume party at the Nawiliwili Yacht Club clubhouse before darkness set in,” said NYC Rear Commodore William Georgi. “Because it’s Halloween, and the last race of the 2017 season, the observers on the mole were able to enjoy the coordinated costumes of the various crews during the race which spanned 1.1 nautical miles entirely in the harbor.”
The boats created excitement from the start, three nearly colliding seconds before the horn sounded. This resulted in two of the boats doing 360 penalty turns in the light winds that consumed time.
Kato, with its crew of ninjas, jumped through the melee to grab the lead and hold on despite the challenge from the ghosts aboard Weatherly who pulled to less than a boat’s length near the finish.
The ninjas tickled the finish horn on an elapsed sail of 21 minutes, 02 seconds and corrected to 21:04 PHRF — a mere 22 ticks ahead of Weatherly who sailed across the plane at 21:24 elapsed and correcting to 21:26 PHRF.
The ballet company aboard Fast Company finished in third place on a 22:19 elapsed sail and correcting to 22:21 PHRF, less than a minute back of Weatherly.
Speedy, finishing fourth in the PHRF ratings, corrected to 26:59 Club for top honors in that class followed by Papa a‘u (29:58 Club) and OZone (31:54 Club).
With the onset of the winter swells, this is the final race for the 2017 season.
The next races will take place on the season opening day Feb. 10 starting at 10 a.m.
