NAWILIWILI — Just 15 ticks separated Papa A‘u from OZone Thursday when Jeff Olson and the crew aboard the Express 27 picked up its second consecutive win during the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Gene Wells Memorial Series, Race No. 6.
“That is two bullets in a row for helmsman Jeff Olson who enjoyed giving OZone fits with his clever pre-start maneuvers,” said Chris Jordan, the skipper aboard OZone, and the NYC communicator. “The three-lap race over 6.03 miles got interesting when Fast Company tacked inside the G5 buoy as required by the rules, and in the process, tore their No. 1 jib at the top. With this rip, it appeared that Fast Company’s race was over, but the crew, with some verbal encouragement by skipper Jim Saylor, did an amazing job of getting the torn sail down, and putting up their smaller No. 3 sail in record time to continue the race.”
The winds, described by Jordan as “flukey at the Kalapaki buoy,” blew in the 15 to 17 knot range with variable sources, and “wrecked havoc over the eight-boat fleet.
“OZone barely made it around the lighthouse buoy without hitting it,” Jordan said. “Papa A‘u actually ended up sailing backwards for a while. At the finish line, OZone took line honors, sounding the horn following a sail that stopped the clocks at 1 hour, 17 minutes, and 16 seconds — nearly three minutes ahead of Papa A‘u who logged a 1:20:36 elapsed sail, third overall.”
But Papa A‘u’s third place overall finish was not enough to wrestle it from the top spot as the Express 27, following the corrections, topped the race at 1:17:30 PHRF — just 15 seconds ahead of OZone who corrected to 1:17:45 PHRF.
Fast Company, despite overcoming its sail woes, sailed across at 1:19:57 elapsed, second in the fleet, and corrected to 1:20:27 PHRF for third place honors.
Weatherly (1:23:23 elapsed sail) corrected to 1:16:33 Club for top honors in that class competition with Carl Andersson taking the helm.
“A protest/controversy is pending with two boats as Kato, who would have been second in Club Class, and Double Espresso in third, both apparently sailed outside the G5 buoy instead of inside as required,” Jordan said. “If they are disqualified, it would move Speedy up to second, and Bonjolea II to third places in the Club class.”
Following Thursday’s race, Jordan said “after 6 of 10 races, it appears that OZone leads the series by just .5 point over Papa A‘u with lots of racing remaining.”
The seventh race of the Gene Wells Memorial Series takes place Thursday when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. from the Nawiliwili Harbor breakwater parking area.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
