NAWILIWILI — Fast Company took the final race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s 2019 calendar by more than two minutes Thursday, but who’s watching?
The Olson 30 with Tess Moeller garbed in a tutu with a crown was the Queen Bee, but Jim Saylor as a worker bee held the stick to glide the craft to an elapsed sail of 47 minutes, 28 seconds, and corrected to 47:46 PHRF to claim the top spot with the crew that included Jakki Nelson trying to keep control of the hive in a bee keeper outfit through the 2.11-mile, two-leg race.
Popeye, complete with his can of spinach, and Olive Oil brought life to the spectators on the mole (that is the NYC definition of the land-bound spectators viewing the races) during the race where winds blew in at 5 mph from the north-northeast, a breath stronger than the variable nearly no-wind conditions of previous races.
“The latest buzz is that Fast Company took it all,” said Chris Jordan, the NYC communicator, and the skipper aboard OZone who donned a shark outfit for the final race. “Fast Company took first place in the race, and they also won for the best crew costume from the mole.”
Double Espresso, another Olson 30, tripped the finish horn at 49:59 elapsed and corrected to 50:32 PHRF for the runner up position.
“You don’t want to mess with Double Espresso who won for the scariest costumes as even the women had hairy muscular chest outfits,” Jordan said. “Papa A‘u was third with a time of 53:41 PHRF. The lovely Sea Petersen was on the stern fabulously dressed as a lioness while ‘Rent a Ray’ was on the foredeck as a male lion. Skipper Jeff Olson was a zebra as was the cute little dog running around the deck, and the rest of the crew were dressed as great white hunters.”
Speedy, with skipper Dick Olsen garbed in a pirate outfit, corrected to 47:28 Club to claim top honors in that class followed by Weatherly getting second place in the class with a 50:54 Club correction.
“Weatherly took second place, and they won for the most original costumes which were orange shirts with Jack O’ Lanterns hand painted by Astrid Andersson…I called them the Smashing Pumpkins,” Jordan said. “The rumor is that the scowl on the pumpkin’s face that Astrid painted was taken from a pose by her father and skipper Carl Andersson.”
Jordan said Weatherly gave OZone “fits” throughout the race, most notably during the final leg.
“This allowed OZone to cross the finish line dead last — probably for the first time, ever,” Jordan said. “It allowed Papa A‘u to sneak in and beat OZone by just one second on elapsed time.”
“OZone did delight the other boats, and the crowd on the mole by putting up its spinnaker sideways on the second downwind leg,” Jordan said. “I will vouch for the fact that this doesn’t make you any faster. Dressed in shark costumes and playing the Baby Shark music while passing the NYC Race Committee, OZone won for the best costume theme, and Iwa, although not finishing the race, won for the funniest costumes with their Greek outfits. It was Toga! Toga! Toga!”
The NYC Halloween race was followed by a Halloween party sponsored by OZone and featuring dinner catered by Mark’s Place and Contemporary Flavors Catering, Halloween music and dance by DJ Chris Fink, and a lot of fun where Popeye and Olive Oil won for the best couple costumes.
The next race will take place in February 2020 when the NYC opens its calendar with the opening day races.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
