NAWILIWILI — Bonjolea II came from near the back of the seven-boat fleet to capture top honors in the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Eric Wing Memorial Rum Series Race No. 2 last Thursday in Nawiliwili Harbor and Kalapaki Bay.
Sailing in winds that picked up to the 10-to-20-knot range out of the north-northeast, Bonjolea II was pushed back from the starting-line traffic and worked up through the 6-mile, three-leg race to hold on to its first-to-finish honor that sounded the finish horn on an elapsed sale of 1 hour, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds, nearly five minutes ahead of the next closest boat, Kato, that crossed on a 1:08:11 elapsed sail — just five ticks faster than Fast Company, which tripped the clock on a 1:08:16 elapsed sail.
Bonjolea II held on the finish margin to correct to 1:08:35 PHRF to claim overall finish honors in the second race of the series, just five ticks ahead of Fast Company, which corrected to 1:08:41 PHRF. Kato corrected to 1:08:56 PHRF to settle for third place despite being first off the start line.
“Bonjolea II started sixth out of seven boats, and to see their comback was amazing,” said Chris Jordan, skipper aboard OZone, which finished fourth (1:08:43 elapsed, 1:09:09 PHRF). “With Bonnie Tiffany on the wheel, helped by her husband Doug and Cameron, Gaby and the rest of the crew, they worked hard and started passing everyone.”
Fast Company was the only boat to put a reef in their main sail.
“But that didn’t seem to slow them down,” Jordan said. “At the start, OZone did slow Fast Company down by luffing them up and trying to make them hit, or go around the pin end buoy. Following a few words spoken by both boats, the race continued.”
“The wind was so far north that it was an early tack out of the harbor to make the lighthouse buoy,” the OZone skipper said. “Kato tacked first, followed by Weatherly and Speedy. OZone was pinned down by Fast Company and couldn’t tack until Fast Company did.”
By that time, Bonjolea II made up ground and, at the lighthouse buoy, Kato rounded first, with Bonjolea II following.
“OZone tacked too early for the buoy and had to pinch to make it, which allowed Fast Company to overtake them and round ahead,” Jordan said. “Papa A‘u was again right in the mix of things, and at this point they were probably leading on corrected time.”
By the final leg, Bonjolea II controlled the lead.
“Kato rounded the G-11 buoy near the Coast Guard station, and it appeared they would take second place,” Jordan said. “But they lost a halyard. That slowed them down enough that even though they recovered and finished five seconds ahead of Fast Company, on corrected time, Fast Company took second place by 15 seconds, while Kato had to settle for third.”
Papa A‘u (1:12:41 elapsed) corrected to 1:04:58 Club for top honors in that class, followed by OZone (1:06:34 Club) and Weatherly with Astrid Andersson on the helm getting third on a 1:07:41 Club correction.
The NYC Eric Wing Memorial Rum Series Race No. 3 takes place Thursday, when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. at Nawiliwili Harbor. Spectators may view the competition from the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty parking area with the NYC Race Committee at the mole.
