NAWILIWILI — Papa A‘u, coming off repairs and repainting with Fast Company, almost did not participate in the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Bob Hamby Memorial Series, Race No. 2 last Thursday.
“Papa A‘u was looking for a helmsman or they were not going to race,” said Chris Jordan, skipper aboard OZone. “Fortunately, an old sailing friend of Chris Jordan’s was in town on vacation looking to race on a boat so it worked out well for everyone. Tim Verharen had lots of experience sailing on Puget Sound. He raced out of Tacoma with his dad on their Express 37 ‘Dreamspeaker.’ Papa A‘u being an Express 27 was right up his alley.”
Papa A‘u got in the water and finished by winning the three-leg, 4.93-mile race despite finishing third overall on an elapsed sail of 1 hour, 15 minutes, and 27 seconds. Papa A‘u corrected to 1:12:33 PHRF to finish just six seconds over Fast Company, the winner of the Bob Hamby Series, Race No. 1 who stopped the clock on a 1:12:12 elapsed time and corrected to 1:12:39 PHRF for second place in the race that took place under winds of 13 to 18 knots out of the northeast, and Chris Jordan’s mother Elizabeth’s 91st birthday.
Bonjolea II, skippered by Bonnie Tiffany steered clear of the starting line skippering tactics and took the lead at the first of two Ninini Point turns followed by Fast Company, OZone, Papa A‘u, Double Espresso, and Weatherly.
“On the final lap inside the harbor, Bonjolea II was still far in the lead followed by Fast Company,” Jordan said. “But at the Kalapaki buoy, OZone caught up to Fast Company whose skipper Jim Saylor made a very slick move. He was able to luff up enough at the last minute to round the buoy. OZone was coming in faster on starboard and did not think Fast Company would make it. OZone not only had to luff up, but went beyond head-to-wind to avoid hitting Fast Company. This definitely slowed OZone down.”
“To add insult to injury, OZone had set up for a port pole spinnaker run which is usually the case,” Jordan said. “But the wind was so far north, they should have had a starboard pole like Fast Company who now left OZone in the dust.”
Bonjolea II took line honors on the 1:08.26 elapsed time and corrected to 1:13:30 PHRF for third place honors.
Double Espresso with Karl Andersson and the youngest Kaua‘i Sailing Association kids corrected to 1:07:41 Club for top honors in that class. Speedy who was in the chase early in the race, corrected to 1:09:34 Club for second place, and OZone corrected to 1:11.02 Club for third place honors.
The third race in the Bob Hamby Memorial Series was on Thursday. Results to come.
“Bob Hamby was a great watercolor artist and sculptor who died last year,” Jordan said. “This series is named in his honor. He was a partner with Marty Ellis for about 20 years, and they were regulars at the yacht club. Marty flew back to Kaua‘i for the first race in this series, and handed out lei to the racing boats to be tossed into the ocean near the Ninini Lighthouse buoy where Bob’s ashes had been placed.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
