NAWILIWILI — Bonjolea II, with Bonnie Tiffany behind the big wheel, overcame the unusual weather conditions that included a drenching squall, and the challenge of sailing from the five challengers to claim the final race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Short Series at the Nawiliwili Harbor.
NAWILIWILI — Bonjolea II, with Bonnie Tiffany behind the big wheel, overcame the unusual weather conditions that included a drenching squall, and the challenge of sailing from the five challengers to claim the final race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Short Series at the Nawiliwili Harbor.
Sailing under what Chris Jordan aboard OZone described as “strange winds all over the compass, but mostly from out of the south and the west,” Bonjolea II grabbed the lead off the Kona start (created because of the very light winds and many squalls passing through), and very rare for the NYC Race Committee that cut the course to just 1.86 miles in light of the squall threat.
Tiffany steered the Sydney 36 to line honors on an elapsed time of 21 minutes, 32 seconds, and corrected to 22:43 PHRF to take the race, well ahead of Speedy, piloted by Dick Olsen, who crossed on a 25:16 elapsed time and corrected to 25:18 PHRF.
The win of the final race in the NYC Short Series also clinches the overall win for the series as Bonjolea II locked up its lead position with the solid finish.
Carl Andersson recovered sufficiently from his injury to return Double Espresso and its young sailors to the race where the Olson 30 crossed on a 26:31 elapsed time and corrected to 24:06 Club to claim top honors in that class completion.
OZone, whose protest against Weatherly during the Short Series, Race No. 3, was thrown out by the Honolulu experts, rebounded to mark a 26:12 elapsed time and claim runner-up spot in Club class on its 25:21 Club correction.
The next race Thursday is the start of the NYC Gene Wells Memorial Series. The first race of the 7-race series starts when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. at the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty parking area.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
