NAWILIWILI — Fast Company overcame “light and flukey air” to capture its fourth consecutive win during the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Jerry McKenna Memorial Series, Race No. 5, at the Nawiliwili Harbor.
“The National Weather forecast called for 7 knots of breeze out of the west for the fifth race in the Jerry McKenna Memorial Series. But leaving the dock, and at start time, it was 7 knots out of the east, our usual trade wind direction,” said Chris Jordan aboard OZone.
”But, that was not to last as the NYC Race Committee wisely decided to shorten the race from three laps to two, a distance of 3.4 miles, in the light flukey air that, at one point in the race, had the boats bobbing in dead air.”
During the first leg that had the five boats heading to the Ninini Point Lighthouse, Bonjolea II with Bonnie Tiffany behind the big wheel of the Sydney 36 rounded the lighthouse buoy in the lead, followed by Fast Company, and later, OZone, Weatherly and Speedy.
“After rounding the lighthouse buoy, Bonjolea II and Fast Company, with Jim Saylor on the stick, took off on a port gybe downwind,” Jordan said. “OZone had set up for the usual tradewind starboard gybe so they had to bear away, and then later gybe the spinnaker onto port that cost them some time with Weatherly and Speedy clearly gaining.”
“What is usually the upwind leg from the G-11 buoy by the Coast Guard station turned into a downwind leg with frequent wind shifts as the boats headed to the Kalapaki buoy,” Jordan said. “Weatherly capitalized on this by putting up their spinnaker and passed Speedy. They caught up to OZone and were side by side. But OZone was inside at the mark rounding and gained a little. But now the light flukey westerly winds made it tricky to get to the G-11 buoy.”
Bonjolea II took line honors, or first to cross, on an elapsed time of 55 minutes, 6 seconds, but Fast Company, sounding the finish horn on a 57:00 elapsed time, picked up its fourth win by correcting to 57:05 Performance Handicap Racing Fleet. Bonjolea II corrected to 58:08 PHRF for third place below OZone, who corrected to 58:07 PHRF, just a second ahead of Bonjolea II.
“The winds were so strange for this race that at one point Fast Company, who was ahead, and OZone behind were heading upwind on the same line to the Kalapaki buoy, but they were on opposite tacks,” Jordan said. “It was an interesting day to say the least.”
The NYC Jerry McKenna Memorial Series, Race No. 6 takes place on Thursday when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. at the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty parking area.
