NAWILIWILI — Bonjolea II, without the pestering challenge of Fast Company and OZone, swept the three-race Nawiliwili Yacht Club Opening Day Series on May 20.
“This was a make up series since the 2023 Opening Day series was canceled due to the weather,” said Doug Tiffany, a crew member aboard the Sydney 36 that accomplished its feat in breezes of 6 to 8 knots blowing out of the east-southeast.
Bonjolea II took the first race that was a two-leg course spanning 3.4 miles, and included the opening leg out to the Ninini Point Lighthouse buoy.
“It was slow going with multiple tacks getting out to the first windward mark,” Doug Tiffany said. “Starboard tack was favored due to the swell being parallel to the direction the boats had to take, and also due to the positive wind shift from off the land mass at Ninini Point.”
Bonjolea II took an early lead over Speedy and Papa A‘u rounding the Ninini buoy and finished with Bonjolea II posting a 1 hour, 2 minutes, 24 seconds PHRF correction for top honors. She was followed by Speedy correcting to 1:08:14 PHRF and Papa A‘a at 1:18:13 PHRF.
Bonnie Tiffany, the wahine skipper aboard Bonjolea II, described the second race as “short and sweet,” as the Sydney 36 negotiated the 1-mile course with a corrected time of 14:34 PHRF for first place.
“It was interesting to note that several jets flew overhead as they landed at the Lihu‘e Airport,” Doug Tiffany said. “The turbulence from their winglets created several small waterspouts. Their flight paths overhead also disturbed the air enough for the boats to feel the pressure changes.”
Speedy took second place honors with a corrected 16:43 PHRF and Papa A‘u finished third at 19:53 PHRF.
The third race of the series was an inside-the-harbor event covering 2.11 miles over two laps where Bonjolea II took the lead early and maintained it to the finish, correcting to 27:36 PHRF, followed by Speedy at 29:19 PHRF and Papa A‘u at 35:54 PHRF.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
