NAWILIWILI — OZone was the only boat who had the key to the light and variable winds which created “holes of dead air,” Thursday at the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Pete Peterson Memorial Rum Series, Race No. 3. OZone laid back
NAWILIWILI — OZone was the only boat who had the key to the light and variable winds which created “holes of dead air,” Thursday at the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Pete Peterson Memorial Rum Series, Race No. 3.
OZone laid back from the trio of boats at the start, which saw Bonjolea cross “over early,” but following the agonizingly long trek to the Ninini Lighthouse turnaround, Ozone slipped into the lead of the seven-boat fleet.
Her lead stood through the remainder of the race after see-sawing with Fast Company during the tail end of the opening leg and through the start of the final leg of the 2.4-mile course.
Ozone sounded the finish line horn on a 55 minute, 39 second elapsed sail and corrected out to 55:44 PHRF for top honors.
Fast Company, challenging OZone for the greater part of the race, made one final attempt at the entrance to Nawiliwili Harbor, unpacking its chute.
“Boats fell into and sailed out of ‘holes’ of dead air,” said Sharon Gibson, the NYC Race Committee starter. “Fast Company looked like a shoe-in for second place but they fell into a hole at G-11 on leg two just before the finish.”
While waiting for the whispers of wind to fill the spinnaker, Malihini, the 35-foot catamaran, found a pocket of air and made it around the G-11 turnaround to fill the second-place slot.
Papa‘au, an Express 27, was in the mix from the onset with Speedy, and wrestled Malihini for the No. 2 spot, finding a spot on the ocean where wind was blowing and slipped across the line on a 1:04:11 elapsed sail, correcting to 1:01:27 PHRF.
Fast Company bobbed to a third finish with a 1:04:53 elapsed sail, correcting to 1:04:59 PHRF followed by Malihini slipping across the line on a 1:03:34 elapsed sail, second overall, but correcting downward to a 1:05:10 PHRF for fourth place.
Malihini corrected to a 1:02:08 Club for top honors in that class.
Speedy, the third Olson 30 battling off the start line, was caught between the fight between Bonjolea and Coyote, filling in the No. 6 spot on a 1:15:42 elapsed sail, correcting to 1:15:49 PHRF. That wound up just 20 seconds below Bonjolea, who slipped across at a 1:18:30 elapsed sail, but corrected to her 1:15:29 PHRF for the No. 5 spot.
“Coyote had the lead following the turn around R-2 at the cliff and the choice of their route to the G-11 last turn had everything to do with Bonjolea catching the right breeze at the right spot on the course to overtake Coyote before the final mark,” Gibson said. “This was all of the fun of watching a race — only we got to see it in slow motion. What fun!”
Coyote rounded out the fleet with a 1:24:20 elapsed sail, correcting to 1:18:59 PHRF.
The public is invited to view the competition, Thursday as the Pete Peterson Memorial Rum Series continues with Race No. 4 at the jetty wall area.
There is no charge to view the race which flies the first flags at 5 p.m.
Visit www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org for more information.
