NAWILIWILI — Four seconds.
That was the margin of victory for Lydia Lintermans and the crew aboard Fast Company, which squeaked past Emily Martin and the crew aboard Kato during the fourth race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Wahine Series Thursday in Nawiliwili Harbor.
Bonnie Tiffany and the crew of Bonjolea II capitalized on the 8-to-12-knot winds and kept the Sydney 36 unscathed throughout the 6.04-mile course, taking line honors with an elapsed sail that sounded the finish horn at 1 hour, 5 minutes, and 18 seconds, and correcting to 1:10:16 PHRF to land in the fourth berth.
Following the Sydney 36, a war of the Olson 30s — Fast Company, OZone, Kato and Weatherly — kept spectators’ eyes on the water despite Havea Tuakoi pulling out at least three big fish from the seawall at the mole parking area.
“Bonjolea II had a great start at the pin end of the starting line so they had a straight shot without tacking to get to the Kalapaki buoy,” said Chris Jordan, OZone’s owner.
“OZone couldn’t resist messing with Fast Company, and they tacked back onto starboard early, forcing Fast Company to tack and to become somewhat pinned down. But Kato, starting to weather of OZone, pinned them down as well so they couldn’t tack when they wanted to.”
Astrid Andersson, on Weatherly’s stick, outpointed OZone, Fast Company and Kato on the upwind legs to the Ninini Point Lighthouse buoy.
“Fast Company tacked back to the beach near the Timbers Resort to get the lift in there,” Jordan said. “OZone had to duck them, but this didn’t pay off for Fast Company. At the Ninini Point Lighthouse buoy, it was Bonjolea II in the lead, followed by Kato, Weatherly, OZone, Fast Company, Double Espresso, Papa A‘u, Speedy and Iwa.”
Bonjolea II steered clear of the Olson 30 battles, and crossed first, followed by Kato sounding the horn on a 1:08:52 elapsed sail, and Fast Company, marking a 1:09:07 elapsed sail, 15 seconds behind Kato.
“In the PHRF class with handicaps applied, it was Fast Company (1:09:33 PHRF) taking first place by four seconds over Kato (1:09:37 PHRF), and Bonjolea II (1:10:16 PHRF) taking third.” Jordan said.
Weatherly (1:11:43 elapsed, 1:05:28 Club) topped the Club class standings, followed by Papa A‘u (1:16:18 elapsed, 1:08:07 Club), and OZone (1:10:46 elapsed, 1:08:33 Club).
“For the series following four races, it looks like Kato is leading with 2, 1, 1, 2 points with one throwout allowed in the five-race series,” Jordan said, speaking of sailboat finishing positions.
“Fast Company (3, 2, 4, 1) and OZone (1, 3, 2, 4) are essentially tied for second going into the last race of the series.”
The final race of the NYC Wahine Series takes place Thursday, when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. from the Nawiliwili Harbor mole parking area.
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Dennis Fujimoto, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
