NAWILIWILI — The winds buffeting the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Doug Gibson Memorial Rum Series, Race No. 7 suited the 36-foot Sydney, and Bonjolea II went on to take the seventh race of the series.
Racing in winds of 15 to 20 knots out of the east-northeast over the six-mile course, Bonjolea II was beat at the start line by a trio of Olson 30s — Fast Company, OZone and Weatherly.
“Nate Sullivan, steering Weatherly, called for OZone to come up, which was tough for then as they could point as high with the reefed main, and Fast Company just above them with no room to tack away,” said Chris Jordan, the OZone skipper.
Bonjolea II capitalized on this three-way situation and took the lead out of Nawiliwili Harbor heading to the Ninini Point turnaround buoy.
“The very fast Bonjolea II kept going straight, and they rounded the Ninini Lighthouse buoy first, followed by Fast Company, Weatherly, OZone, Speedy, and Double Espresso,” Jordan said. “It was tough spinnaker weather, and Fast Company was briefly seen to get a wrap before taking their spinnaker down and leaving it down. The fearless teenagers on Weatherly did some rocking and rolling while showing their grit. This allowed them to catch up to Fast Company as they gybed inside the harbor. They tried to go above Fast Company, but Jim Saylor took them up.”
In the meantime, Bonjolea II kept its lead.
“On the downwind leg from the Ninini Lighthouse buoy on the third and final lap, Bonjolea II had a commanding lead with Bonnie Tiffany on the helm,” Jordan said. “Fast Company was next. The brave Weatherly crew had major issues as they were nearing the Timbers Resort. It appeared they had gybing problems and were headed straight for the rocks. But by releasing the guy and sheet, the spinnaker flew like a flag from the top of the mast and they were able to tack away from the rocks.”
Bonjolea II took line honors by sounding the finish horn on an elapsed sail of 1 hour, 1 minute, 49 seconds, and corrected to 1:05:14 PHRF for first place honors. Fast Company (1:06:09 elapsed) followed at 1:06:15 PHRF and Weatherly (1:09:42 elapsed) filled in the third spot at 1:09:48 PHRF.
Speedy (1:14:39 elapsed) corrected to 1:06:17 Club for top honors in that class followed by Double Espresso (1:13:16 elapsed) correcting to 1:06:36 Club, and OZone (1:11:25 elapsed) filling in third place on a 1:09:05 Club correction.
The eighth and final race of the Doug Gibson Memorial Rum Series takes place Thursday afternoon when the first flags fly from 5 p.m. The public is invited to view the competition with the NYC Race Committee from the Nawiliwili mole parking area.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Very windy with gusts up to 30, made for excellent spectator conditions…. watching speedy get knocked down twice but all (to many?) hands stayed aboard, thankfully.
Shouting from skippers could be heard for miles in this exceptionally difficult race….