Kevin Millett’s 50-foot catamaran, Kalewa, took control of the Kauai Channel, crossing first, Friday afternoon on an elapsed sail of 8 hours, 22 minutes and five seconds. Kalewa was one of 13 boats that left Kaneohe Bay at 7:16 a.m.
Kevin Millett’s 50-foot catamaran, Kalewa, took control of the Kauai Channel, crossing first, Friday afternoon on an elapsed sail of 8 hours, 22 minutes and five seconds.
Kalewa was one of 13 boats that left Kaneohe Bay at 7:16 a.m. for the annual Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s Kauai Channel Race which finished at Nawiliwili Harbor following a 108-mile channel crossing.
Winds were a steady 20 knots of easterly trade winds mid-channel, said Kevin Arndt, the NYC Rear Commodore.
“The fast downwind crossing was not without mishap, though,” Arndt said. “A few boats blew out their lighter spinnakers, forcing them to change to heavier spinnakers for the remainder of the race. Bonjolea II, one of the NYC boats skippered by Dan Judd, broke her spinnaker pole soon after the start and sailed with main and jib for most of the race.”
The mishap saw Bonjolea II come across on a 13:06.35 elapsed sail and correcting to 10:23:02 PHRF for sole control of Class C.
Kalewa corrected her first-to-finish elapsed sail to 5:55:33 PHRF for sole control of Class M in the race.
“Heartbeat came surfing by the Ninini Lighthouse buoy and announced her arrival by blowing out her asymmetrical spinnaker in the final minutes of her race,” Arndt said. “She finished with an elapsed sail of 8:29:01 and corrected to 8:55:48 for second place in the PHRF A Class as well as garnering first to finish honors in the monohull class.”
Intuition followed Heartbeat on an 8:19:45 PHRF for top honors in the A Class. Kahuna filled in the No. 3 spot with an 8:56:37 PHRF correction.
Jim Saylor grabbed a share of Kauai honors, skippering Fast Company to an 8:50:24 PHRF for top honors in the PHRF B Class and second place overall in the race.
Flying Tiger corrected to 8:51:14 PHRF for second place in the B Class, less than a minute back of Fast Company, and 86’d filled in third place on a corrected time of 910:01.
Arndt said more than 120 people enjoyed the catered dinner from the Kauai Beer Company and danced to the tunes of The Lost Pelican Band on Saturday night during the awards banquet.
The NYC Wahine Series, requiring a female at the helm throughout the race, resumes Thursday when the first flags fly at 5 p.m.
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The Garden Island
