Fast Company took the seventh and final race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Gene Wells Memorial Series on Thursday. But the win by the Olson 30 skippered by Jim Saylor pushed Bonjolea II into the winner’s circle of the series
Fast Company took the seventh and final race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Gene Wells Memorial Series on Thursday.
But the win by the Olson 30 skippered by Jim Saylor pushed Bonjolea II into the winner’s circle of the series by a single point.
“The wind was at its strongest at the start of the final Gene Wells Memorial Race Series,” said Doug Tiffany, crewing aboard Bonjolea II. “Blowing from 5 to 11 knots, the wind blowing from the north shifted often, staying unpredictable across the course which spanned 3.52 miles over two legs.”
Saylor pushed Fast Company across the first mark at the Kalapaki buoy where winds are traditionally light. Bonjolea II, with Bonnie Tiffany at the wheel, was on Fast Company’s tail and coming out of the cliffs, the Sydney 36 overtook the Olson 30, and stayed ahead of the fleet for first to finish honors on an elapsed sail of 51 minutes, 34 seconds.
Fast Company followed on a 52:27 elapsed sail and corrected to 52:32 PHRF for top honors in the race. Bonjolea II was relegated to fourth place after correcting to 54:57 PHRF. OZone, with Dr. Chris Jordan at the stick, followed on a 54:09 elapsed sail and corrected to 54:14 PHRF for second place. Papaau, skippered by Ed Tschupp, crossed on a 57:18 elapsed sail, but corrected to 54:51 PHRF for third place, a mere 6 seconds ahead of Bonjolea II.
The remainder of the fleet saw Weatherly (58:54 elapsed, 58:59 PHRF), Speedy (59:16 elapsed, 59:21 PHRF), Coyote (1:06:55 elapsed, 1:02:40 PHRF) and Trinity (59:23 elapsed, 1:07:36 PHRF) cross the line.
Speedy, with Dick Olsen at the stick, corrected to 51:25 Club for top honors in that class followed by Fast Company (51:38 Club) and Papaau (52:26 Club).
The results of the final race pushed Bonjolea II to the top of the PHRF class with an overall 11 points followed a point back by OZone at 12 points and Fast Company, who finished third with 15 points.
Trinity, the sole trimaran in the fleet skippered by Walter Torge, topped the Club class standings followed by Coyote, with Karen Cole as its skipper, and Speedy.
With the completion of the Gene Wells Memorial Series, the Nawiliwili Yacht Club invites people to view the characters aboard the Halloween Costume Party Boat Race and After race. The first flags fly at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty wall parking area.
