The second race in the 7 race Gene Wells Memorial Series took place on 9/12/24. Gene was a well known boat builder and a beloved member of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club. Many of his boats in the past would sail in this race, but unfortunately none on this day. It was really a beautiful day with light winds at 9 knots. This light air was fortunate as Fiasco only had 3 crew and Ozone had 4. Fiasco was sailing without its owner Jim Saylor who is off playing on the mainland.
The start had Speedy taking Ozone up at the pin end and Ozone had to head up and flog their sails to slow down to avoid hitting the buoy and so Speedy very nicely won the start. Fiasco was just a little behind those two boats and Double Espresso was in the mix. Bonjolea II tried a port tack start which at one point had looked favored but it didn’t pay off and they had to duck the fleet which gave the 4 Olson 30’s a break.
Speedy in the lead got headed toward the Royal Sonesta Hotel and Ozone was able to take over the lead. Fiasco tacked back towards the breakwater and then tacked back and Bonjolea II had to duck them. Speedy got headed so much that when they tacked back they had to duck Fiasco as well. Ozone now headed out of the harbor slightly ahead of Bonjolea II and Speedy was able to get ahead of Fiasco. Bonjolea II gained and was right on Ozone’s stern and Ozone tried hard to stay in front of them to give them bad air. Ozone rounded the Ninini Lighthouse buoy first closely followed by Bonjolea II. Speedy, Double Espresso and Fiasco followed.
Downwind to the Kalapaki buoy was a close race between the overtaking Bonjolea II and Ozone. But after rounding and gybing the spinnakers it was Bonjolea II in the lead. However, downwind to the G-7 buoy Ozone obtained inside overlap and Ozone rounded slightly ahead. Speedy, Double Espresso and Fiasco followed. Upwind towards the cruise ship Bonjolea II tacked towards the breakwater earlier behind Ozone and Ozone kept going. When the 2 boats tacked and met up again it was Ozone barely ahead, but that didn’t last long. After rounding the Kalapaki buoy a second time and heading towards the G-11 buoy by the Coast Guard Station Bonjolea II again passed Ozone. But Ozone can sail deeper downwind by pulling their spinnaker pole way back almost perpendicular to the boat while Bonjolea II’s asymmetrical spinnaker is attached to their bowsprit so that they have to reach up higher rather than sailing deep. And by sailing deeper, Ozone was barely able to take the lead once again in their see-saw battle.
Heading back upwind Bonjolea II tacked towards the breakwater and this time Ozone tacked to cover them. Bonjolea II was outpointing Ozone and when they tacked back away from the breakwater they were on starboard and Ozone had to duck them. But both boats were now getting headed into Kalapaki Bay away from the buoy. Bonjolea II tacked back first and Ozone kept going a little longer on starboard and therefore Bonjolea II had to duck them. And Ozone then tacked to cover them. Both boats simultaneously tacked back towards the Kalapaki Buoy. Ozone rounded just slightly ahead of Bonjolea II. Double Espresso was now ahead of Speedy as they rounded while the shorthanded Fiasco was still heading towards the cruise ship.
The 3rd and last lap of the race was course “F” which is rarely used. After the Kalapaki rounding the boats head to the G-7 buoy and round it to starboard before heading to the finish line. Ozone was able to stay ahead of Bonjo;lea II to finish first, 16 seconds ahead of them. Ozone’s time was 59:16. From being a bigger and faster boat, Bonjolea II owed the four Olson 30’s 3 minutes and 46 seconds on the PHRF handicap system. And so it was the Kauai Sailing Association crew on Double Espresso who took second place with a time of 1:01:43 and Speedy took 3rd place with a time of 1:02:56. Bonjolea II’s corrected time was 1:03:02 and Fiasco was 1:11:09.
A beautiful half moon and a very nice sunset over the mountains greeted the returning crews. And a delicious potluck and a video shown by Dick Olsen of the foiling British and Italian America’s cup boats entertained everyone afterwards.
The 3rd race of the Gene Wells Memorial Series will be held on Thursday 9/19 with a 5pm start. The public is invited to watch the races along with the race committee at the Nawiliwili mole parking area.
-Chris
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