The wind was light at 9 knots out of the East which made for a beautiful day of sailing. The 4.4 mile course was E-A-E. Course E goes around the Kalapaki buoy and then G-11 by the Coast Guard Station and course A goes out to the Ninini Lighthouse buoy and back around G-11.
The Olson 30 Kato was racing for the first time in quite a while and skipper Kevin Millett was seen to jump in the water in order to clean the boat bottom before the race. It was great to have another Olson 30 racing.
On Fiasco the very experienced JT Schoonover was back to work the foredeck for Jim Saylor. The competition is increasing! On Double Espresso skipper Carl Andersson had the wahine crew with him. Katalin Terdik is very eager to have an all wahine crew race on Lelele which is a boat recently donated to the Kauai Sailing Association. Watch out boys!!! On Ozone it was Mark Walsh’s birthday and all he wanted for a birthday present was a win. (And maybe to watch the TV show Severance after the race).
Speedy and Bonjolea II hit the starting line at the same time while Fiasco and Ozone were about 4 seconds later. Ozone took Fiasco up to weather giving them bad air which slowed Fiasco down. Bonjolea II was the first boat around the Kalapaki buoy followed by Ozone, Fiasco, Kato, Speedy and Double Espresso. Downwind under spinnaker with port poles the positions stayed about the same. That is until Kato and Speedy met up by the G-11 buoy with Speedy having rights. And after the “Roundin Ruckus” that ensued according to Hu Mast, Speedy was seen to have their protest flag up saying that they were inside boat at G-11 and entitled to room. So Kato decided to retire after finishing and no protest meeting was required. And their epic battle continued even though Speedy had lost some ground. The boats were now headed back upwind towards the mole. Fiasco went in further to the mole before tacking and they appeared to gain some.
Ozone went outside the G-5 buoy before tacking which was okay as the finish line was the G-7 buoy which is the one the boats need to stay inside of in case the race is shortened. And Fiasco followed Ozone’s course. When Bonjolea II tacked out of the harbor, Ozone decided to go in further towards the Kukui Lighthouse before tacking and Fiasco went in even further. Speedy tacked the earliest and Kato went in the furthest. And by tacking later Fiasco appeared to be gaining.
After rounding the Ninini Lighthouse buoy, Bonjolea II headed downwind on a higher course than the Olson 30’s, heading towards the infinity pool at the Timbers resort. But when they gybed back onto port tack towards the harbor they couldn’t pass clear ahead of Ozone on starboard tack and so they gybed away. But Bonjolea II quickly picked up boat speed as they gybed back into the harbor and they were once again out in front. And Fiasco was right on Ozone’s stern with Jim Saylor yelling “I’m coming Ozone!”
As they rounded the G-11 buoy to head back upwind towards the mole, Ozone was slightly ahead of Fast Company and giving them bad air and so Fiasco tacked away towards the breakwater but quickly tacked back towards the mole. And Fiasco went in closer to the mole and appeared to get a lift and gained a little.
Bonjolea II and Ozone tacked at the same spot near the G-5 buoy to head towards the Kalapaki Buoy. Fiasco, trying to make up some distance, tacked a lot earlier towards Kalapaki and they appeared to be low of the lay line. But as Bonjolea II rounded the buoy, Fiasco had caught up again and was right on Ozone’s stern. But then Fiasco had a wider mark rounding and lost a little of the distance they had gained.
Both Fiasco and Ozone were sailing almost directly downwind under spinnaker towards G-11 while Bonjolea II was reaching up and then reaching back which is a faster point of sail for them. But by sailing a longer distance Bonjolea II had to let Ozone as the inside boat round the G-11 buoy ahead of them. And on heading back upwind towards the mole, Bonjolea II was in Ozone’s bad air and so they tacked away towards the breakwater and the finish line at G-7. Ozone probably should have tacked to cover them but they waited instead until Fiasco tacked towards the finish line before tacking back. And when the faster Bonjolea II tacked back onto starboard, Ozone on port tack had to duck them. It was then a horse race to the finish line with Bonjolea II finishing 2 seconds ahead of Ozone. But with Bonjolea II’s handicap the corrected times had Ozone in first place with a time of 57:52, Fiasco in second place with a time of 58:32, and Bonjolea II in third place with a handicap time of 1:01:14. Speedy and Kato rounded out the fleet but Kato retired after finishing due to the protest by Speedy.
-Chris
Click for complete results, the RaceQs replay and photos on the
Club Racing page.