As the wind was shifting between 8 – 14kts, 5 minutes before the starting horn, excitement was building for the crew of Bonjolea II to make sure every moment counted with the opportunity to take the last race and sweep the Invitational Series.
At the very tight start Ozone crossed 1st , Speedy 2nd and , Bonjolea II 3rd and Weatherly 4th. It was a close race between all 4 to first mark of D course, a turn at Kalapaki Buoy R4, untill Ozone tacked away. By the 1st mark Bonjolea II, with Bonnie Tiffany at the helm, and Koa as visitor, held the lead for the rest of the race, though Speedy, Ozone, and Weatherly fought for and exchanged leads towards 2nd mark, G7.
Speedy, with Dick Olsen at the helm and visitor Margarette, stayed within 3-4 boat lengths of Bonjolea II until G11, with Weatherly and Ozone slowly catching up to Speedy. Ozone, with Vince Huntley at helm and visitor Brian, passed Speedy at the end of Leg #1.
Ozone, Speedy and Weatherly were still in close competition at the start of Course A. During the beat out to the Ninini Pt. lighthouse Buoy, R2 Ozone tacked over towards the Resort ½ way out to R2, while Speedy and Weatherly held their tack. Speedy finally overtook Weatherly, with Alexi at helm and visitor Piper, allowing them to take back 2nd place.
At the Lighthouse Buoy, Bonjolea II had a strong lead and Speedy, Ozone, and Weatherly were all in a group within 2-4 boat lengths of each other. Ozone passed Speedy once again before rounding R2 buoy, with Speedy 3rd and Weatherly 4th. Ozone slowly pulled away from Speedy on the long downwind leg to G11.
During the 3rd leg Ozone lengthened their 2nd place lead with a beautiful run downwind to G7 and G11 without gybing. Bonjolea II maintained 1st, with Speedy in 3rd and Weatherly in 4th. The race ended with Bonjolea II taking line honors and 1st Place PHRF with a corrected time of 1:14:22, Ozone taking 2nd place, with a PHRF corrected time of 1:17:40, Speedy in 3rd Place, with a corrected PHRF time of 1:18:14. Weatherly took 1st Place in Club class.
For the overall series in PHRF it was Bonjolea II in 1st place with 4 points, Ozone in 2nd with 9 points and Weatherly in 3rd with 13 points. Speedy took 1st in the Club Class with 5 points.
There is a bye next week because the Kauai Channel Race from Kaneohe to Nawiliwili will be held Friday June 24th. The Next Weekly NYC Buoy Race will be Race #1 of the Wahine Race Series to be held Thursday June 30.
The public is invited to watch the races from the Nawiliwili mole parking area.
-Doug Tiffany
Click for complete results and raceQs replay on the Club Racing page.