The sailors were happy to have 3 long outside laps to the Ninini Lighthouse Buoy with course A-B-C. This was a 7.52 mile race and the winds were out of the Northeast at 12-15 knots.
The start had Bonjolea II a couple of feet off the pin end which prevented Fast Company (driven by Doug Moore while Jim Saylor is away) from getting in. So Fast Company had to do a 360 degree turn to restart which set them back to last place for awhile (but they slowly worked their way back). Ozone was the only boat that started on port tack by the race committee and this seemed to work okay until they met up with Double Espresso. With no room to duck Double Espresso because of oncoming boats, Ozone tacked below them. Double Espresso continued on which forced Ozone down into a header. Bonjolea II tacked first towards the breakwater and finally Double Espresso tacked as did Weatherly and Ozone. Speedy and Fast Company followed. But by being driven further down, when Ozone tacked back they were able to clear the end of the breakwater while other boats had to do two extra tacks to get out of the harbor. Bonjolea II, Weatherly and Double Espresso made their tack towards the lighthouse buoy about halfway out of the
entrance to the harbor. But by just clearing the end of the breakwater both Ozone and Speedy gained as they got lifted up nicely towards the lighthouse and this saved them a lot of distance.
Bonjolea II rounded the Ninini Lighthouse Buoy first followed by Ozone, Speedy, Weatherly, Double Espresso and Fast Company. Downwind Double Espresso and Weatherly were having a nice battle. But Speedy was ahead of them and gaining. Lexi Lane-Schwarze was on the helm for Weatherly but she was missing half her crew who took off for college. And on Double Espresso it was
Kai Haughey steering who traded off with Sofia Brosius. It was Sofia’s first time on the helm and she even did the
spinnaker!
On the second leg upwind to the lighthouse the Kalapaki Buoy had to be rounded first to starboard. Bonjolea II did a nice job here but Ozone got headed and parked the boat in a low wind zone area and Bonjolea II significantly extended their lead. The flukey wind around the Kalapaki Buoy also allowed Weatherly to gain on Speedy and Double Espresso to gain on Weatherly.
Downwind Bonjolea II looked like a rocket ship and they passed the rest of the fleet still heading upwind about halfway to the breakwater. When Weatherly and Double Espresso rounded the Ninini Lighthouse buoy they continued their close battle and Double Espresso was able to pass Weatherly. Meanwhile, Bonjolea II was way in the lead and by the time they were halfway upwind again to the lighthouse buoy Ozone in second place was still by the mole and other boats were still rounding the G-11 buoy by the Coast Guard Station.
The last downwind leg from the lighthouse required the Kalapaki Buoy to be rounded to port and boats had to stay up high in order to make it. Weatherly went close to the Kukui lighthouse by the rocks where there is often not much wind (also known as “Ozone’s hole”) and this allowed Double Espresso to gain on Weatherly.
At the finish line it was Bonjolea II with Bonnie Tiffany on the helm easily taking line honors and first place in the PHRF Class. Bonjolea II the Sydney 36 continues their dominance of our recent races. The Olson 30 Ozone took second place and the other 4
Olson’s followed. Speedy took third place with Dick Olsen steering and they finished 28 seconds ahead of Fast Company. (Fast Company was probably bemoaning their start where they had done a 360 degree turn). Double Espresso was a mere 26 seconds behind Fast Company and the youngest Kauai Sailing Association kids took first place in the Club Class. Weatherly took second place and Fast Company took third in the Club Class. Papa Au did not race as the wire on their starboard shroud was starting to shred and they need to replace it.
The second race of the Gene Wells Memorial Series will be held on Thursday 9/8/22 with a 5 pm start. The public is invited to watch the races from the Nawiliwili mole parking area.
-Chris
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