NAWILIWILI — Nawiliwili Yacht Club member Marty Ellis wasn’t sure there was going to be a race, Thursday. “There was no wind while I was setting up the Clubhouse,” Ellis said prior to the start of the NYC Gene Wells
NAWILIWILI — Nawiliwili Yacht Club member Marty Ellis wasn’t sure there was going to be a race, Thursday.
“There was no wind while I was setting up the Clubhouse,” Ellis said prior to the start of the NYC Gene Wells Memorial Series, Race No. 4 at the Nawiliwili Harbor.
But the wind picked up to the 5-15 knot range out of the Northeast by the warmup period and churned up excitement and a red protest flag at the start.
The boats were lined up and heading straight for the jetty wall to take advantage of the wind, cutting short of the wall for a seawall tack before heading out to the Ninini Point turnaround.
“Fast Company,” this time skippered by Jim Saylor, led the pack, staying well ahead of the traffic.
But “Lelele,” trying for its third win in the series, and “Papa‘au” came close, one female member screaming above the tight pack peppered with shouts and yells. This was followed by a crew member aboard “Papa‘au” tying a red bandana on its line once the traffic had subsided and the fleet headed to the seawall.
“Fast Company” maintained its lead until the return leg of the 3.6-mile course, challenged by “OZone” followed by “Lelele.”
But “Malihini” was not going to let that happen as she came from behind to overtake all three boats at the buoy marking the inland leg of the course.
The see-saw battle for the lead continued on the second leg, an inland route, and heading into the final two legs, “OZone” had a definite lead to take the race on an elapsed time of 44:49 (44:53 PHRF) for first place honors.
The win has “Lelele” leading the series after taking the first two races with “Fast Company” taking Race No. 3 and “OZone” nailing down Race No. 4, Thursday.
“Fast Company,” a fourth place finisher, following a strong start, ran into slow air and spinnaker issues to relinquish its position to “Lelele,” a second place finisher in Race No. 4 on a 47:06 elapsed (46:57 PHRF) sail followed by “Fast Company” stopping the clock at 47:43 (47:47 PHRF) for fourth place.
“Malihini,” less nimble in the quiet of the harbor, filled in third place by holding “Fast Company” off, the 35-foot catamaran stopping the clock at 46:07 elapsed (47:17 PHRF).
Following the leaders, “Speedy” (49:01 elapsed, 49:06 PHRF), “Bonjolea” (51:29 elapsed, 49:30 PHRF), “Papa‘au” (52:34 elapsed, 50:19 PHRF) and “Tiare,” the smallest craft in the fleet, (1:04:09 elapsed, 54:35 PHRF) rounded out the scorers.
“Coyote,” a C&C 38, was in the race through the first leg before returning to the slips for a “Did Not Finish” rating.
“Marta,” the two-man dinghy did a superb job of staying out of traffic and finished its own special race on a 49:56 elapsed sail.
The NYC Gene Wells Memorial Series continues Thursday with Race No. 5 of the six-race series.
The public is invited to view the competition from the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty wall at no charge. Members of the NYC Race Committee are always happy to discuss details of the race with visitors.
First flags fly at 4:45 p.m.
For more information, visit the NYC Web site at www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org.
