NAWILIWILI — An “early over” was costly to the crew of Fast Company, Thursday. Distracted by the departure of the Zaandam cruise liner, the final race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Gene Wells Memorial Series was just postponed for a
NAWILIWILI — An “early over” was costly to the crew of Fast Company, Thursday.
Distracted by the departure of the Zaandam cruise liner, the final race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Gene Wells Memorial Series was just postponed for a few minutes.
That excitement and jockeying for position between the cold northeast winds and the departing cruise ship was enough to have Fast Company and Papa‘au slip past the start line.
The costly start-over put Fast Company, the holder of five previous first-place finishes in the Series, and Papa‘au near the back of the six-boat fleet, and by the time the crews recovered, the field was heading to the Ninini Point turnaround.
On the return trip, OZone, an Olson 30, had established a clear lead and opted to raise its spinnaker closer to the jetty wall.
But Fast Company, clearly rising to second overall in the pack, was bolder, its crew already flying its spinnaker well outside of the breakwater and taking a tack which brought her close to the point of the breakwater.
From the left, Speedy closed the gap, effectively cutting off Fast Company’s air. That generated a tack change and a battle for second place ensued while OZone capitalized on that excitement to stay ahead of the pack.
Overall, OZone topped the field of five boats after Malihini, a 35-foot cat, opted to drop out following the first leg.
OZone crossed the line on an elapsed time of 1:02:26 over the hard-charging tenacious Fast Company (1:04:00).
With the PHRF correction, OZone topped the field with a 1:02:32 PHRF, followed by Fast Company with a corrected 1:04:06 PHRF.
Coyote filled in the third spot on a 1:10:13 elapsed and corrected to a 1:05:46 PHRF and a 54:32 CLUB, good for first place in that division.
Speedy, an Express 27, crossed third overall on a 1:06:39 elapsed sail but corrected to a 1:06:45 PHRF and a 1:00:35 CLUB for second place in that class.
Papa‘au crossed the line at 1:10:34 and corrected out to 1:07:33 PHRF and 1:02:24 CLUB to round out the field.
The NYC Race Committee hosts its first Offshore Series on Saturday and returns to the harbor on April 1 when the first race of the seven-race Rum Series starts.
The public is invited to view the competition at no charge from the jetty wall area. First flags fly at 5 p.m.
