NAWILIWILI — A change in spinnaker and diminished winds earned Fast Company a first-place finish at the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s second race of the Lloyd Rees Memorial Series Thursday.
Fast Company’s first finish puts it in a tie with OZone, which capitalized on Fast Company’s spinnaker wind woes last week to finish first.
Racing in trades of 5-10 knots, down from the 10-15-knot winds last week, Fast Company was quick out of the pack at the start line and held off the challenge by OZone coming in from the first of two outbound legs in the 4.92-mile course.
The departure of the cruise liner “Royal Princess” added to the challenge of the course as the pair of Olson 30s worked to beat the cruise liner to the outside of the No. 11 marker for the inbound course.
Once past that obstacle, Fast Company was able to hold on to the lead, crossing the finish line on a 57:54 elapsed sail and corrected out to 56:25 PHRF for first place.
That finish was less than 10 seconds off the mark by OZone, which made her final push just yards from the finish line. That effort fell short as OZone crossed with a 58:03 elapsed sail and corrected to 58:08 PHRF.
Papa‘au, which had off-island guests rooting for Roger Cable, waged its own battle with Malihini, also crewed in part by NYC Sharon Gibson’s daughter and family, that see-saw being settled when Malihini slipped across the finish line on a 1:00:56 elapsed sail, just 11 seconds ahead of Papa‘au 1:01:07 elapsed. But on the correction, Papa‘au settled in third place with a 54:03 PHRF and Malihini tumbled to fifth place on her 1:02:28 PHRF correction.
Speedy filled in the fourth position with a 1:00:56 elapsed sail, correcting to 1:00:45 PHRF and 55:08 Club for second place in the Club class.
Following the leaders, Coyote, a C&C 38, crossed the line on a 1:09:33 elapsed sail and corrected top 1:05:08 PHRF and 54:01 Club for first place in the Club class.
Bonjolea, who battled Coyote on who would turn outbound first off the starting pack, rounded out the field on a 1:10:44 elapsed sail and correcting to 1:08:01 PHRF.
Following the race, Gibson said Papa‘au, taking its turn at the stove, treated everyone to a menu other than “regular” dogs and burgers. They unveiled a chili-fest with three different dishes prepped by its crew members to set the stage for the burger exchange with visitors Van and Cheryl Jarvis from the Shoreline Yacht Club in Long Beach, Calif.
The public is invited to view the competition in this final series, Thursday when the NYC unveils the course for Race No. 3.
First flags fly at 5 p.m. from the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty wall.
Visit www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauai
pubco.com.
