NAWILIWILI — Strange winds did all kinds of things with the boats at Thursday’s Nawiliwili Yacht Club Shakedown Series, Race No. 3. Fast Company, an Olson 30 with Jim Saylor at the stick, eked out an early lead, but faltered
NAWILIWILI — Strange winds did all kinds of things with the boats at Thursday’s Nawiliwili Yacht Club Shakedown Series, Race No. 3.
Fast Company, an Olson 30 with Jim Saylor at the stick, eked out an early lead, but faltered on the top end to OZone.
With Chris Jordan on the stick, Ozone was able to capitalize on tacking to get the maximum wind and slip across the finish line on a 1:05:35 elapsed sail, correcting to 1:05:41 PHRF for overall honors.
Dick Olsen, helping with the NYC Race Committee, said the afternoon had “very strange winds with shifting strength and directions.”
That necessitated a Kona start where the four-boat flotilla sailed into Nawiliwili Harbor instead of out of the harbor during the trades.
The trio of small boats — Fast Company, OZone and Papa‘au — congregated at the No. 6 can, and despite the sound of the starting can, bobbed lifelessly until the winds picked up.
That brought excitement to the race as OZone, getting the highest tack, started inland as Fast Company came toward the wall in an attempt to get the best wind, triggering some vocalization while Papa‘au sat in the back.
Fast Company prevailed and held the lead, milking the winds for whatever it could while OZone settled into a pocket of dead air, allowing Papa‘au to get second place.
Once the winds came up, OZone managed to overtake Papa‘au heading outward toward the Kalapaki Bay can, drawing a bead on Fast Company.
Fast Company finished second overall on a 1:07:21 elapsed sail, but after correcting to 1:07:27 PHRF, settled for third place in the race. Its Club correction of 1:06:02 gave her top honors in that class.
Papa‘au crossed the line at 1:08:51 elapsed and corrected to 1:05:55 PHRF for second place, just 14 seconds below OZone.
Coyote, a C&C 38, sat outside the pack for most of the race to claim a Did Not Finish and second place in the Club class.
The NYC Shakedown Series continues on Thursday with the public invited to view the competition from the jetty wall area at no charge.
First flags fly at 5 p.m.
Visit www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org for more information.
