NAWILIWILI — Locomotion, owned by Dr. John Myhre, looked to be the sole leader heading into Nawiliwili Harbor Friday afternoon during the 2012 Kaua‘i Channel Race. The Andrews 45, staying well ahead of three masts visible on the horizon, appeared
NAWILIWILI — Locomotion, owned by Dr. John Myhre, looked to be the sole leader heading into Nawiliwili Harbor Friday afternoon during the 2012 Kaua‘i Channel Race.
The Andrews 45, staying well ahead of three masts visible on the horizon, appeared to have the Nawiliwili Yacht Club 2012 Kaua‘i Channel Race in the bag.
That is, until she neared the Ninini Point buoy when, from behind the bluff, Kalewa, a 50-foot catamaran owned by Kevin Millett, appeared and barreled down on the monohull.
Both boats were at the easterly 15-20 knot winds and at the finish, Locomotion sounded the horn a scant nine seconds ahead of Kalewa, Locomotion logging an elapsed sail of 9:05:18 chased by Kalewa at 9:05:27.
“Following a 100-mile race, a difference of nine seconds is a really good race,” said Doug Gibson of the NYC Race Committee who recorded the finishes from the jetty wall area after the flotilla of 19 boats left Kaneohe at 7 a.m. Friday.
Locomotion corrected to 12:52:13 PHRF, good for second place in the PHRF A class, relinquishing her early lead to Trois Amis, a Kaufman 39 owned by Frederic Berg who crossed on a 10:28:54 elapsed sail and corrected to 12:37:01 PHRF for top honors in the PHRF A class.
Chasch Mer, a Santa Cruz 50 owned by Gib Black, crossed on a 9:53:03 elapsed sail and corrected to 12:58:45 PHRF for third place. The Mer crossed behind Cazan, a DK46 owned by Scott Bradley, who sounded the horn with a 9:35:45 elapsed sail, but corrected to 13:24:49 PHRF for fourth place.
Heartbeat, a Corel 45 owned by James McDowell, was another fast boat, slipping across the finish line at 9:32:40 elapsed sail but correcting to 13:25:42 PHRF for fifth place. Kaimana, a Farr 43 owned by Andrew Johnson, rounded out the PHRF A class on a 10:15:29 elapsed sail, correcting to 13:53:28.
Kalewa, correcting to 13:07:52 PHRF, finished tops in the Multihull class.
Manu Kai, a 56-foot Aikane catamaran owned by Andy Evans, topped the Cruising Multihull class, crossing on a 9:53:10 elapsed sail. Kamahele, a Morgan 38, crossed at 13:19:07 elapsed sail to top the Cruising-Monohull class over Persistence (14:33:11 elapsed) and Kipikai II (16:48:00 elapsed).
Intuition, an Antrim 27 owned by Rich McCreedy, topped the PHRF B class on a 9:57:27 elapsed sail, correcting to 11:24:54 PHRF for the top berth.
Ikaika, a Tartan 3700 owned by Tony Miller, followed with an 11:39:36 elapsed sail and corrected to 12:57:20 PHRF.
US 101, a Moore 24 owned by Ronnie Simpson, filled in third place on a 12:36:12 elapsed sail, correcting to 13:03:56 PHRF.
Weatherly (11:37:25 elapsed; 13:07:01 PHRF), Cowabunga (11:46:31 elapsed; 13:09:04 PHRF), No Brakes (11:57:59 elapsed; 13:13:41 PHRF), Speedy (11:44:39 elapsed; 13:15:11 PHRF) and Fast Company (11:49:25 elapsed; 13:20:33 PHRF) rounded out the fleet.
Sharon Gibson, the NYC scorekeeper, said the event hosted great parties on Friday as the boats arrived, and again on Saturday when the awards were distributed during a dinner and dance party that was livened up by Gunga La Gunga.
Sharon said 175 guests took in the festivities, the largest turnout for this annual O‘ahu-to-Kaua‘i crossing race.
The Garden Island Inn and the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. were both Captain Level sponsors to help make the event a success.
The public is invited to the NYC Shoreline Series which resumes Thursday with the first race of the three-race Wahine Series where a female needs to be at the wheel of the boat.
First flags fly at 5 p.m.
