Fast Company may have won the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s Gene Wells Memorial Series, Race No. 7, Thursday, but settled for second place, overall.
“There was little to no wind, and it was coming from all directions,” said Sharon Gibson, NYC scorekeeper, in an email with the results. “There were three boats over-early at the start. Weatherly and Fast Company caught what little breeze there was while the rest of the fleet fell into a big, windless hole.”
Weatherly, the newest Olson 30 to join the NYC fleet, and Fast Company worked the early start advantage in the short, inside lap, which opened the race.
“The bottom turning mark, the G-11, was sitting in a hole so all the boats just parked when they got to it,” Gibson said. “This was a great equalizer.”
Again, Weatherly and Fast Company snaked out of the parking lot heading for the Ninini Point turn while the rest of the fleet worked to get out of the hole.
“The wind lessened as the sun went down and as darkness fell, a few boats finished with the rest of the fleet just headed in, taking a Did Not Finish,” Gibson said.
Marcie Millett, a crew aboard Papa‘au, celebrated its victory in the standings with a Mexican dinner of fajitas and toastadas, two NYC member birthdays adding to the celebratory nature with tiramisu for dessert.
Fast Company ruled the virtually windless territory on an elapsed sail of 53:03 and corrected to 53:08 PHRF for top honors, chased by Weatherly at 54:04 elapsed sail and correcting to 54:09 PHRF for second place honors.
Lelele, a Wells 30, crossed on an elapsed sail of 1:05:48, just 11 seconds ahead of Malolo, the Hobie 33 with fantastic-looking sails, and corrected to 1:05:36 PHRF, compared to Malolo crossing at 1:05:57 elapsed and 1:06:22 PHRF.
OZone, normally at the top of the pack, came in at No. 5, stopping the clock at 1:06:59 elapsed and correcting to 1:07:05 PHRF.
Papa‘au, holding off the challenges in the standings for the eventual win, crossed in the sixth spot at 1:13:29 elapsed, correcting to 1:10:21 PHRF.
Bonjolea was the seventh boat to cross and the final boat to mark a recorded time, stopping the clock at 1:13:20 elapsed and correcting to 1:10:31 PHRF. She corrected to 1:01:16 Club to capture top honors in that class, collecting 12 points in the standings to top that division.
Speedy, Coyote, Mapuana and Windspan marked DNFs in the final race of the calendar year.
Overall, Papa‘au topped the PHRF Open and Monohull class with nine points, just two points ahead of Fast Company (11 points) and OZone (15 points).
Bonjolea topped the Club class with 12 points, chased by Weatherly at 31 points and Coyote at 34 points.
Visit the website www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org for more information.
