NAWILIWILI — Thursday weather produced “Lelele” wind as the Wells 30 stayed clear of the pack that stagnated on the water during the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Louie Abrams Memorial Rum Series, Race No. 4 at the Nawiliwili Harbor.
The light and variable winds from the south created Kona conditions for the NYC Race Committee who moved the start from its traditional corner to a Kona start. The combined weather conditions, including still humid air, saw Lelele steer clear of the slow-moving pack of 11 boats.
“It was difficult to judge what side of the start line had the advantage,” said Kevin Arndt, the NYC Rear Commodore. “Half the boats were maneuvering around the far start pin while the other half was grouped at the Race Committee end. Some of the boats had no steerage at all as the light breeze appeared to elude them.”
Lelele pulled out of this mess and the sails drew nicely and sporting a bow wake, enjoying the light breeze that was meant only for her, Arndt said.
She stayed clear of the conditions that saw boats floating until the wind filled in.
“Carbon fiber sails and high tech instrumentation helped Kato take the lead,” Arndt said as Lelele’s lead was lost to the flotilla of Olson 30s with OZone, with two first finishes under its belt, surged forward.
Kato overcame that lead with its spinnaker in full bloom, overtaking OZone near the end of the first leg and continued to build on its lead before sounding the horn of the 3.29-mile race on an elapsed sail of 46 minutes, 31 seconds, correcting to 46:35 PHRF for its second first finish in the six-race series.
OZone crossed at 50:15 elapsed and corrected to 50:20 PHRF for second place followed by Fast Company (51:15 elapsed, 51:20 PHRF).
Despite picking up its second first finish in the six-race series, Kato is chasing the overall lead by two points below OZone who commands the series with four points followed by seven points, a tie with Fast Company.
Lelele relinquished its early lead to Weatherly (52:15 elapsed, 52:20 PHRF) by settling for a fifth place finish on a 52:57 elapsed sail and correcting to 52:47 PHRF, just 27 seconds shy of Weatherly.
Remaining boats in the fleet included Papa‘au (56:48 elapsed, 54:22 PHRF), Kaos (55:30 elapsed, 55:51 PHRF), Bonjolea II (54:44 elapsed, 58:19 PHRF), Coyote (1:04:30 elapsed, 1:00:25 PHRF), Trinity (54:00 elapsed, 1:01:28 PHRF), and Speedy (1:01:55 elapsed, 1:01:55 PHRF).
Weatherly correced to 47:34 Club for top honors in that class followed by Lelele (48:08 Club) and Kaos (50:06 Club).
The NYC Louie Abrams Memorial Rum Series continues Thursday when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. Spectators are welcome to join the NYC Race Committee from its vantage point at the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty wall area.
