NAWILIWILI — The gusty winds blowing up to 18 knots and more on Thursday stirred the pot and churned Fast Company, skippered by Jim Saylor to its second straight win in the second of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s Phil Tanner Memorial Series race.
“The winds are back,” Charlotte Ross of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club announced while jacketed against sea spray on the sea wall and keeping her camera trained on the horizon. “That last race, there was so little wind it took the boats more than an hour to cover the course that was shortened because it was getting dark. It’s so nice to have the winds back.”
Fast Company, marked by its distinctive red spinnaker blooming in the strong gusts, overcame challenges by Trinity, an F-28R Trimaran, and Kato, one of five Olson 30s in the race pack, to trigger the finish horn at 1 hour, 6 minutes, 11 seconds over the three-leg course totaling 4.93 miles. Following the race corrections, Saylor’s Olson 30 topped the 10-boat pack at 1:06:36 PHRF.
Trinity and Kato, both strong contenders at the race’s onset, marked “Did Not Finish” for the second race of the NYC shoreline series that opened its 2021 race calendar, Feb. 6 with two races in variable weather conditions.
“The gusty winds affected many of the boats with the trimaran Trinity apparently unable to tack to the Ninini buoy, heading towards the lighthouse shore costing them time,” said Chris Jordan, skipper aboard OZone, another Olson 30 that finished the race in fourth place (1:09:10 elapsed sail, 1:09:36 PHRF). “Trinity later retired, but it was great to see her out again on the race course. At times, she looked like a rocket ship in the heavy air.”
“Unfortunately, at the G-11 buoy near the Coast Guard station, Kato, while rounding to go upwind, blew out its headsail foil and retired from the race as they were unable to put up their jib,” Jordan said.
Those incidents set the course for Fast Company, who was first-to-cross, followed nearly two minutes later by Bonjolea II who tripped the elapsed sail clock at 1:07:54 and corrected to 1:13:04 PHRF for the No. 6 berth.
Papa ‘Au, the Express 27 that won one of the two NYC Opening Day races, sounded the elapsed finish horn at 1:10:07 and corrected to 1:07:25 PHRF for runner-up honors. She was followed by Weatherly (1:08:20 elapsed, 1:08:45 PHRF) for the No. 3 berth.
Iwa, an Oceanis 41, closed the pack on a 1:17:32 elapsed sail and corrected to 1:00:17 Club for top honors in that division.
The third race of the NYC Phil Tanner Memorial Series launches Thursday, when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. Spectators are invited to view the competition with the NYC Race Committee at the jetty wall parking area.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
