NAWILIWILI — Bonjolea II, with Bonnie Tiffany behind the big wheel, took its third straight win on Thursday during the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Wahine Series Race No. 3 that was waged in winds of 13 knots blowing out of the northeast at the Nawiliwili Harbor.
Bonjolea II, a Sydney 36, used the combination of the wind and the two long legs of the 6.03-mile course to its advantage despite starting midway through the seven-boat fleet.
“The battle at the start set up at the pin end on starboard tack,” said Chris Jordan, the normal skipper on OZone who relinquished the stick to Allison Fornari because it is the Wahine Series, and one of the rules calls for a wahine to be the skipper for the duration of the race. “Fast Company looked to be a little early, but they luffed up to kill some time, and they ended up having the best start. OZone was just down the line below them, and just below OZone was Weatherly. Bonjolea II started on starboard tack about halfway down the line.”
“The very fast Bonjolea II tacked onto port by the Race Committee, and when they met up with the other boats, they were clearly ahead,” Jordan said.
Bonjolea II used its wind advantage and the long legs of the race to stay clear of the battle of the Olson 30s for the race middle positions.
“During the last leg of the three-leg race, Fast Company rounded the Kalapaki buoy in front of OZone,” Jordan said. “But then disaster struck Fast Company with a spinnaker wrap, or hourglass, as they put up their chute. This allowed OZone to pass them as the pair of boats headed for the G-7 gybe mark. OZone, with Fast Company right on their heels, had a good rounding at G-7 and G-11. As both boats headed back upwind to the finish line, Fast Company tacked away early, and OZone tacked to cover them. And, when Fast Company tacked to the finish line, OZone again tacked to cover in order to keep their short lead,” said Jordan.
Bonjolea II, taking line honors on an elapsed time of 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 30 seconds, picked up her third win of the series after correcting to 1:12:38 PHRF, more than eight minutes ahead of OZone, which posted a 1:18:47 elapsed time and corrected to 1:18:54 PHRF for second place. Fast Company, with one of the Weatherly girls, Lily, steering because Victoria Aiu, steering for the previous two races, was late getting to the harbor and had to be picked up at the old pier, settled for third place.
Following the race, Jordan, who is also the president of the Kaua‘i Sailing Association, said sailors and families from the single-handed Transpac Race from San Francisco to Hanalei Bay were present at the community education event held at the clubhouse.
Included among the single-handed sailors was Brendan Huffman, who very generously donated his well-prepared Santa Cruz 33 to the Kaua‘i Sailing Association.
