NAWILIWILI HARBOR — When the finish horn sounded on OZone’s passage, a celebratory victory hoot broke the tranquil Thursday afternoon at the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Short Series Race No. 4, the final race in the series.
Racing under 16-knot winds blowing from the northeast, OZone’s crew was anticipating a win on handicap correction over Bonjolea II over the four-lap, 3.91-mile course layout at Nawiliwili Harbor to accommodate the five-boat fleet comprised of a Sydney 36 — Bonjolea II — and four Olson 30s — Speedy, Weatherly, Double Espresso and OZone.
OZone relinquished the lead to Double Espresso when the starting horn sounded, but the fleet recovered following the straightaway start.
“Bonjolea II is very fast, and they can point incredibly high, so they soon passed OZone and the rest of the fleet upwind of them,” said Chris Jordan, who piloted OZone. “Bonjolea II rounded in the lead without tacking, and OZone followed and barely made it around by pinching up and going slow, avoiding the tacks.”
Heading downwind to the G7 turn, OZone fluffed up its spinnaker and gained on the Sydney 36.
“Bonjolea II was short of foredeck crew and didn’t use their spinnaker,” Jordan said. “That really helped OZone gain.”
“Downwind on port tack under spinnaker, OZone was gaining on Bonjolea II in the final lap,” Jordan said. “But Bonjolea II gybed onto starboard tack, which has rights over port tack, and as the two boats converged at the G-11 buoy, OZone had to let Bonjolea II have room.”
At the finish line, Bonjolea II took line honors, sounding the finish horn with an elapsed time of 45 minutes, 14 seconds, followed by OZone at 46:39.
“But as a bigger and faster boat, they owed the four Olson 30s in the race 36 seconds a mile on handicap,” Jordan said. “As a result, OZone corrected to first place at 46:43 PHRF, a minute and 15 seconds over Bonjolea II, who corrected to 47:58 PHRF.”
Following the adjustments for the final race, OZone and Bonjolea II emerged tied for the lead, with each vessel holding six points.
“For the four-race short series, Bonjolea II won the first two races, and OZone the last two,” Jordan said. “But the rule book states that whoever won the last race wins the series if there is a tie, so OZone took the series by winning the last race.”
The Club class was taken by Double Espresso in first with 18 points, followed by Speedy with 21 points and Papa A‘u with 24 points.
“Next up is the Gene Wells Memorial Series of seven races that starts on Thursday when the first flags fly at 5 p.m.,” Jordan said.
“A Kaua‘i Sailing Association community educational event will be held at the clubhouse at about 6:45 p.m., when Denis and Holly Michaud, who are cruisers from the catamaran Tango, will talk about their adventures sailing in the southern part of the Inside Passage in the Pacific Northwest. A potluck dinner is available,” said Jordan.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
