The winds were up and the big boats were ready. Malihini, a 35-foot cat, and Kalewa, a 50-foot cat, both finished in the Top 5, relishing the 10-20 knot winds out of the north-northeast that swept through the Nawiliwili Yacht
The winds were up and the big boats were ready.
Malihini, a 35-foot cat, and Kalewa, a 50-foot cat, both finished in the Top 5, relishing the 10-20 knot winds out of the north-northeast that swept through the Nawiliwili Yacht Club’s Gene Wells Memorial Series, Race No. 3, Thursday.
“This was the most wind we have had so far and the boats really enjoyed the strong competition,” said Sharon Gibson, the NYC scorekeeper, in an e-mail.
Malihini crossed the finish line first overall on an elapsed time of 1:02:31, but with the corrections, came up 16 seconds short of Fast Company to finish in third place with a PHRF correction of 1:04:06.
Fast Company, leading the series with two first finishes from the last two races, again gave the spectators some excitement, crossing the finish line just five seconds ahead of a strong challenge by OZone.
The gap of about a minute behind Malihini only served to clear the stage for the exciting finish for overall second and third, Fast Company crossing on an elapsed sail of 1:03:44, ahead of OZone (1:03:49).
With the PHRF corrections, the five-second margin stood with Fast Company correcting to 1:03:50 and OZone ending with a PHRF 1:03:55.
Kalewa filled in the fourth berth overall on a 1:04:42 elapsed sail, but the PHRF correction put the catamaran in ninth place on a 1:20:53 corrected time.
Lelele, a Wells 30, finished fifth on an elapsed 1:06:09, but corrected to fourth on a 1:05:57 PHRF.
About two minutes separated the Papa‘au and Coyote finishes, but with the PHRF corrections, that gap was closed to less than a minute as Papa‘au finished with a 1:07:02 PHRF and Coyote settling at 1:08:00.
With the CLUB correction, Coyote ended first in the Club class on a corrected 56:23 over Papa‘au’s 1:01:55.
Another tight finish was waged between Speedy and Bonjolea as Speedy was corrected to PHRF 1:10:14 and Bonjolea rounded out the fleet on a PHRF 1:11:07, that gap of less than a minute belying the actual elapsed finish of about three minutes.
“We had a good crowd at the jetty watching, and everyone really enjoyed this one,” said Gibson.
That excitement and fun overflowed to the NYC Clubhouse at the Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor where OZone was at the helm of providing the post-race festivities.
“They really outdid themselves with extra salads and desserts for the food table,” Gibson said. “They set up an old TV and a DVD player, showing the movie ‘Wind’ while everyone ate. The race was great, the party was great! It was all good.”
The public is invited to view the competition as the NYC Gene Wells Memorial Series continues with Race No. 4, Thursday.
Viewing can be done at the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty wall area at no charge. The first flags fly at 5 p.m.
For more information, visit the NYC Web site at www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org.
