NAWILIWILI HARBOR — Bonjolea II broke the one-hour mark in elapsed time in winning the final race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Shoreline Wahine Series at Nawiliwili Harbor on Thursday, July 27.
With Bonnie Tiffany at the big wheel of the Sydney 36, Bonjolea II completed the 5.92-mile course under 10-knot winds blowing out of the east-northeast in an elapsed time of 59 minutes, 56 seconds and corrected to 1:03:33 PHRF for first place in the final race of the 5-race series.
“Bonjolea II won all five Wahine races and they swept the series with five points,” said Chris Jordan, aboard OZone. “OZone took second place with 12 points, and Weatherly was third with 19 points.”
The Sydney 36 started behind Double Espresso with the youngest Kaua‘i Sailing Association kids and Weatherly, who had Lily steering but quickly caught up.
“Bonjolea II rounded the Ninini Lighthouse buoy in the lead followed by the Double Espresso kids,” Jordan said. “But Double Espresso did not have enough crew to run their spinnaker downwind. OZone put up their spinnaker, but were having trouble controlling it as they tried to stay up high to get into the harbor. OZone’s spinnaker kept collapsing and making a lot of noise to the delight of the Double Espresso crew.”
With Bonjolea II locking up the top spot, OZone, with Alison Fornari at the stick, sounded the finish horn in a 1:07:44 elapsed time and corrected to 1:07:50 PHRF for second place ahead of Weatherly, which clocked in at 1:13:26 elapsed time and corrected to 1:13:33 PHRF for third place.
Starting Thursday, Jordan said the next four races are called the Short Series with most of the racing done inside the harbor.
“This is not one of Bonjolea II’s favorites, as they like the long legs out the lighthouse where they can really get going fast (especially with the ‘Bonjolea winds’),” Jordan said.
The public is invited to watch the races from the Nawiliwili mole parking area where the NYC Race Committee is located when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. Thursday.
