NAWILIWILI HARBOR — OZone pulled off a surprise win over Bonjolea II during the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Short Series Race No. 3 at Nawiliwili Harbor on Thursday, Aug. 17.
Racing under winds of 12 knots out of the northeast, just three boats competed in the latest short course race that covered 3.66 miles through four laps.
“The three boats in the race all hit the starting line at the same time, with Bonjolea II and OZone side by side on port tack, and Speedy on starboard side by the pin end,” said Chris Jordan aboard OZone. “This usually pays off, but not this time as the wind was far enough north that the port tack starters passed ahead of Speedy.”
Through the four laps, which were readily visible by spectators in the jetty parking area, Bonjolea II took the Kalapaki buoy first, followed by OZone tacking just ahead of Speedy to maintain its lead at the rounding.
The trio of boats continued the navigational jousting through the race, with Bonjolea II taking line honors, or first to finish for what Jordan describes as at least the seventh time. Bonjolea II sounded the horn on an elapsed sail of 52 minutes, 37 seconds, followed by OZone, which tripped the clock at 55:36, three minutes later.
“The OZone crew assumed that Bonjolea II had won again,” Jordan said. “But the OZone crew was surprised and delighted to find out that they had taken first place by a mere seven seconds on handicap time.
OZone corrected to 55:41 PHRF followed by Bonjolea II at 55:48 PHRF. Speedy rounded out the field at 1:05:02 PHRF after clocking a 1:04:56 elapsed time.
“The OZone crew felt that they had ‘the perfect sail,’ while the Bonjolea II crew said they had a few errors,” Jordan said.
The fourth and final race of the NYC Short Series takes place Thursday, when the first flags fly at 5 p.m.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
