Bonjolea II wins race 2 of the NYC Gene Wells Memorial Series

NAWILIWILI HARBOR — Bonjolea II, skippered by Bonnie Tiffany, took off in the “light” wind and never looked back during the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Gene Wells Memorial Series, Race No. 2 at Nawiliwili Harbor on Thursday, Sept. 7.

The four-boat fleet — a Sydney 36 versus three Olson 30s — waged battle over the three-lap, 4.4-mile course under winds blowing “quite northerly and light at about 7 knots.”

“As Bonjolea II and Speedy were setting up for a port tack start by the Race Committee, OZone came running down the starting line on starboard tack with the right of way, trying to mess them up,” said Chris Jordan, skipper aboard OZone.

“OZone tacked just to weather of Bonjolea II in an effort to slow them down, but Bonjolea II is so fast and can point so high that they were soon to weather of OZone and out in front, leading the fleet.”

The fleet of three Olson 30s tried, but the Sydney 36 stayed in front, clocking an elapsed time of 55 minutes, 4 seconds, and correcting to 58:23 Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) for her second straight win in the Wells Series.

OZone broke the hour mark by slicing across the finish plane on a 59:00 elapsed time and corrected to 59:05 PHRF, 42 ticks behind the leader Bonjolea II.

Speedy, waging a war with Double Espresso, filled in the No. 3 spot on a 1:01:48 elapsed time and correcting to 1:01:54 PHRF, followed by the young sailors aboard Double Espresso clocking a 1:02:40 elapsed time and correcting to 1:02:46 PHRF.

The third race of the NYC Gene Wells Memorial Series takes place on Thursday, Sept. 14, when the first flags fly at 5 p.m. at the jetty wall parking area.