NAWILIWILI — Jackson Cornick, the Junior aboard Bonjolea II, was safely tucked away as the Sydney 30 coursed its way in 13 to 15 mph winds out of the northeast to win its first race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club
NAWILIWILI — Jackson Cornick, the Junior aboard Bonjolea II, was safely tucked away as the Sydney 30 coursed its way in 13 to 15 mph winds out of the northeast to win its first race of the Nawiliwili Yacht Club Junior Invitational Series, Race No. 3, Thursday at Nawiliwili Harbor.
With Thursday being a holiday of sorts, the fleet filled its boats with juniors as no boat reported “no juniors aboard.” The Junior Invitational Series requires a junior of 8 to 18 years old be on board during the race. Additionally, the Junior must be sporting Coast Guard approve life jackets.
“All boats got off to a great start with half the competitors jibing to the outer jetty wall for a tight squeeze around the outer Nawiliwili Harbor entrance on their way to a red buoy off Ninini Point,” said NYC Rear Commodore Fred Styer.
The clean start in consistent winds gave the more than 30 spectators at the mole a thrill, watching Papaau grabbing the lead in traffic, but losing it to Bonjolea II.
Returning from the longest leg of the race, Bonjolea II had clearly established the lead and built on it throughout the remaining two legs of the 4.50-mile race.
Ken Martinez of the NYC Race Committee used an unofficial method of tracking the Sydney 36’s lead, ascertaining that it had overcome the four-minute handicap needed to take the race.
Bonjolea II, with Bonnie Tiffany at the wheel, came up first in both “elapsed sail” and “PHRF class,” crossing the line on a sail of 54 minutes and 53 seconds, correcting to 58:29 PHRF.
The crowd at the mole had other concerns, watching the tight race for second and third places between Fast Company, with Isaiah McConnell as its junior, and OZone with Sienna Temme being the junior.
As the two Olson 30s battled for the lead position, Fast Company stalled on the final turn despite getting fast work on its spinnaker.
But the PHRF handicap came into play as Papaau, with Lily Perry as its junior, crossing the finish line at 1:02:56 elapsed sail, fourth overall, corrected to 1:00:15 PHRF for second place honors in the race. OZone, crossing second at 1:00:35 elapsed sail, settled for third place after correcting to 1:00:41 PHRF.
Fast Company, despite holding second through most of the race, crossed at 1:02:23 elapsed and corrected to 1:02:29 PHRF for fourth place.
Risa Whetzel, the designated junior aboard Weatherly, pushed the third Olson 30 across the line on a 1:03:05 elapsed sail and corrected to 1:03:11 PHRF.
Speedy got Jamie Penn as its junior, sailing across the line on a 1:08:16 elapsed sail and correcting to 1:08:22 PHRF. Trinity, with Eden Tjarks as its junior, rounded out the holiday fleet on a 1:03:27 elapsed sail and correcting to 1:12:14 PHRF.
Trinity also corrected to 56:42 Club for top honors in that class, a mere 14 ticks ahead of Weatherly (56:56 Club).
The NYC Junior Invitational sails its final race Thursday with the first flags flying at 5 p.m.
