The brisk trade winds in the 15 to 20-knot range was a boon to the Nawiliwili Yacht Club who opened its seven-race Rum Series Thursday afternoon. “We had great winds from the northeast,” said Ken Martinez, rear commodore of the
The brisk trade winds in the 15 to 20-knot range was a boon to the Nawiliwili Yacht Club who opened its seven-race Rum Series Thursday afternoon.
“We had great winds from the northeast,” said Ken Martinez, rear commodore of the NYC. “Consequently, the boats sailed from inside the harbor near the marina and out to the lighthouse buoy at Ninini Point using three different routes.”
Trinity, an F-28 trimaran, relished the trades and sliced through the 7.52-mile course in 1 hour, 15 minutes and 43 seconds for first place in Elapsed Time honors, one of three categories measured by the NYC Race Committee.
Trinity’s finish was just nine ticks ahead of Bonjolea II, a Sidney 36 with Bonnie Tiffany behind the wheel who slipped past the line on 1:15:52 while Fast Company, one of four Olson 30s in the race, filled in the third berth on a 1:18:01 sail.
Despite the fast time, Trinity’s PHRF correction dropped her to fifth place at 1:26:12 PHRF, dropping the fourth-place advantage by 12 seconds to Rebel, a Wells 27, who crossed on a 1:44:31 elapsed sail and corrected to 1:26:00 PHRF for the No. 4 berth.
Fast Company, despite its third place overall finish, corrected to the top of the PHRF class with a 1:18:08 PHRF for the solid first place ahead of Bonjolea II who corrected to a 1:20:50 PHRF. Third place honors in the PHRF class belonged to Papaau, an Express 27, who crossed on a 1:27:08 elapsed sail and corrected to 1:23:25 PHRF.
Trinity’s fifth place PHRF finish was consolation for her top finish in the Club Class, the third judged category, where the trimaran corrected to 1:05:56 for top honors.
She was followed by Coyote, a C&C 38, who marked a 1:33:39 elapsed sail, correcting to 1:27:43 PHRF and 1:13:42 Club for second-place honors. Fast Company filled in the third berth for Club Class.
Other boats in the opening Rum Series race included OZone, normally a hot contender against Fast Company, clocking a 1:26:27 elapsed sail and correcting to 1:26:35 PHRF and 1:25:02 Club. Chaos, a Hobie 33, posted a 1:27:12 elapsed sail, correcting to 1:27:44 PHRF and 1:17:58 Club, Weatherly, an Olson 30, posted a 1:28:40 elapsed sail, corrected to 1:28:48 PHRF and 1:21:44 Club, and Speedy, the final Olson 30 in the fleet, crossing on a 1:34:18 elapsed sail, correcting to 1:34:27 PHRF, and 1:24:17 Club.
The public is invited to view the competition, Thursday when the NYC Race Committee hosts the second race of the series with the first flags flying at 5 p.m.
Visit www.nawiliwiliyachtclub.org for more information.
