WAHINE SERIES #1 WOMEN RULE!

The first race of the four race Wahine Series was held on Thursday 7/11/19. This series requires that a woman steer the boat. Eight women skippers sailed their boats in beautiful Kauai conditions with the wind 6-12 knots out of the east-northeast and with gentle waves over the 6 mile course. Notably the boats seemed more quiet than usual with an air of civility occasionally lacking when the men are on the helm.

Fast Company did a port tack start and jumped into an early lead with Tess Moeller on the helm. Bonjolea II with her usual skipper Bonnie Tiffany steering looked good. (She looked so good that maybe we should make this an opposite gender race and have her husband Doug steer!) The recently married Emily Buck was the skipper of Double Expresso. They were short of crew so Ozone gave up her husband David Cuevas to sail with them. It bodes well for their relationship that there was no yelling or fighting! It was Astrid Andersson taking charge of her father’s boat Weatherly. And Ozone had Alison Fornari as the skipper. At one point going upwind the conditions were so good that Alison seemed to reach a state of nirvana. Kato had Chandra on the helm. Just before the race her husband Adrian Bertsch jumped in the water and cleaned the boat bottom so that she could sail faster. Victoria Aiu was steering Papa Au and it was Kristiina our Wilcox ICU nurse from Finland who took control of Speedy. The boats all looked beautiful sailing downwind under their colorful spinnakers.

At the finish line it was Fast Company in first place with Tess at the tiller smiling. Kato finished 3 minutes behind them on corrected time in second place and Ozone was third. In the club class it was Papa Au first, Bonjolea II in second place and Weatherly third. This very fun race for all was followed by a delicious salmon dinner provided by the crew of Speedy.

The second race of the Wahine Series will be held on Thursday July 18th with a 5 pm start. The public is invited to watch the race and to socialize with the race committee at the Nawilwili mole parking area.

-Chris Jordan

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