WILD WINDS FOR A FAST COMPANY WIN

The third race of the Phil Tanner Memorial Series was held on 2/25/21 with wild winds 20-25 knots out of the ENE and huge waves out by the lighthouse. The 3 lap B-A-E course with 2 laps out to the lighthouse buoy and one inside lap covered 5.92 miles. Most boats had reefs in their mains and their #3 jib sail up. Speedy appeared to have a #4 sail up playing it safe and Ozone wondered whether they should have done the same.

Kato and Papa Au seemed to have the best start heading to the Kalapaki buoy. Fast Company was very close to the lee of Iwa at the start and we were concerned that if they rounded up in the heavy air that the legs of the hiking sailors could get crushed. Fortunately that didn’t happen. Kato got inside Fast Company at the Kalapaki buoy and rounded first. Iwa tacked around the buoy and Ozone quickly tacked to avoid hitting her and Speedy also quickly tacked (thanks Dick!). Papa Au fouled Bonjolea II here and did a penalty turn. Papa Au had their foredeck Victoria out with a neck injury and wisely didn’t fly their spinnaker during the race. They had helmsman Jeff Olson’s son Kai on board for railmeat. In the high winds and big seas Papa Au did great for a little boat. However, as they only did one of two required penalty turns, they retired after finishing the race.

At the lighthouse buoy it was Fast Company followed by Bonjolea II, Kato, Weatherly, Ozone, Papa Au and Speedy with Iwa and Trinity in the mix. At one point out by the lighthouse buoy Ozone took on about a 10 foot wave and the entire crew got soaked head to foot. In the very heavy air Fast Company and Kato put up their spinnakers. Ozone, missing two of their foredeck crew, decided not to put up their small “chicken” chute. The junior crew on Weatherly surprised us all when they put up their spinnaker “gleefully” per helmsman Carl Andersson. When they briefly lost control of their spinnaker and took it down, Ozone gained a little, but never enough. Meanwhile, Fast Company had a round up under spinnaker and for awhile it looked to us like they might have a meeting with the Nawiliwili mole. But skipper Jim Saylor and crew were able to get the boat under control and with the jib up they came roaring into the G-7 buoy giving Kato who was still under spinnaker some grief. With the spinnaker up Kato went wider than Fast Company on the way to the G-11 buoy and Fast Company was inside boat at the mark so Kato had to give room as they rounded.

On the second lap out to the lighthouse buoy Bonjolea II rounded a little in front of Fast Company, followed by Kato, Weatherly, Ozone, Papa Au and Speedy. Trinity again looked like a rocket ship at times and we need to get them to use RaceQ’s so I can describe their maneuvers better.

At the downwind G-11 buoy by the Coast Guard Station Ozone was trying to catch Weatherly. A close to the buoy gybe by skipper Chris Jordan ended up with him losing control and hitting the buoy. Some green paint on the hull and a bent port side stanchion resulted with most damage being done to the skipper’s ego. After doing a penalty turn the buoy was rounded correctly but by then Weatherly was long gone (much to the delight of the young sailors on Weatherly who have now beaten Ozone 3 in a row…)

At the finish line it was Bonjolea II taking line honors a little ahead of Fast Company who easily took first place on handicap. Kato took second place a minute and 18 seconds behind Fast Company and Bonjolea II taking third after Papa Au’s retirement. Trinity, the F-28R trimaran with Walt driving, took first place in Club Class. It was incredible to see her pass us at such high speeds. Iwa took second place and Speedy took third.

Most of the boats sail in and out of their slips without engines. Getting back into the slips was a challenge for many of the boats. Downwind everyone appeared to be coming in to fast but when turning upwind to get into the slips the heavy air pushed them back. Several boats had to try this 2-3 times before getting into the dock.

The public is invited to watch the 4th race in the Phil Tanner Series on 3/4/2021 starting at 5 pm from the Nawiliwili mole parking area.

– Chris

(The webmaster apologizes for getting this article published so late)

Click the link for access to complete results and the RaceQs replay on the racing page as well as more photos by Pam