KATO WINS WAHINE RACE #4 AND TAKES THE SERIES WITH EMILY MARTIN STEERING

The pressure was on Kato and Papa Au going into the 4th and final race of the Wahine Series tied at 7 points apiece. The 6 mile course E-A-C had an inside lap followed by 2 outside laps in 12 or more knots of wind out of the Northeast.

Papa Au had the best start on starboard at the pin end and they forced Ozone to slow down and go head to wind so as not to foul them or hit the pin. Nice move by Victoria Aiu on the helm. The first lap went to the Kalapaki Buoy and Bonjolea II rounded first followed by Ozone, Papa Au, Fast Company, Weatherly, Kato, and Double Espresso. Downwind Fast Company reached up high but on gybing back they fell behind Kato (I think they were short of crew and never used their spinnaker). Ozone stayed low downwind under spinnaker and appeared to gain after rounding the G-11 buoy and heading upwind by the Coast Guard Station. It was Bonjolea II first out of the harbor and then rounding
the Ninini lighthouse buoy followed by Ozone, Kato, Fast Company, Weatherly, Papa Au and Double Espresso.

Downwind under spinnaker Kato was gaining a lot and they passed Ozone at the entrance to the harbor. Meanwhile, Fast Company under jib was making life difficult for Weatherly under spinnaker in their battle. It looked like Weatherly was gaining, but when they gybed their spinnaker near the G-11 buoy they lost control and had an amazing round up. The mast was in the water and the rudder and keel were out!!! Fortunately the hardy young adults sailing the boat held on and recovered with no one falling off into the water. The gallery photos on the NYC website by Charlotte Ross are incredible! But this adventure allowed Fast Company to pass Weatherly. Meanwhile, Ozone had some spinnaker takedown problems at the G-11 buoy and they ripped their spinnaker in 2 places and so Kato gained even more.

Upwind Fast Company gained on Ozone as well and they were right on Ozone’s tail after rounding the lighthouse buoy. Downwind Fast Company now took some of Ozone’s air and slowed them down. Ozone’s spinnaker
lines were fouled so they couldn’t trim the spinnaker well on this downwind run to the Kalapaki buoy. After straightening out the lines, Ozone could now gain a little after rounding the Kalapaki buoy as they could trim their chute properly. But Fast Company under jib was gaining and outpointing Ozone on the last leg to the finish line and so Ozone tacked away onto port early before Fast Company could block that option to take the advantage. Ozone wanted to come into the finish line on starboard with rights over Fast Company on port in order to have some control.

At the finish line it was Kato taking line honors over Bonjolea II by 5 seconds. With this 1st place Kato with Emily Martin steering not only won the race but the entire 4 race Wahine Series. Great job! Papa Au, steered by Victoria Aiu, finished second and took second place in the series by only 1 point.

Ozone and Fast Company had an exciting photo finish with Ozone coming in on starboard and barely clearing the finish line buoy while Fast Company on port tack steered by Jakki Nelson cleared Ozone’s stern by inches and finished a mere 5 seconds behind Ozone. Ozone took third place with Alison Fornari on the helm.

In the Club Class it was Weatherly in first place with Astrid Andersson steering, Bonjolea II with Bonnie Tiffany on the helm in second and Fast Company in third. Double Espresso, the Kauai Sailing Association Olson 30, had the youngest sailors in the fleet on board and Dasha, Maile, and Yeva traded off steering to gain experience.

Emily Martin, the winning wahine skipper, wanted to give credit to her Kauai Sailing Association instructors Shale Shore, Carl Andersson, and Charlie Heatherly for teaching her the skills that helped her to win. After the race Jim Saylor presented some common rule issues that we encounter frequently that I think will be quite helpful to our racing in the future. Nice presentation Jim!

The next race on Thursday 8/5/21 will be the first of four races in the All Short Race Series. Expect lots of crew action on these inside the harbor races. The public is invited to watch these races at 5 pm from the Nawiliwili mole parking area.

After the race a Kauai Sailing presentation will be given by Denis and Holly Michaud about their fantastic cruise to the Haida Gwaii Islands off the west coast of Canada on their catamaran. Whales, bears, First Nation people and more. You won’t want to miss this one. No RSVP necessary.

-Chris

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