BONJOLEA II ACES THE FLEET SAILING RACE #2 OF THE ALL SHORTS SERIES

You would think that 4 short inside laps around the Kalapaki buoy might slow the big Bonjolea II down. Not so! The Sydney 36 skippered by Bonnie Tiffany crossed the finish line 7 minutes and 33 seconds ahead of the next boat. Well done!

The 4.22 mile course (D-E-E-D) had a lighter wind at about 11 knots so most of the boats had their larger #1 sails up. The wind was more Northerly and so a port tack start was not out of the question (rather than our usual favored pin end start on starboard tack). Both Papa Au and Ozone decided to do that and they battled it out on port as they came by the race committee with Papa Au trying to push Ozone over early. Maybe next time Jeff! Bonjolea II had a good start at the pin end. Fast Company had been practicing with their spinnaker down by the Coast Guard station and they must have lost track of time as they were 70 seconds late to the start, giving the rest of the fleet a break.

As the speedy Bonjolea II came down on starboard tack with rights, Papa Au and Ozone on port had to tack (rather than duck them). At the Kalapaki buoy rounding it was Bonjolea II, Ozone, Papa Au, Weatherly, Double Espresso and Fast Company. Kato did not have their RaceQ’s on so I can’t say much about them during the race. But they were in there! The Olson 30 Speedy didn’t do this race and they were missed.

On the downwind leg to the G-7 buoy Ozone’s snapshackle on the spinnaker halyard opened up and the spinnaker came tumbling down into the water. All the boats caught up to them. Ozone now came into the G-7 gybe mark on starboard tack under jib. Weatherly on port tack reached the 3 boat length circle at the same time and called for room at the gybe mark which in fact they are entitled to. (Ozone was thinking starboard took precedence here over port, but it does not). Ozone reluctantly went wider than they would have liked to. But Papa Au was just in front of both of them and rounded sharply and Double Espresso hit their stern quarter. It was a learning experience for the youngest junior sailors. (Don’t worry, Uncle Carl Andersson can fix it.)

Fast Company now came flying in and caught up to everyone. At the G-11 buoy rounding by the Coast Guard Station it was Bonjolea II ahead by a lot, followed by Weatherly, Papa Au, Fast Company, Double Espresso and Ozone. Then upwind Double Espresso did their 2 penalty turns because of the collision and they fell behind. But not for long. By the time they reached the breakwater upwind they were back in the hunt. Amazing how the young kids gained.

At the second rounding of the Kalapaki buoy Fast Company was ahead of Double Espresso. With their spinnaker up downwind they reached up to wards the breakwater for speed. But Double Espresso didn’t fly their spinnaker. They went wing on wing with their jib on one side and main on the other heading straight towards the G-11 buoy. And this really paid off for them as they passed Fast Company and gained on the other boats. Nice move!

At the 3rd rounding of the Kalapaki buoy it was Bonjolea II with a commanding lead, followed by Papa Au, Weatherly, Ozone and later Double Espresso and Fast Company. Ozone decided to go wide of the buoy with jib up for awhile rather than hoisting their spinnaker right away and this worked. While Papa Au and Weatherly were battling it out reaching up, Ozone stayed low and was able to pass both of them. Later they both caught up to Ozone and Weatherly passed them. But Ozone was able to get an inside overlap at the G-11 buoy and with a good rounding they went ahead. Papa Au, directly behind Ozone, was getting bad air and so they tacked away towards the breakwater.

On the 4th and final lap to the Kalapaki buoy Papa Au, Weatherly., and Ozone were battling it out. It looked like all three boats were low of the buoy and so Papa Au and Weatherly tacked away and then tacked back. But Ozone got lucky continuing on and they barely made it around the buoy and they were now ahead of the other two boats. And downwind Fast Company was able to pass Double Espresso. Bonjolea II by now had taken line honors and first place overall in the PHRF Class. Although Ozone crossed the finish line next, it was the smaller and very well sailed Papa Au who corrected to second place. Ozone took third.

Fast Company and Double Espresso had a photo finish with Fast Company crossing the finish line one second ahead of them. In the Club Class it was Weatherly in first with Astrid Andersson on the helm. This is her last race before heading off to college in Monterey. Double Espresso took second place and Kato took third.

The third race of the All Short Series will take place on Thursday 8/19/21 with a 5 pm start. The public is invited to watch the races from the Nawiliwili mole parking area. Unfortunately because of Covid all after race dinners and educational talks have been cancelled indefinitely.

-Chris

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