KATO WINS THE SECOND INVITATIONAL RACE AFTER A GREAT COMEBACK

Kato was over the starting line early for the second Invitational Race and had to turn around and restart, which put them in last place. But Kato and crew showed how fast they are by coming back to win for the second race in a row. Incredible!

The start of the race was postponed as there was a highway accident near halfway bridge which delayed at least 2 boat crews from getting to the starting line on time. And there was no race committee for awhile. John Ross our Rear Commodore very kindly gave up sailing on Bonjolea II to be part of the race committee. The weather was quite blustery with some rain, squalls, and wind gusts out of the East-Northeast. Although the average wind was 12-15 knots, with the gusts Ozone debated about whether to put a reef in the main. But on seeing Double Espresso with the new youngest kids sailing with “Uncle Carl” without a reef, Ozone decided against it.

The course A-B-D had 2 laps out to the Ninini lighthouse buoy and one inside lap to the Kalapaki buoy for a distance of 6.03 miles. With Kato turning around at the start for being over early, that left Fast Company in the lead. Heading out to the lighthouse buoy Ozone was not pointing well and fell down into Fast Company’s bad air. Bonjolea II rounded the lighthouse buoy first followed by Fast Company, Ozone and Kato. Weatherly and Double Espresso did not have their RaceQ’s working so I can’t comment as much about them. Weatherly had Astrid Andersson on the helm with their guest named Ali. Bonjolea II uses an asymmetrical spinnaker which requires them to reach up more to maintain their speed compared to the traditional chute. They lost their lead while heading towards the mole and then gybing back to head to the G-11 buoy. At the G-11 buoy by the Coast Guard Station it was Fast Company, Ozone, Kato and then Bonjolea II at the rounding.

While heading upwind Kato passed Ozone who was still not pointing well. The boats were now headed to the Kalapaki Buoy to leave it to starboard before heading out towards the lighthouse buoy. Fast Company rounded the Kalapaki Buoy first on the inside followed closely by Bonjolea II and Kato. Halfway out to the lighthouse buoy Fast Company took a short tack back towards the Timbers Resort but the two extra tacks appeared to cost them some time and Kato subsequently took the lead. Kato rounded the Ninini lighthouse buoy first followed by Bonjolea II and then Fast Company. Ozone was next but they continued to fall back. Meanwhile, Papa Au with Victoria Aiu on the helm and Double Espresso were having a great battle throughout the race. The young kids on Double Espresso were remarkably enthusiastic and they were having a great time.

The spinnaker run downwind from the lighthouse now went to the G-7 buoy where the boats gybed the spinnakers and headed to the G-11 buoy by the Coast Guard Station where the chutes came down and the #3 jibs went back up. The boats had now pretty much maintained their positions and it was Kato crossing the finish line in the lead for line honors and first place overall. What an amazing comeback for skipper Kevin Millett and crew! Fast Company took second place and Ozone third. In the Club Class it was Weatherly taking first place, Bonjolea II second and Papa Au in third.

Kudos to Kauai Sailing Association President Carl Andersson for letting the older teenagers use his boat Weatherly while he took the young kids out on Double Espresso. The younger kids rotated positions regularly in order to learn how to do things. Although they finished in last place, they get the first place prize for their enthusiasm as they start their sailboat racing careers.

The 3rd race in the Invitational Series will be held on Thursday 6/10/21 with a 5 pm start. A requirement of this series is to have an invited guest on board to promote sailing and racing. The public is invited to watch the races from the Nawiliwili mole parking area where the race committee will be located. Afterwards an educational presentation about the Baja HaHa race will be given by Katie and Kevin Millett. A Mexican dinner from Mariachi’s will be available for $15 for up to 25 people. Please RSVP to cjordan@wilcoxhealth.org.

-Chris

Click the link for access to complete results and the RaceQs replay on the racing page. Unfortunately, no photos this week.