KATO WINS WAHINE RACE #3 BY 10 SECONDS WITH EMILY MARTIN ON THE HELM

The wind was blowing quite a bit at 18-20 knots out of the East-northeast for this 3rd race in the 4 race Wahine Series. But I didn’t see any reefs in the mainsails. The 6 mile course A-E-C had an outside, inside and final outside lap.

The start had Fast Company at the favored pin end with the best start. After tacking to get out of the harbor to head to the lighthouse buoy some excitement ensued. Papa Au tacked back onto starboard heading towards the Hokuala Resort. Ozone was getting ready to duck in the heavy air. Papa Au was worried and quickly ducked Ozone instead. As it was a port-starboard situation, Ozone did their 2 penalty turns which put them at the back of the fleet and out of contention. Bonjolea II rounded the lighthouse buoy first, followed quickly by Fast Company and then Kato, Weatherly, Papa Au, Double Espresso, Speedy, and later Ozone and Iwa.

Downwind Fast Company was short of crew and didn’t use their spinnaker. Neither did Ozone who had 4 of their crew out who usually do their spinnaker work (due to hand surgery, hernia surgery, a broken rib and being on the mainland). But Kato had their chute up and they were rocking and a rolling! The Ozone crew were thrilled to have two very long and fast rides with their jib up. Alison Fornari was on the helm and her 11 year old daughter on the stern got to see her mom in action! While under spinnaker Kato was able to pass Fast Company on the way to the G-11 buoy by the Coast Guard Station. But upwind near the starting line Fast Company was able to get in front of Kato. Bonjolea II rounded the Kalapaki Buoy first followed by Fast Company and then Kato.

On the last lap out to the lighthouse buoy Weatherly went way beyond the lay line allowing Papa Au to pass them and Speedy and Double Espresso caught up. A nice battle ensued between the 3 Olson 30’s Speedy, Weatherly and Double Espresso.

Meanwhile, downwind inside the harbor, Bonjolea II lost steering!!! Apparently one of the cables to the steering wheel
failed while they were over by the G-7 buoy. Heart attack time for skipper Bonnie Tiffany! But they dropped the anchor as their spinnaker sailed off the top of their mast like a flag. NYC rear commodore John Ross got to celebrate on his birthday by diving into the water 3 times to retrieve the spinnaker, make sure the prop wasn’t fouled and to unsnap the anchor from an old harbor mooring. They were able to get the boat back into their slip using an emergency tiller. Thankfully everyone was OK, but they did lose a spinnaker sheet ($$).

Fast Company was now in the lead but at the G-11 buoy Kato had a tighter mark rounding and they got inside Fast Company and they gained quite a bit. Meanwhile Speedy, Weatherly, and Double Espresso were still battling it out.

At the finish line it was Kato with Emily Martin on the helm taking line honors and winning first place in the PHRF Class by 10 seconds over Fast Company with Jakki Nelson steering. Papa Au with Victoria Aiu on the helm took third. In the Club Class it was Speedy with Christine steering in first place and Weatherly with Astrid Anderson took second. The Kauai Sailing Association boat Double Espresso with Dasha and Maile steering took 3rd. These young kids keep getting better and better!

There was even more excitement when the race committee results sheet blew off into the ocean. A kind fisherman tried to snag them without success. Fortunately the Beneteau 41 Iwa, with Karen Cole on the helm, saved the day by rescuing the results. The page is laminated and written upon in wax pencil so we didn’t lose the results.

After 3 races Papa Au and Kato are tied for first place with 7 points. The 4th and final race in the Wahine Series will be on 7/29/21 with a 5 pm start. The public is invited to watch the races from the Nawiliwili mole parking area where the race committee is located. Afterwards the Kauai Sailing Association will have a presentation by Denis and Holly Michaud about their fabulous cruise to Haida Gwaii (previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) off the west coast of Canada. This was on their Perry 43 catamaran “Tango”. Remote island beauty, native First People of Canada, whales, bears and more. You don’t want to miss this one! A bento dinner from Paradise Grinds will be available for
$15. No RSVP required.

-Chris

Click for complete results on the racing page and more photos from Pam.