TESS MOELLER ON FAST COMPANY SAILS FAST AND WINS AGAIN!

The second race of the Wahine Series took place on 7/18/19. The 6.12 mile course had 12-17 knots of wind out of the east-northeast. At the start and at the red #2 Kalapaki Buoy there was a lot of yelling from Fast Company to Kato and they raised a red protest flag. Kato, with Chandra at the helm, would have finished in second place but they decided to retire after the race.

Bonnie Tiffany on Bonjolea II tacked very early out to the lighthouse buoy, or so everyone thought. However, she was able to make it easily to the buoy and in fact took line honors (first across the finish line) but with her fast handicap rating she ended up in third place. Papa Au took second place with Victoria Aiu steering. The entire crew said how impressed they were by her abilities. Ozone was doing well with Alison Fornari at the helm until the jib halyard cover split so that they couldn’t pull the sail down as it would jam in the rope clutch. This prevented them from using their spinnaker on the long downwind leg, costing them a lot of time. However, with sutures and tape the crew was able to jury rig the line so that they could later use their spinnaker.

Double Espresso, with Emily Blackburn steering, finished 2 seconds in front of Ozone but again their handicap of 3 seconds a mile cost them (they better register with the Hawaii PHRF rating system and get the same rating as 4 other Olson 30’s in the fleet!) Weatherly had Astrid Andersson again steering her father’s boat with her fellow young sailors. They just seem to be getting better and better with each race. Speedy, another Olson 30, had Janice Portillo steering this week. She and Shaun Lehman are partners with Commodore Dick Olsen in the boat. (The Olson 30 is named after George Olson and not Dick Olsen by the way…)

The race results showed Fast Company in first place in the PHRF class, Papa Au second, and Bonjolea II third. In the club class it was Ozone first, Double Espresso second and Speedy in third.

A very healthy and delicious vegetarian meal was provided by Jakki of Fast Company.

The third race of the Wahine Series, which requires a woman skipper, will be held on Thursday 7/25/19 with a 5 pm start. The public is invited to watch the race from the Nawiliwili mole parking area.

-Chris Jordan

Click here for complete results on the racing page.