Wahines Back to Business
After a break last Thursday for NYC’s annual Kauai Channel Race, the wahines were back at it. While some mainland sailors might have found the 15-20 knot winds too strong, not so the six intrepid boats that came out ready to race on a delightful warm and mostly sunny afternoon. The start was clean but the competition was fierce right from the start. While most of the racers chose to start on the starboard tack, the Fast Company tactician chose a port tack for an early advantage. A racing foul by OZone soon causes that boat to take a 720 degree penalty turn, causing it to lag seriously back. Still later in the first of three courses that made up the race, Bonjolea II had a serious problem with their jib, which caused them to fall seriously out of first place on a boat for boat basis.
With able women at the respective helms, the race quickly sorted down to a cluster of four (Bonjolea II and three of the Olson 30 racers), vying neck and neck for any tactical advantage, and two slightly slower boats. Papa A’u is smaller (and therefore expected to sail slower); Weatherly with the all-teen crew didn’t fly a spinnaker, which was a definite disadvantage on the downwind legs. Weatherly was very competitive on the upwind legs.
Sometimes it is the little things that trip up a skipper; Both Papa A’u and Weatherly missed sailing around one mark (the green buoy south of the mole). The crew of the Weatherly figured out what they did wrong and went back to properly round the mark. Papa A’u, which did not, took a DNF (Did Not Finish) for not sailing the proper course.
In addition to an all teen crew, Weatherly reached out to two new foreign exchange students, who were aboard as a part of the crew. One, from Germany, has extensive sailing experience. We look forward to watching Weatherly in the future.
The final results were tight. Less than a minute separated the first three boats in the PHRF category (Ozone, Kato, and Fast Company) ; in the club category, only 5 seconds of corrected time separated Bonjolea II and Weatherly.
Wahine Series Race #2 results:
PHRF (Open/Monohull)
1. OZone
2. Kato
3. Fast Company
Club
1. Bonjolea II
2. Weatherly
The next race in the Wahine series will take place on next Thursday, 17 August.
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