NAWILIWILI — Fast Company, being on O’ahu for a recent series of summer races, returned home to Nawiliwili Saturday night in first place in the Kaua’i Channel Race hosted by the Nawiliwili Yacht Club.
“I went to see the finish,” said Jakki Nelson, who sometimes sails the Olson 30 captained by Jim Saylor. “They were the second boat to cross the finish line, a little after 8 p.m.”
Current from the Kane’ohe harbor entrance to Nawiliwili in winds of 12 to 16 knots and seas of 1 to 2 metres, the Sleeping Dragon, skippered by Dawson Jones, took line honors in the class B, sounding the finish horn over an elapsed time of 12 hours, 37 minutes, 21 seconds for the 95 nautical mile cross-Channel race.
Fast Company crossed the line second on an elapsed time of 13:12:08 and corrected to 20:12:08 PHRF for top race honors after Sleeping Dragon corrected to 19:37:21 PHRF for third place overall.
Rick Osborne aboard the Lele Pono challenged Fast Company, but finished within a minute of the Kaua’i Olson 30 with an elapsed time of 13:13:07 and corrected to 20:13:07 PHRF for second place .
Speedy, skippered by Dick Olsen, was the second Kaua’i boat to compete in the Kaua’i Channel Race. Speedy finished seventh in the Class B competition with an elapsed time of 15:23:08 and correcting to 22:23:08 PHRF in the race which had no entrants in the Class A and Aloha Class divisions.
Ron Quinton rode Koa to first place in the Class Multihull category on an elapsed time of 15:22.22 and corrected to 22:22:22.
The NYC will launch its Wahine Race Series which requires a wahine to be at the helm of the participating boat. The first race in this series takes place on Thursday when the first flags fly at 5 p.m., best viewed from the car park at Nawiliwili Port Pier.
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Denis Fujimotowriter and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
