The Royal Madras Yacht Club’s “Vestas 420 Sailing Nationals 2009”

The last 3 days at the Royal Madras Yacht Club, Chennai were extremely memorable, for various reasons. Even though my partner (Pallavi Shanbhag) was only 17 and a light weight, we managed to put up a good show against the army and navy men.

The first day was a mixture of highs and lows. The wind was a steady 15 - 18 knots, in the first race of the day we had a bad start and nearly capsized once or twice. We finished 11th. In Race 2, we actually did capsize after rounding the top mark 3rd! My toe strap broke, and I was sent flying into the water. But we still managed to finish 9th. We redeemed ourselves in the next race by sailing a flawless race from start to finish and succeeded in finishing 2nd overall!

The next day we had similar wind conditions but bigger waves. Excellent conditions for surfing! We started off really well in the 4th race rounding the top mark 4th, but a trivial mistake sent us into the water and finished 13th. The day didn’t get any better for us as we finished outside the top 5.

The third day of racing proved that even though our competitors were 40 kilos heavier, weight doesn’t matter. Farokh Tarapore, former 2002 World Champion, gave a few important tips to help us sail faster and smarter. It must have helped because we finished 2nd, 3rd and 3rd overall.

Day four was a thrilling last race. We finished 2nd overall!

Pallavi and I (RMYC) won the women’s title and finished 5th overall. This was great considering we hadn’t practiced much for the event. This is the second consecutive year of winning the Vestas 420 Women’s Sailing National Trophy.

Honourable Member of Parliament Ms Kanimozhi graciously gave away the awards to all the sailors at a Grand Regatta Nite at the Taj Coromandel, Chennai on the night of June 20. It was a wonderful ending to a well organized and fun Regatta. Kudos to the Royal Madras Yacht Club!

Well, I am off to Germany early hours of June 23 for some training and then to Denmark for the European Championships in the Laser Radial from July 9 to 17. My aim is to do well in the Gold Fleet.

A big thank you to everyone for their good wishes and for following my progress! I will strive to make you and India proud….

Winners:

OPEN
1. SANDIP JAIN & SATYARAJAN ROUT (AYN)
2. YADURAJ LAD & AZHAR SHAIK (AWSA)
3. K YAKOBU & GIRISH M (AWSA)

WOMEN
1.ROHINI RAU & PALLAVI SHANBHAGH (RMYC)
2. AYESHA K. LOBO & AISHWARYA CHEZHIYAN (RBYC)
3. SIDRA SABIR & SHAILA CHARLES (NSS-BHOPAL)

YOUTH
1. AMAN M VYAS SARAD & C. SINGHA (NSS-BHOPAL)
2. AYESHA K. LOBO & AISHWARYA CHEZHIYAN (RBYC)
3. SHIVAM SHRIVAS & SACHIN SINGHA (NSS-BHOPAL)