Harshita Tomar of the National Sailing School (NSS), Bhopal, put in a stunning performance on Sunday to pull ahead of TNSA’s Chitresh Tatha and gain the lead in the Optimist Class at the Wet-n-Wild Regatta at Pawana Lake, Lonavala
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In the Laser Radial class, Ramya Sarvanan of the Corps of Engineers Sailing Club (CESC), Pune, came second, ahead of Israj Ali of the EME Sailing Association (EMESA), Secundrabad. Both are girls.
Sailing is one of the few physical sports in which men and women can compete on a nearly equal footing. Harshita and Ramya exemplify this. It is as much a cerebral sport as a temporal one.
The Wet-n-Wild Regatta, being conducted at Pawana Lake by the Little Bay Yacht Club of Pawana and the Corps of Engineers Sailing Club (CESC), Pune, is the third edition of the event at this wonderfully picturesque location. Optimists, Lasers, Enterprises, 420s, Toppers and Windsurfers are other classes participating in this mega-sailing event.
Deep Rekhi and M Vidya of the Royal Madras Yacht Club (RMYC) took a four point lead to win the championship in the double-hander 420 class, while Nitin Mongia and Yannez Aref of the Sailing School of India (SSI) had mixed results, but managed to stay ahead to grab the Enterprise class crown. In the Laser Standard, Dilip Kumar of the EME Sailing Club (EMESA), Secundrabad, came second in a few races but was too far ahead, and bagged the championship. In Laser Radial, Ramya Sarvanan of CESC grabbed two guns but Sachin Singha of EMESA was ahead to win the championship by a handsome margin. Derrick Menezes of Goa Yachting Association (GYA) won the windsurfing championship.