Praveen Kumar and Sudhanshu Shekhar of INWTC, Mumbai maintained their winning formula and once again won all the four races in the 470 class category on the second day of the Johnnie Walker sponsored The Festival of Sails, an annual weekend sailing regatta conducted by the Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre (INWTC) along with the Royal Bombay Yacht (RBYC), and promoted by the Sailing Association of Maharashtra (SAM).
Sailors seen in action on the second day’s races of The Festival of Sails, an annual weekend sailing regatta conducted by the Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre (INWTC), at the Mumbai Harbour, near Gateway of India
The Mumbai pair of Kumar and Shekhar hardly encountered any opposition as they sailed away to victory in every race conducted off the Mumbai Harbour, Gateway of India on Saturday. They are currently in first position with a total of 8 points and are followed by teammates Virendra Singh and Navnit Vishwakarma in second position with 12 points.
The sailors from INWTC Mumbai also dominated in the Enterprise class, as Shekhar S. Yadav and Rahul Yadav combined well to win the fifth, sixth and seventh races but did not finish in the eighth race. They enjoy a commanding lead with 9 points at the end of 8 races. Mahendran V. and M. Chandrasekhar from Army Yachting Node who won the eight race are in second position with 13 points.
Rahul Chaudhary of INWTC, Goa continued with his impressive performances and once again finished first in all four races in the Bic Nova surfboards category. He is currently in pole position with seven points and is followed by teammate Imti Zulu who finished runner-up in all the four races today and now occupies the second position.
Meanwhile, in the Laser Standard event, Ajay Singh Rajput of INWTC, Mumbai with some steady performances finished second in the fifth, sixth and seventh races and took the honours in the eight race to tally 11 points and grab the top position. Overnight leader Avinash Yadav also of INWTC, Mumbai had quite a bad day and is currently in second place with 14 points.
In the Laser Radial class, Vivin Vinil of INWTC, Mumbai produced some consistent performances and crossed the line first in the fifth, sixth and eighth races and was second in the seventh and with 10 points is sitting in the first position. Ramya Sarvanan of AYN, who had a poor outing slipped to second place with 13 points.
In the Optimist class, Advait Menon won all the four races and with seven points leads the field. Rhea Bhasin of RBYC who finished second in the fifth, sixth and seventh races occupies the second position with 15 points.
Racing started in earnest and races in six categories – 470s, Enterprise, Bic Nova Surfboards, Laser Standard, Laser Radial and Optimist were conducted on the opening day.
The races were judged by renowned International Judges Brig. G S Julka, Brig. Jagdish Singh, Col. Deepak Dikhit, Ms. Sunita Masani, Mr. Cyrus Herjee and Col. Satish Kanwar.