Kaushal Yadav & Aman Kumar steal the show
Sudden shifts and drops in the winds test the sailors’ skills
Dodgy winds didn’t deter Kaushal Kumar Yadav and Aman Kumar, who dominated day one of the Inland National Hobie 16 championships at the Hussain Sagar here on Wednesday. The Artillery Water Sports Association (AWSA) duo clinched three of the five races sailed, incidentally the odd-numbered ones, separating itself from its rivals by several boat lengths in a couple of them.
Sudden shifts and drops in the winds tested not only sailors’ skills, but their patience too. The above-mentioned pair made much headway mostly on the downwind legs of the three-loop course, which started off with a leeward-windward section and ended in the reverse direction. Its strength on the ‘runs’ duly paid rich dividends, especially on the home stretch.
“We sailed with passion,” said Aman, who partnered Kaushal in their 2011 triumph, while explaining their splendid Wednesday display. “We got off to good starts and ‘covered’ our rivals well,” added the Nidana village native of Haryana’s Jind district.
The gun eluded the twosome in the second and fourth races, bagged by Samal Pradhan and Rahul Rai of the Indian Naval Sailing Association (INSA) and compatriots Imo Lemnok and Shekhar Singh Yadav respectively.
Pradhan, who hails from Puri in Orissa, dubbed the first day’s outing as a learning experience. “The AWSA teams are well versed with this lake and we need to study the wind’s pattern here,” he reasoned. “We made the right moves with the wind shifts,” he reckoned as the reason for winning the second race.Faced with the weather’s vagaries, Race Officer T.S. Chaturvedi squeezed in an additional race in the morning session. That decision proved to be a wise one, for speeds dipped to as low as two knots after lunch, delaying the fourth race’s start.
Lemnok and S.S. Yadav set off to the right, a ploy that propelled them to the fore, from where the Mumbai pair never slipped for the rest of the race. Kaushal and Aman were bogged down by a bad start but recovered well to finish second.
The three-day championship was inaugurated by Major General C.A. Pithawalla, General Officer Commanding, Andhra Sub Area. Present on the occasion was Brig. A.K. Sasmal, Vice President, National Hobie Class Association (NHCA) and Commandant, Artillery Centre, Golconda.
The provisional results (names of helm first, crew next): Race I: 1. Kaushal Kumar Yadav & Aman Kumar (AWSA) 2. Imo Lemnok & Shekhar S. Yadav (INSA) 3.Gireesh M & Aparna K (AWSA). II: 1. Samal Pradhan & Rahul Rai (INSA) 2. Imo Lemnok & S.S. Yadav 3. Gireesh & Aparna. III: 1. K.K. Yadav & Aman 2. Lemnok & S.S. Yadav 3. Gireesh & Aparna. IV: 1. Lemnok & S.S. Yadav 2. K.K. Yadav & Aman 3. Gireesh & Aparna. V: 1. K.K. Yadav & Aman 2. Pradhan & Rai 3. Gireesh & Aparna.
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