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The inaugural function of the Coastal National Optimist Championship organised by the Tamil Nadu Sailing Association (TNSA) kicked off on May 5, 2007. Chennai Police Commissioner Letika Saran was the chief guest along with Atulya Mishra, member-secretary of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, and the CEO of DP World/CCTL Ennarasu
Karunesan.
Ashok Thakkar, commodore of TNSA, welcomed the gathering and highlighted the achievements of the Optimist sailors from TNSA over the last four years. With the introduction of sailing in schools, he was hopeful that in the near future there would be a fleet of over a 100 Optimist boats participating in inter-school sailing tournaments in
Chennai.
Letika Saran remarked about the dog days and the wonderful way for the sailors to spend it on the high seas. She was happy to see that there were many competitors from Tamil
Nadu.
Atulya Mishra also addressed the issue of taking the sport of sailing to the masses and taking it to the schools. He wished the sailors from Bhopal the best in the championships as this was their first outing.
Ennarasu Karunesan of DP World/CCTL, who was impressed by the enthusiasm of TNSA, hoped that international championships would be a regular feature and he was sure that the first one would be between Dubai and Chennai off the Chennai Port.
Ashish Mehta, organising chairman of the championships, delivered a vote of thanks. The Police Commissioner hoisted the TNSA burgee signalling the start of the championships. This was followed by the visiting dignitaries casting off an Optimist sailor each and proceeding in a Navy launch to witness the practice race.
Practice Race
The start was on schedule and there were 46 boats at the start line. There was not a cloud in the sky and the waters were just right for sailing – two to three foot swells and the course was laid north of the shipping channel. The wind speed was seven to nine knots averaging eight.
When the gun went off, Varun Thakkar of TNSA had a great start. Tailing him was Arisuddan Seth of Mumbai, with Gerad Ambrose of TNSA close on his wake.
The fleet split east and south as the wind was south-easterly and the starboard tackers found the going good. The first sailor round the windward mark was Varun Thakkar of TNSA and he built up a formidable lead to finish first eventually. Arisuddan Seth and Gerad Ambrose held their positions of second and third respectively till the leeward mark which is the last mark to round. However, Arisuddan Seth, in trying to ward off a challenge from TNSA's Gerad Ambrose, inadvertently touched the mark and had to do a penalty. This cost him his second position just yards before the finish line and he had to be content with the third position.
Finishing behind them was Sheldon de Mello, a sailor from Goa Yachting Association. Nishanth Chandrashekar of TNSA, who had finshed third at the Inland Optimist Nationals last year in Pune, ended up fifth.
Of the top 10 positions, seven went to TNSA. However, this was just the practice race and will not be taken into account for the championships. Yet, it was as if the wish of the Police Commissioner had come true. After inaugurating the championships, she set off intrepidly on a Navy launch to watch the race with the Atulya
Mishra.
Positions at the end of the practice race:
Varun Thakkar – TNSA
Gerad Ambrose – TNSA
Arisuddan Seth - RBYC
Sheldon de Mello – GYA
Nishanth Chandrashekar – RBYC
Gaurav Pikale – RBYC
Ganapathy – TNSA
Hussain Bhavnagarvala – TNSA
Shwetha Sadanand – TNSA
Sarav Rajavelu – TNSA
R Rangaraj
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