The Hindu : Sport / Sailing : Sabir keeps slate clean

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 06, 2004

Sport

Sport - Sailing

Sabir keeps slate clean

By Sanjay Rajan

CHENNAI, MAY 5. A squall in the morning flattened the top half of the Optimist (under-15) fleet, resulting in 27 of the 44 boats not finishing the day's second race amidst confusion.

The conditions were far better in the afternoon. So much so that Lt. Amit Arvind and Salil Sabir — the favourites in the laser standard and laser radial classes respectively — termed it perfect for sailing after winning both their races on the third day of the Indian Oil-TNSA Coastal Nationals at the outer harbour on Wednesday.

It was Sabir's fourth win in as many races and Arvind's third in four outings. K.V. Gopal of AYN (Mumbai) was second to Arvind in both races.

"The winds were light during the first race and got stronger in the second," said the 29-year-old Arvind of NSC (Mumbai). "I got off to good starts in both the races. I played the centre line and concentrated on hiking and speed."

Sabir, the promising lad from Goa, said the first race was fairly close owing to light winds. "I kept the middle line and gauged the wind shifts right," he said.

Sabir was first to round the windward mark in the second race with Girish Rao and Capt. Meenu Dahiya close behind. "I broke away from them on the `run' and held my course thereafter," he said.

Rao of AYN came second in both races. "This is the first time I have taken the second spot in back-to-back races. It is my first Coastal in this class. I'm thrilled," he said.

Snehal Desai won the opening race in the Optimist class with a start-to-finish effort while Xerxes Bamboat clinched the second.

Kabir Tombat was leading the fleet comfortably when the squall hit to capsize many boats. Meanwhile, Tombat, who was going strong, was wrongly informed by a member of the rescue team that the race had been abandoned. After the hearing, the protest committee decided to grant him the position of the average of all the races that he participates in.

The results:

Laser standard: Race 3: 1. Lt. Amit Arvind (NSC, Mumbai), 2. K.V. Gopal (AYN, Mumbai), 3. P. Madhu (AYN); Race 4: 1. Arvind, 2. Gopal, 3. V. Hari Hara (AYN).

Laser radial: Race 3: 1. Salil Sabir (GYA), 2. Girish Rao (AYN), 3. Lt. Neil Manjoran (INWTC, Mumbai); Race 4: 1. Sabir, 2. Rao, 3. Capt. Meenu Dahiya (AYN).

Optimist: Race 3: 1. Snehal Desai (SCCSA), 2. Abhishek Mahtra (SSCSA), 3. Chaitanya Chowgule (GYA); Race 4: 1. Xerxes Bamboat (RBYC), 2. Naveen Shirodkar (CMESA), 3. Suraj Singh (SCCSA).

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