The Hindu : Sport / Sailing : Smooth ride for Ram and Shiva

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Sport

Sport - Sailing

Smooth ride for Ram and Shiva

A. Joseph Antony

VISAKHAPATNAM: Barely a month ago, Ram Kumar was in coma for six days and in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) following an accident in Mumbai. But he accompanied the Army Yachting Node (AYN) team as manager and then decided to give the National Hobie 16 championships a shot at Rushikonda Bay on Monday.

And on his maiden attempt in the class, Ram Kumar paired up with T. Shiva to win the first of the 12 race elimination series handsomely. Dilip Donde had attended an Indian Naval Sailing Association camp at this very venue in February but had no practice with the boat until this championship.

Combining well with Raja Shekar, the duo clinched the second race that had the famed Ashim Mongia in the fray.

Good start

In the first fleet, Ram Kumar was off to a good start but his craft ground to a halt when a rudder went up. With winds blowing between 10 and 12 knots at 210 degrees, he was soon overtaken by four boats before he managed to rectify his own. On the "run" he recovered lost ground but ran the risk of running into a reef on the concluding "beat". But presently he struck the right lay line and finished comfortably in front.

In Race Two, Dilip Donde and Raja Shekar were second in the opening "beat" but moved to the fore shortly thereafter, rounding the leeward mark first. Thereon, they held on to that lead tenaciously and won the race.

Earlier, welcoming the guests to the inaugural function, Colonel Gautam Bhattacharya, Colonel Training and Chief Instructor, Artillery Centre, Hyderabad, hoped both the National Hobie Class Association and Rushikonda would benefit from the conduct of the event, in the process promoting sports and tourism.

The following teams are taking part: Army Yachting Node, Sea Cadet Corps, Colaba Sailing Club, Indian Naval Sailing Association (INSA), Secunderabad Sailing Club, Regiment of Artillery Sailing Association, EME Sailing Association and Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre (INWTC).

The results (Helm/crew): Race 1: 1. Ram Kumar/T. Shiva (AYN) 2. Chaturvedi/P.V. Santosh (AYN) 3. Samal Pradhan/Brijesh Varma (INSA) 4. Kamlesh Patel/Bhuvaneswaran (AYN) 5. Anirudh Vijay Kumar/Melwille (Secunderabad Sailing Club).

Race 2: 1. Raja Shekar/Dilip Donde (INSA) 2. Utpal S. More/P.V.S. Raju (AYN) 3. A. Ashim Mongia/A. Patankar (INWTC) 4. Naresh Yadav/Santosh Pandey (EMESA) 5. Joshi/Mukherjee (INSA).

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