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Thrilling championship
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National Hobie Class championships held recently at Rishikonda Bay saw a string of internationals in the fray
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SAILING AWAY Two boats head for shore after a race
Military efficiency is often taken for granted, with few caring to know the extent of effort and planning involved in any exercise an army unit conducts. So it was with the National Hobie Class championships held recently at the picturesque Rishikonda Bay near Visakhapatnam. Forty men, including buglers, bagpipers, a rock band, a photographer, a PRO, two cooks and a dhobi (washer man) were transported by two olive green trucks from the Artillery Centre, Golconda, Hyderabad to the venue.
If that constituted the manpower, material shifted included the official colours of the Regiment of Artillery, spares, a motorcycle for a despatch rider, chairs, tents and even crockery bearing the insignia of the gunner unit.
On May Day, under the charge of Lt. Col. Nasser Hussain Dubey, Centre Adjutant, the men landed on the beach and set about their task of first ridding the place of litter. A 200 x 100 metre area was cordoned off and a trench dug around it to prevent entry of snakes and scorpions.
The venue was spruced up in a week's time in readiness for the national event, which it was conducting for the first time. A championship of this magnitude called for co-ordination and during the nearly weeklong meet, its smooth conduct would testify to it.
The three major arms involved were the Indian Navy, the Coast Guard and the Artillery Centre, with support from the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP), the Visakhapatnam district administration, the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and the Rashtriya Life Saving Society that provided the services of lifeguards Vishnu Prasad and Yellaji Rao, who also doubled up as motor boat operators.
Although they kept a very low profile, the MARCOS (Marine Commandos), under the supervision of K.S. Majgaine, decorated with a medal for gallantry, reassured the gathering by their very presence. Criss-crossing the bay in their Gemini rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) fitted with 40 HP outboard motors, this crack outfit maintained vigil right through the competitions.
Also lying in wait was the Coast Guard vessel Priyadarshini, with four officers and 25 men on board the 44-metre boat, round the clock. Equipped with weather forecasting radar, GPS (Global Positioning System), HF, UHF and VHF radio communication and an observation tower offering clear vision to a distance of a nautical mile (1.6 km), little was left to chance. A helicopter hovered over the bay, should the need arise for deep-sea rescue. Present in person to oversee the arrangements were Brigadier Rohit Kalia, vice-president of the National Hobie Class Association (NHCA) and Commandant, Artillery Centre and Col. Gautam Bhattacharyya, Colonel Training and Chief Instructor, while Col. N.N. Das, Captain of the Fleet had done quite a bit of spadework too. The organisers acknowledged the support from Lt. General Charanjith Singh, Director General, Artillery & Colonel Commandant and President of the NHCA and SAAP.
`Official' effort
The organising committee with the chief guest at the closing function, Rear Admiral R.P. Suthan (centre), Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command
If a string of internationals were in the fray, the officials involved were no less. Chief of Jury was Arjuna Awardee C.S. Pradipak, while one of the members was Brigadier A.P. Singh, currently Chief Engineer of the Navy at Visakhapatnam and skipper of Trishna, the vessel that circumnavigated the world. Race Officer Lt. Col. (Retd.) Mohinder Pal Jaggi was not only a seasoned sailor himself but a capable official as well.
On the water too, the army's dominance was very much in evidence. The duo Ram Kumar and Tanuku Siva clinched the title winning many of the races with a lead of not less than 20 boat lengths. Next in the list was the team of U.S. More and P.V.S. Raju, also of the Army Yachting Node (AYN) in Mumbai. Of the top five finishers, three pairs were from the AYN.
Ably backing up Lt. Col. Dubey was Major Shanker Pandey, especially in hospitality. Other cheerful faces involved in the conduct of the meet were Laiju Chacko, Deva Shekhar and A. Srinivasa Rao in addition to Jerry Parkinson and Melville Smythe, the last two ex-Merchants Navy shippies. Carrying out a thankless job, with great risk to his equipment was the ever-smiling photographer Dushmanta Majhi, one of his cameras affected by the salt and spray in a perpetually rocking boat.
Babu John, a former international and presently rowing coach with the Artillery Water Sports Association, developed seasickness but that did not prevent him from discharging his duties efficiently on shore. The whole team worked with the gusto of Lt. Col. Dubey, paratrooper, skydiver, active sportsman, HAM radio buff and Secretary of the Artillery Water Sports Association, who felt that `for want of a nail, the battle should not be lost.'
A. JOSEPH ANTONY
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