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No fear Kalaga Yakobu and Sanjeev Kumar Raghav

Yakobu, a native of Gopalpur on-sea in Ganjam district of Orissa, but of Andhra origin, took to fishing in the Bay of Bengal when he was just 12.The sea held no fear for him and competing on it about two decades later became an absolute delight.

Setting out in the sport in 2004 in the Enterprise Class, Yakobu outgrew his sailing guru soon enough, defeating Azhar Shaikh in national events repeatedly. Making steady progress, , Yakobu scaled the peak with Sanjeev Kumar Raghav at the National Hobie 16 championships at Rishikonda, near Visakhakapatnam recently.

The duo finished first and second, four times. Even in their two discarded races, they finished a respectable fifth and sixth. With a dozen points, they were way ahead of second-placed Naresh Yadav and Bibhuti Barikh, well behind with 26.

Using with care the boats the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh acquired in 2002 for the National Games, they won in style, without a single capsize nor violation or infringement, simply because the rest of the 14-boat fleet was no were in the near vicinity.

The 6’ 1” tall Raghav was spotted by seasoned 420 and 470 class campaigner and international, Sandeep Jain among the volunteers who opted for sailing at the Artillery Centre, Golconda. The 22-year-old Gurgaon native was cautioned by parents wary of playing around in the water. Hailing from a land-locked region, Sanjeev learnt swimming first but got into sailing only in November last year.

His height came in handy, the Vizag outing being a great learning experience, especially in boat handling. “Sanjeev followed instructions to the letter,” recalls Yakobu, the more experienced of the duo and in command of the double-hull, twin-sail craft.

Both sailors are thankful to Major Utpal Sridhar More, the class coach, who showed twice the zeal the participants did and took much of the initiative for practice.

The Artillery Centre Commandant, Brigadier Suresh, forwarded their case to Lt. Gen. I.J. Koshy, the Director-General, Regiment of Artillery, when it came to funding for their training programme or equipment and relaxation of duty hours to enable practice.

So were the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh and the District Sports Authority, Visakhapatnam, generous in providing practice facilities. Yakobu’s strategy, which largely governed their course, was to observe the rest of the fleet at the start, break away gradually and then simply to stick to the lay-line to find the shortest route. A shrewd tactician, he read the wind and tidal conditions well, thereby judging the currents correctly too.

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