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Crests and troughs

PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

TRIUMPHANT sailors In different categories (from left) Sarad C. Singha-Aman Vyas (youth), S.R.Rout-Sandip Jain (open), Pallavi Shanbhagh-Rohini Rau (women)

Mumbai’s D. K. Acharya couldn’t bear to see his 14-year-old son Aman struggle in the Bay of Bengal during the Vestas National 420 sailing championship held at the Chennai Harbour last week. Fearing for his son’s safety, Acharya decided to retire from the race. Similarly, Hamza and his younger brother Hussain Bhavnagarwala couldn’t handle the tough wind conditions and the waves that rose up to six feet and had to come back to the shore without completing the third race.

“I was sailing with him (Aman) for the first time. When he said ‘dad it is getting difficult’, I had no choice but to come back,” said Acharya.

On a day when the sea was rough and winds measuring 30 Kph troubled most of the sailors — eight boats capsized and at least four of them couldn’t complete the race — it was the crack pair from the Army Yachting Node (Mumbai) which passed the test in flying colours. The 420 Nationals — it involves two sailors handling the boat, one is called the helm (the captain) and the other, the crew — held in Chennai for the second successive year witnessed the dominance of AYN sailors Sandip Jain (helm) and S.R. Rout (crew). The duo clinched nine out of the 10 races in the open class to bag the Gen. Dutta Rolling Trophy.

“He just flies,” said Hussain about Sandip. “His technique is superior to others.”

The Royal Madras Yacht Club’s Rohini Rau (Pallavi Shanbhagh) couldn’t hide her happiness. The 22-year-old, one of India’s leading women sailors, roared past the Sandip-Rout pair for a brief while in the Nationals and it didn’t matter to Rohini that Sandip’s stern was slightly damaged. “We were ahead of you. I could see the anger in you when we went past you. You don’t like girls racing ahead of you!” Rohini kept pulling Sandip’s legs, to which Sandip sportingly replied, “You are a very good sailor.”

As a matter of fact, AYN sailors hate to lose, be they men or women. Considering the amount of time and energy they spend on sailing, their attitude comes as no surprise. The Sandip-Rout pair knows that winning the Nationals is not an end in itself. For them, it’s the World 470 championship, a higher category, to be held in August in Denmark, which is their next target.

“I keep telling him (Rout) not to be complacent about the win. Our long-term aim is the Olympics. I know we are very late for the 2012. It’s 2016 we are focussing on,” said Sandip.

Rohini seldom loses her composure. Even during bad days, she is always in high spirits. In fact, during the 420 Nationals, Rohini had to retire without completing the race due to tough conditions at sea. There was no bitterness but only the belief that she would do better the next day.

True to her word, Rohini came back strongly with podium finishes in the last two days to finish fifth in the open section and emerge the overall women’s champion.

The National Sailing School (Bhopal) duo comprising Aman Vyas and Sarad C. Singha finished first in the youth section. Aman emerged triumphant in the 10th race, the last race in the championship, outdoing the likes of Sandip-Rout and Rohini-Pallavi — an achievement in itself.

“I am very happy,” said the 15-year-old. With his half-smile and tuft, Aman won the hearts of many with his boat handling skills. Many believe that this teenager will win laurels for India at International events in the future.

The significant aspect of the Nationals was the number of youngsters — out of the 24 pairs of boats, half-a-dozen were manned by teenagers either as crew or helm — who participated. Needless to say, their enthusiasm was infectious.

Farokh Tarapore, three-time Olympian and two-time World sailing champion, felt the youngsters had tremendous potential. “I see a genuine desire in them to get better everyday,” he said.

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