The Army Yachting Node sailor's consistency and gutsy performances under pressure paid dividends and allowed him to get the better of a strong field, writes Abhijit Sen Gupta.
Jasvir Singh of Army Yachting Node (AYN) was crowned champion in the Laser Standard Class in the 26th National Sailing Championship at the Hussainsagar Lake recently. Jasvir also won the Kelly Rao Trophy for emerging the top ranked sailor without discards.
At the end of the 11-race series, Jasvir had 16 penalty points, thereby pushing defending champion Gajender Singh, who had 22 penalty points, to second position. Naveen Kumar also of AYN stood third with 24 penalty points.
In the Radial Class Dharmender Singh of AYN took the title with 27 penalty points. In the 4.7 class, Varsha Gautam of Tamil Nadu Sailing Association was the champion.
Jasvir's consistency and gutsy performances under pressure paid dividends and allowed him to get the better of a strong field of sailors who were all from his own unit — AYN.
However, it was in the Radial Class that a keen competition was witnessed. The absence of defending champion Rajesh Choudhary threw open the competition. Choudhary, who is ranked among the best sailors ever to have emerged from India, had dominated this event over the last decade or so and whenever he has been in the fray his rivals had little hope of bagging the title.
This time, however, Choudhary was not in contention because he had sustained a spinal injury during the course of a regatta in Spain recently. He was seen at the venue giving tips to the younger participants. “I am hopeful of making a full recovery soon and am looking forward to taking part in events coming up in 2012,” said the 38-year-old armyman.
The unusual feature of the event this year was the poor wind conditions for the first two days. The winds did pick up later but were never as good as they had been in the previous years. The moderate winds helped the lighter sailors while the heavier sailors were at a disadvantage.
On the final day, only the Standard fleet and the 4.7 fleet took to the water to complete the last two races of their series. The Radial fleet had already completed theirs.
Wind speeds ranged between 10 to 12 knots for the 10th race. But in the 11th race it picked up slightly, ranging between 12 to 14 knots and even gusting to 16.
Jasvir gave a good show in both races. He took second place in the 10th race and won the 11th which helped him to lift the overall title.
The event was conducted by the Laser Class Association of India (LCAI) along with the EME Sailing Association and Secunderabad Sailing Club.
THE RESULTSLaser Standard1. Jasvir Singh (AYN) 16 points, 2. Gajender Singh (AYN) 22, 3. Naveen Kumar (AYN) 24, 4. K. K. Pandey (AYN) 48, 5. V. Hari Hara (AYN) 52, 6. Sukhvir Singh (AYN) 52 (Hari Hara had better individual race break-up).
Laser Radial1. Dharmender Singh (AYN) 27 points, 2. Sharif Khan (EMESA) 33, 3. Xerxes Bamboat (RBYC) 57, 4. Bikas Mohapatra (AYN) 58, 5. Ramesh Kumar (AYN) 59, 6. Shekhar Singh Yadav (INWTC Mumbai) 60.
Laser 4.71. Varsha Gautam (TNSA) 24 points, 2. Varun Thakkar (TNSA) 31, 3. Prince Noble (MYC) 34, 4. Abhimanyu Panwar (RMYC) 56, 5. Nanda Raikwar (NSS) 63, 6. Vikas Singh (CESC) 63. (Nanda had better individual race break-up).
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