Krishnapatnam Port ready to host its first sailing championship

The Senior and Youth Nationals will be held from December 22 to 25 while the International Regatta will be held between December 27 and 31. Over 400 sailors including Internationals from nine countries, are participating in the meet.

Defending champions in various categories: Finn class (Swatantra Singh), 470 (C.H.S. Reddy & Shubham Patil), RS:X class--Wind Surfing (Jerome Kumar), laser standard (Gitesh), laser radial (Vishnu Saravanan & Ramya Saravanan, youth class)

The Krishnapatnam Port, hosting the Senior and Youth sailing championships, and the International Regatta for youth from Friday for the first time, will witness top-quality action.

Covering an area of nearly 5000 acres, the Port is considered one of the biggest in India.

Receiving technical guidance from Tamil Nadu Sailing Association (TNSA), Krishnapatnam Port, a privately owned facility, hit the ground running within two months of accepting the proposal.

“Hosting three events is a big challenge. We were prepared to do it. Moreover, having an open sea at a close distance [for racing] was one of the best attributes of the Port. The event, I am sure, will be one that will be remembered for many years to come,”  said Anil Yendluri, Director & CEO, Krishnapatnam Port Company Limited, here on Thursday.

The Senior and Youth Nationals will be held from December 22 to 25 while the International Regatta will be held between December 27 and 31. Over 400 sailors including Internationals from nine countries, are participating in the meet.

In the senior section, sailors from Army Yachting Node (Mumbai) are expected to rule the roost. In the last edition held in Mumbai, AYN bagged gold in most categories — laser standard (Gitesh), Finn class (Swatantra Singh), 470 (C.H.S. Reddy & Shubham Patil) and RS:X — wind surfing (Jerome Kumar).

The youth has three categories such as Optimist (boys and girls), laser 4.7 and 29er. TNSA  has a few prominent sailors who will be hoping to do well. Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan, who won a bronze in the ‘14 Asian Games, is taking part in laser radial and Chitresh Thatta is eager to bag the gold in the laser 4.7 in the youth boys' category. “I have been training hard six days a week for the last six months. I want to win,” said the 16-year-old.  TNSA's Naveen Prabhakar and Neel Anand are itching to win the title in  the Optimist class.

“The conditions are conducive, matching International standards. Our [Indian] sailors, who train here can perform better,” said Ashok Thakkar, Commodore of TNSA.

Ilker Byandir of Turkey has been appointed the Principal Race Officer while Mylai Prabhakar will assist Byandir.