As expected sailors from the Army Yachting Node (AYN) dominated the first day’s races as the Laser National sailing championship got underway under heavy winds at the Hussainagar lake here on Tuesday.
Three races were conducted in the Laser radial class. The Laser Standard and the Laser 4.7 competitions will begin on Wednesday.
When the first race began at about 2 p.m. the wind was blowing between 13 to 15 knots but later it dropped to six knots after the sailors had completed the first triangle.
However K.K. Pandey of AYN had no difficulty in adjusting to strong as well as light winds and led from start to finish. He was closely followed by teammates Mujahid Khan and Sharif Khan.
In the second race the wind was between eight to 10 knots at the start but after the loop it picked up to 12 knots. In this race it was Dilip Kumar of EMESA who led form start to finish thwarting a strong challenge from Mujahid Khan.
But it was the third race of the day which proved to be most interesting. At the start the wind was between eight to nine knots but picked up later to 12 knots. The crisis came in the last leg when a sudden storm whipped across the lake catching many sailors off guard with its ferocity. Pelting rain made visibility nil and wind speed was recorded at 20 knots.
Several boats capsized but even under trying circumstances the race officials decided to continue with the race and not call it off. They had guessed that the storm was a passing on and true enough after six minutes the torrent eased to a steady downpour and visibility became much better.
Those sailors who had been blown away or wandered off the course were brought back and 30 boats managed to finish the race.
The results: Laser Radial class: First Race: 1. K.K. Pandey (AYN); 2. Mujahid Khan (AYN), 3. Sharif Khan (AYN), 4. Virender Singh (AYN), 5. Gaurav Randhawa (INWTC).
Second Race: 1. Dilip Kumar (EMESA), 2. Mujhid Khan (AYN), 3. Sharif Khan (AYN), 4. Harpreet Singh (AYN), 5. K.K Pandey (AYN).
Third Race: 1.Shairf Khan (AYN), 2. K.K. Pandey (AYN), 3. Dilip Kumar (EMESA), 4. Mujahid Khan (AYN), 5. Gaurav Randhawa (INWTC).
