Ayaz Shaikh and Shubham Patel went one better than a perfect 10, clinching all 11 races of the 470 class held so far in the Hyderabad Sailing Week senior multi-class regatta at the Hussain Sagar on Friday.
The duo from the Army Yachting Node (AYN), Mumbai appeared way superior to the competition, separating itself from the rest of the fleet to such an extent, that it got the gun often in excess of a full leg!
“With Ayaz at the helm, the boat sticks close to the lay line,” observed three-time Laser Standard gold medallist Bijay Kumar Rout. “He rarely ventures outwards for that would mean he’d be sailing more than necessary,” said the 10-time Laser Radial silver medallist of the lean and mean course the Mumbai-based duo charted from mark to mark.
The sceptre of sovereignty over the historic lake nearly slipped out of the pair’s hands in Friday’s opening race though. “We got a bad start and rounded mark I third. After the first reach, we were second. We remained second till the penultimate leg,” said Shaikh.
The two then stole a march over the competition by sneaking into the inner berth when heading for the final stretch. When the hooter went, they had finished a comfortable 10 boat lengths ahead of their nearest rivals.
Regular rains had litter resurfacing in the reservoir, clogging rudders of several boats, slowing them down considerably. The leading twosome seemed unaffected though.
“Shaikh’s sailing tactics are carefree stemming from confidence built on solid basics acquired by training from a young age with the Sea Cadet Corps, Mumbai,” Rout noted. The spinnaker invariably billowed out on the runs, sending their craft surging forward, even as crew Shubham hiked hard, stretching his tall and wiry self as much as he could from the gunwale to get the most out of the wind.
The results: Laser Standard: IX: 1. Manu Francis, 2. Mohit Saini, 3. K.K. Pandey (all AYN); X: 1. Deelip Kumar, 2. Sunil Kumar, 3. MD Israj Ali (all EMESA); XI: 1. Harpreet Singh, 2. Muzahid Khan, 3. Mohit Saini (all AYN).
Laser Radial: VII: 1. Harpreet Singh, 2. Sharif Khan (both AYN), 3. Deelip Kumar (EMESA); VIII: 1. Sharif, 2. Shikhar Garg (NSS), 3. Deelip; IX: 1. Avinash Yadav (INWTC, G), 2. Harpreet, 3. Sharif; X: 1. Deelip, 2. Harpreet Singh, 3. Govind Bairagi (NSS).
Laser 4.7: IX: 1. Harshita Tomar, 2. Ram Milan Yadav (both NSS), 3. Krisha Mongia (RBYC); X: 1. Chitresh T, 2. Aniket Rajaram (both TNSA), 3. Koteshwara Rao (TSC); XI: 1. Mahesh B., 2. Chitresh, 3. Govind Bairagi (NSS).
Finn: VIII: 1. Swatantra Singh, 2. Naveen Kumar, 3. Vivek (all AYN); IX: 1. Naveen, 2. Swatantra, 3. Sukhvir Singh (AYN); X: 1. Swatantra Singh, 2. Sukhvir, 3. Naveen; XI: 1. Swatantra, 2. Prabith A. (AYN), 3. Vivek (all AYN).
RS: IX: 1. K Arjun Reddy (AYN), 2. Kamlapati Ojha (EMESA), 3. M. Padhan (INWTC, G); X: 1. Arjun, 2. Jerome Kumar (AYN), 3. Rahul Choudhary (INWTC, M); XI: 1. Jerome, 2. Arjun Reddy, 3. Padhan.
470: VIII: 1. Ayaz Shaikh & Shubham Patel (AYN), 2. Virender Singh & Sudhanshu Shekhar (INWTC, M), 3. Praveen Kumar & Ravindra Kumar Sharma (INWTC, M); IX: 1. Ayaz & Shubham, 2. Virender & Sudhanshu, 3. Atul Lande & Mahesh Yadav (AYN); X: 1. Ayaz & Shubham, 2. Praveen & Ravindra, 3. Virender & Sudhanshu; XI: 1. Ayaz & Shubham, 2. Praveen & Ravindra, 3. Prabin R & Vijay Singh (AYN).
Hobie-16: X: 1. Jaspreet Singh & Vishnu Prasad (AWSA), 2. Pawan Kumar & Nitin (AYN), 3. Kaushal Kumar Yadav & Girish (AWSA); XI: 1. Kamlesh Kumar Patel & Rawankar (AYN), 2. Jaspreet & Vishnu, 3. Kaushal & Girish; XII: 1. Kamlesh / Rawankar, 2. Kaushal & Girish, 3. Pawan & Nitin.
Enterprise: VIII: 1. Ashish Kumar Patel & Nagen Behera (EMESA), 2. Sathish Kumar & Rahul M. Nair (AYN), 3. E. Hemanth Kumar & Amit Arvind Shinde (CESC); IX: 1. Hemanth & Amit, 2. Sathish & Rahul, 3. Ashish & Behera; X: Ashish & Behera, 2. Sathish & Rahul, 3. A.N. Swami & V.S. Chahal (INWTC, V); XI: 1. Sathish & Rahul, 2. Ashish & Behera, 3. Hemanth & Amit.
