“Endurance and patience are two pillars on which rest a sailor’s fortunes,” says Sachin Singha, silver medallist in the Laser Radial section of the Hyderabad Sailing Week (HSW) last year and keen to go one up this time.
This truth dawned on the 22-year-old when he set aside his carefree school days and football, his first love, to chart a new course.
At the Upper Lake in Bhopal, Singha took his first steps in the sport, often seen as chess on water for the tactical acumen it calls for. Mentored by Lt. Col. Milind Prabhu at the National Sailing School (NSS), he began with the Optimist class.
Limited successApart from a team bronze in the 2007 Chennai Coastal Nationals, his success was limited. Overawed by the front-runners, the mighty sea scared him, since he had learnt his craft hitherto in the hinterland. For the next three years, he was tutored by P. Madhu and Singha graduated to the Laser 4.7.
“Big fleets, numbering upwards of 40, made me nervous,” said the soft-spoken sailor. He was otherwise confused when the pack split in two from the start line itself sometimes, one half turning right and the other to the left.
The new class entailed frequent sail trimming, control line settings and proper positioning in the boat itself when it was hit by waves or gusts.
The three legs consisting of the beat, the reach and the run necessitated a new set of skills in the Laser class.
Convinced that the wind favoured those who bowed to its whims and fancies, Sachin would reconnoitre the entire Chennai harbour area. The channels meant about four km just to enter the competition area and he’d study the local conditions, tides and wind patterns as part of his homework.
After upgrading to the Laser Radial, he clinched gold at the 2009 INWTC multi-class regatta in Mumbai, which served as selection trials for the 2010 World Youth championships in Thailand. With wind speeds averaging 28 knots and gusting to 42, the rough seas and big waves posed huge challenges if not the six-footers even in the under 16 category, before whom the Asians were literally dwarfed.
Forays in the 420 and 29er classes along with rival and good friend Aman Vyas met with domestic success at the India International Regatta, Chennai but only a fifth place in the 2001 Sail the Gulf championship in Qatar.
When Vyas shifted to studies full time, Sachin retraced his steps to the single hander class.
Sachin enlisted in EME Bhopal before being posted to the Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (MCEME) in Secunderabad. In 2013 he came under the tutelage of Arjuna awardee Rajesh Choudhary.
