Sailing and racing skills of naval cadets from 31 countries were on display in the waters of the Ettikulam Bay here on Monday. The cadets surfed downwind and upwind on their Laser Radial sailing boats on the first day of the Admiral Cup Sailing Regatta 2018 conducted by the Indian Naval Academy (INA) here.
The ninth edition of the annual race was formally inaugurated by INA Commandant Vice Admiral R.B. Pandit on Sunday.
Besides foreign cadets, two Indian teams, the INA and the National Defence Academy are participating in the regatta.
The foreign teams are from Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nigeria, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Vietnam.
Vietnam is participating as observer for the event.
Good participation
Captain Abhimanyu Patanker, technical director of the event, said that the Admiral’s Cup Regatta 2018 had the distinction of having the highest number of participating countries in the world for any military sailing competitive event, he added.
Participants also highlighted the importance of the event as a way of making bridges of friendship among the navies. “We may win or lose the race. That does not matter because we will take the friendship back to our homes,” said Lt. Commodore Kamrull Hasan of the Bangladesh Navy.
Great competition
Lt. Benjamin Sleister of the United States Navy, the defending champions, said the team was anticipating great competition this time. Lt. Simon Schnetier of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom said that while his team was used to dusty conditions and rapid changes in direction and strength, it was looking for a more competitive environment because of the consistency of the wind here on Monday afternoon.
The races are divided into initial series and final series. All teams will initially sail in six races in two groups with one boat of each country placed in each group. On completion of the initial series, the top half of each group will form the gold fleet and sail four races in the final series.
All races sailed in the initial and final series will count for the overall series positions.
The top two teams would be selected on the basis of the combined performance of both boats. Individual medals would be awarded in the men’s and women’s category, the organisers said.
