K.C. Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar of India (29er fleet) and Ireland’s Patrick Cosbie (Laser 4.7) were declared provisional winners of Race One on the opening day of the Raymond-India International Regatta 2012 on Wednesday.
It was a testing day of wind, cloud cover and rain and the young sailors had to be at their best to negotiate the elements.
In Laser 4.7, Cosbie, who sailed the ISAF Youth Worlds at Dublin Bay in the 420 and sails the laser also, decided to start at the pin end and saw the ploy pay good dividends.
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Sailing a tight race he managed to round the windward mark ahead of the others and stretched the lead to finish 20 to 30 boat lengths ahead of India’s Prince Noble. Coming in third was Vir Amar Menon also from India.
In the 29er fleet, Ganapathy and Varun, the top ranked Indian team, coped with the challenging breeze in a brave and crafty fashion.
Gana and Varun and the girl's team of Varsha and Aishwarya too made a strong bid but a drifting Optimist boat caused the duo to swerve suddenly making them capsize. It made them lose the second position to Rufus Patrick and Hussain Bhavnagarvala.
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By now the squall was in full force and though the top sailors finished the race, many of the Optimists could not handle their boats. Several boats had to be rescued. Resultantly, the results of the Optimist fleet were cancelled and the race had to be abandoned.
Race 1 provisional results (all Indians unless specified):29er fleet: 1. Ganapathy & Varun Thakkar, 2. Hussain Bhavnagarvala & Rufus Patrick, 3. Varsha Gautham & Aishwarya Chezhian; Laser 4.7 fleet: 1. Patrick Cosbie (Irl), 2. Prince Noble, 3. Vir Amar Menon.