Team Herald
sports@herald-goa.com
DONA PAULA: Kaushal Kumar and Nitesh Kumar pulled off a ‘triple’, winning all the three races of the day in Hobie Cats at the Goa International Sailing Week (GISW) for the vClusive Cup at Cidade de Goa, Vainguinim Beach and Dolphin Adventure Sports, Hawaii Beach, Dona Paula, on Saturday.
Goa’s Ajay Patel and Guru Nath kept up their hopes for a podium finish in the class, taking third place in all the three races of the day.
These performances are important, as the National Hobie Class Association, which has organised the Hobie Cat racing, is going all out to promote the Hobie Class in India. Next year, the association plans to conduct the Hobie Cat Asia Pacific Championship in Goa as part of GISW.
Maheshwar Padham is almost certainly the windsurfing champion, with two guns and a second place today in the Olympic RS:X Windsurfing class. The two protests from the Race Committee over Races 5 and 6 were dismissed in a jury hearing yesterday.
The RS: X is the Windsurfing board sailed in the Summer Olympics. Designed by Neil Pryde, it is designed to allow windsurfing in low and moderate wind conditions with good performance. Though it weighs more than 19kg, it can plane in as little as 12 knots of wind, making races faster and more exciting.
Upamanyu Dutta, too, continued his triumphant march in the Laser Std class. He won two races out of three, with a second place in Race 10. Keenly watching the races and the top sailors here is Capt Tribhuwan Jaiswal, the Training Development Manager of the Yachting Association of India (YAI), the apex national sports federation for sailing in India.
Racing in the vClusive Goa International Sailing Week concludes on Sunday. While Lasers and Windsurfers launch from Hawaii Beach, Hobie Cats launch from Cidade de Goa. Racing for the fourth day will start at 11 a.m.
