PANJIM: Top seeds sailed through on the concluding day of the Goa International Sailing week conducted by the Goa Yachting Association (GYA), on Sunday.
Local star Dayne Coelho of GYA maintained his clean slate and comprehensively won gold medal in the Olympic windsurfing class RS:X. In the other Olympic category, the Laser Standard, favourite Upamanyu Dutta of INWTC Mumbai warded off EMESA’s Deelip Kumar’s challenge to retain his title. Both Upamanyu and Dayne are India’s rising stars who have been picked by the Yachting Association of India (YAI) to train and prepare for the forthcoming Asian Games and the Olympics 2020.
The Hobie 16 fleet too saw favourites Kaushal Kumar and Girish M of AWSA Hyderabad defend their top rank status with a dominating display.
However, there was some disappointment for the young Goan sailboarder talent Avelino Fernandes who did not race today on account of equipment damage to relinquish his title lead in the Techno 293 category.
With the winds picking up in the afternoon, the kiteboarders got airborne and the Calangute – Baga beach stretch witnessed some exciting action. Veteran Philippe Dartnell showed his experience to win the kiteboard event.
Local MLA from Calangute, Michael Lobo extended his support for the Goa International Sailing week and expressed his desire to see more such eco-friendly adventure sporting activities in Goa.
