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Journalism of Courage
CHENNAI, JAN 20: Lt R Mahesh, the defending champion since 1994, proved his superiority in no uncertain manner again, winning the third and fourth races too in the Laser class on Wednesday.
Incredible indeed were his wins for he overcame two mishaps that forced him to trail for a while. But his never-say-die spirit kept him going and finish ahead. With four wins, Mahesh is virtually assured of the title in the Bengal Tiger Line Laser Coastal Nationals, conducted by the Royal Madras Yacht Club, at the Madras Harbour, on Wednesday.
Mahesh, the present National coach, is quite confident of making a clean sweep. “Speed and technique has been my forte and the experience I had gained over the years has helped me to come out better in the crunch situations,” he said.
Mahesh’s boat capsized in the first leg of the fourth race, just past the wind ward mark. Arjun Pradipak, who was till then keeping good pace, managed to sneak ahead, and for the first time, there was the unusual sight of someone ahead of Maheshin the lead. Mahesh was far from perturbed and more than anything his determination saw him through. It took him just 14 seconds to set right his mast and was on course. “I feel the time consumed today is much longer for I’m normally faster,” he was to ponder later.
Earlier, Mahesh headed for the wrong mark in the third race, which did narrow his lead. But for the minor skirmish, it was Mahesh all the way.
For Arjun Pradipak of the Secunderabad Sailing Club, it was a profitable outing. He finished third and second respectively in the two races of the day. Sandeep Srikanth had to be content with the fourth place, while Gautham Datta, after doing well in the third, slackened a bit and was pushed a place behind in the fourth race.
Three races were scheduled in the laser radial and enterprise class respectively, but due to the rough weather and choppy sea conditions, only one race in each category could be held. The leftover races will be held on Thursday.
Selvan of EME Sailing Club was astart-to-finish winner in the laser radial class. The fight for the second place between Umaji Chowgule and Rohan Prabhakar was keen. As luck would have it, Rohan’s boat capsized during the last leg, paving the way for Umaji to finish second.
The Enterprise class saw a number of capsizes and four teams could not finish the race. Jadeja and Grewal were comfortable winners. Patel and Raghu finished second followed by Sagar Kudale and Kastubh.
The optimist class had to be shifted to inside the Harbour area. The fight was again between cousins Varun Prabhakar and Niloufer Jamal. Varun won the third followed by Niloufer and the result was just the other way round in the fourth.
Niloufer’s protest against Varun on Tuesday was overruled. At the present stage, Varun has three wins and Niloufer one. Deepak and Mayank finished third and fourth in both races.
