PANAJI: Early morning predictions of low winds turned around quickly as winds picked up by afternoon and Dona Paula Bay come alive with a burst of colours as windsurfers from more than 10 States took the start at the All India Boardsailing Championship 2022 organised by Goa Yachting Association at the Dolphin Adventure Sports Centre, Hawaii Beach here.
In the RS:X men category, the battle for the spot at the Asian Games between Dayne Coelho of GYA and Ebad Ali of AYN produced some fantastic racing with Dayne taking the gun in the first 3 races, but Ebad came back strongly and took the gun in the fourth race. Ved Pathak of AYN refusing to be left behind picked up the tempo and came second in the fourth race after three 3rd-place finishes.
In the RS:X Women’s category, Ishwarya Ganesh of TNSA consolidated her claim to the Asian Games spot by taking all 4 guns ahead of Manaswani Maharana of Orissa Yachting Association (OYA), who is making a comeback to windsurfing after a break of 4 years.
The strong wind action on the water also saw for the first time 5 windsurfing foils in competition on India waters. In the IQ Foil women’s category, Katya Coelho of GYA who is making a comeback after an injury recovery, stamped her dominance with a perfect demonstration of speed, agility and grace. In the open Foil men’s category, Saurabh Kumar of AYN is leading with 3 guns followed by Tenka Madhu of AYN in second place with 1 gun and Imtizulu of INWTC, Goa in third place.
In The RS:One women’s category, Pearl Colvalcar of GYA is leading. The Raceboard men’s category has sprung up a surprise with D Shekhar Rao of OYA leading the pack with 3 guns, followed by LT Maneesh Raja and Akhilesh Solanki of AYN in second and third place respectively. In the Raceboard youth boys division, Avelino Fernandes of GYA leads Adarsh Chunekar of GYA with all 4 guns; while Kayah Coelho leads in the youth girls. In the Raceboard Masters category, Cmde. Ashish Saxena (Rtd) was in the top spot ahead of Brig. PC Roy and Mark Oakley is in 3rd position.
