Srirangapatna: After initial preparations, training sessions and registrations, the National Junior Ranking Sailing Championship began at the backwaters of Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam in Srirangapatna of Mandya district this morning.

The Royal Mysore Sailing Club (RMSC) is organising the mega event in association with the National Federation – Yachting Association of India (YAI). It  concludes on Aug. 4

The morning session of the event, however, was delayed as there were no wind conditions for the boats to sail. Organisers, sailors who had come from different parts of the country and boats had to wait for the wind for the competition to start.  As there was no wind till the afternoon, the organisers asked the participants to finish lunch for the post-lunch session.

More than 150 sailors, officials, and technical teams have arrived for the youth championship ranking event. Sailing clubs from across the country have sent their teams to Mysuru and NCC units from Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru have also arrived.

According to RMSC Founder-Captain Arvind Sharma, some of the sailing clubs at the event are: INWTC Mandovi, INWTC Mumbai, National Sailing School Bhopal, Navy Boys Sailing Company Goa, Royal Bombay Yacht Club, Royal Madras Yacht Club, Royal Mysore Sailing Club, Secunderabad Sailing Club, Tamil Nadu Sailing Association, Trishna Sailing Club, Yacht Club of Hyderabad and Colaba sailing club, Mumbai.

There will be 12 races conducted for the three different classes of boats for the ranking event. The championship is spread over five days and both boys and girls ages starting from 8 to 18 years will fight it out for honours.

“There are major clubs from across the country participating in this prestigious event and the RMSC has taken many initiatives to make the event safe, enjoyable and memorable for all the participants,” he added.

A fun sport

Deepti Guru, mother of optimist category sailor Manya Reddy from Hyderabad, told Star of Mysore that it is for the first time they have arrived at KRS Dam for the competition. “This sport is suitable both for boys and girls and both have to compete with no discrimination whatsoever. Even the placements are fair and equal for both girls and boys,” she added.

Jatin Rohit, a coach from Mumbai, said that he has been training participants between nine and 15 years of age in Mysuru for the last one-and-a-half months. “This is a lovely sport and there is no need of being scared of drowning as life-jackets are mandatory. I have a 9-year-old boy Henrike who was initially scared of getting onto the waters with his boat. Now he is so confident that he goes alone up to 10 nautical miles on his boat and returns,” he said.