INDIA. Mumbai: The Yachting Association of India (YAI) Sailing Championship 2023, organised by Army Yachting Node (AYN) at Girgaum Chowpatty in South Mumbai, concluded with sailors from AYN dominating the event.
The event was organised from February 7 to February 13, and it was the third trial for the upcoming Asian Games, scheduled to be held in China in September 2023, as well as a ranking event for both junior and senior classes.
189 participants from 16 different clubs across the country participated in the event. There was the introduction and participation of “Formula Kite” for the first time in the country.
The championship was held with 14 classes of boats, including: ILCA 7, ILCA 6, 49er, 49erFX, 470 (mixed), NACRA 17 (mixed), RS:X (men and women), IQ Foil (men and women), Formula Kite (men and women) for senior classes, and ILCA 4 (boys and girls) for junior classes.
The weather held true, with medium-to-strong winds providing varying conditions throughout the event, bringing out the best in all sailors.
The citizens of Mumbai could also enjoy the event, which was visible all around the Queen’s Necklace (Marine Drive) and directly from Chowpatty Beach.
Sailors of AYN dominated the event, winning five gold, five silver, and four bronze medals in total and booking a berth for Asian Games 2023 in Laser, Nacra 17, iQ Foil, and RS-X classes, with the brother-sister duo of Vishnu Sarvanan and Ramya Saravanan both making the cut for Asian Games.
This regatta is conducted every year to achieve the aim of attracting more youth across all genders and classes into this sport and developing young talent and technical specialisation for the Army sailing programme for the future glory of the country.
The Army Yachting Node was established in 2001 in Mumbai under HQ Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa Area and is co-located with the Naval Sailing Club at Colaba in South Mumbai.
The yachtsmen of the AYN have been dominating in events at the national level, making a clean sweep of all the medals in most of the events.
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