VETERANS SAILING CUP RACE – 2024
The First event in the rundown to the Veterans Day was the Soman Memorial Lecture at the Mulla Auditorium on 25th Nov 2023 that was immediately followed by the Sumptuous Lunch hosted by our CinC at the IMSC. The next event was the the Sailing Cup Race between Veterans and CinC yachting teams for J-24 Race. Director INWTC, Capt Abhimanyu Patankar had made elaborate arrangements for the event. He had arranged for musical band and a huge windsurfer as a backdrop for photo shoot. The 4-member Veterans sailing team had No practice on J-24, prior to the finale scheduled at 2 pm on the 05th Jan 2024.
The Teams :
C-in-C Four
1. LtCdr Aman Vyas (Captain)
2. LtCdr Praveen Prabhakar
3. Lt PSR Sandeep
4. Lt Aditya Jain
5. Lt Kartikey Agrawal
Veterans Four
1. LtCdr Farokh Tarapore (Captain)
2. Capt Vipul Meherishi
3. Cdr Dinesh Rai
4. LtCdr Amit Arvind
Match Umpire: Capt Patankar (Qualified International Umpire)
All sailors listed above have had immense experience in Sailing Nationally and Internationally. While Farokh and Meherishi are reputed international sailors with Arjun Awardee Farokh to lead his Team, other sailors too had enough sailing expertise. Capt Abhimanyu Patankar, the Dir INWTC has ample experience in Umpiring National and International Sailing Races of repute.
WTC – 05 Jan 2024
The Veteran spectators started gathering at the First-floor Veranda of the Sailing Club at WTC from 1130hrs . We were greeted by the C-in-C’s team. We were glad to meet OIC WTC, Capt Patankar, whom I had first met in Chilka about 12 yrs ago, during the All India NCC Yachting Championships, where I had accompanied the Maharashtra Team. Soon there was great bonhomie generated as more Veterans gathered. The Naval Band in uniform was crooning in the corner, as chilled Beer/ Bacardi Cocktail was being served. The WTC had erected huge banners depicting the event, against which we all got ourselves snapped. Cdr Vadhera arrived with Veteran LtCdr BD Nanda with Daughter and SIL Rajesh Kohli, Lead Singer from Sujan Group who has graciously consented to conduct a Musical Evening on Veterans Day (14 Jan 2024) in Mulla Auditorium. The Biryani Lunch to follow was delectable and aromatic supplemented with yummy Gulab-Jamun and Vanilla Ice-cream. When Cdr Vadhera asked for Volunteers for witnessing the Race out at Sea, everyone was excited. The Director INWTC had arranged for a few Gemini speed boats for spectators. All proceeding to Sea were provided with Life Jackets for safety. Capt Patankar briefed all present on the conduct of Races, Farokh having won the Toss, asked the CinC’s Team to choose between Side/Boat, which took the choice of the side, leaving the choice of Boat to Farokh, who opted for Blue. The confidence exhibited by Farokh was a give away of the Race outcome to unfold shortly.
The triangular racecourse was laid with 3 huge orange floating Buoys a nautical mile apart. Best of three races were decided, of which the Veterans comfortably won the first two to win the Trophy. The Veterans Team won their 2 races back to back, to seal their overall win and retain the Rolling trophy won last year. Nevertheless, the CinC team did give their opponents a run for their money in the second Race. The spectators excitedly watched the races from a distance, yelling for their team players speculating the Race results.
At the presentation Ceremony Capt Abhimanyu Patankar gave away the prized rolling trophy to Farokh and his Team. Cdr Vadhera narrated the genesis of the Sailing Race between Veterans and CinC teams with a Vote of Thanks to the Organisers.
Looking forward the Grand Event of the Cricket Match between Veterans XI and CinC XI on Sat 13 Jan 2024.
Sam No Varunah
Jai Hind!
(PS- Special Thanks to Meena for the Photo / Videography and compilation single handedly.)
Link to Second Sailing Race between Veterans and CinC Teams last year:
https://rajdutta26.blogspot.com/2023/01/veterans-sailing-cuprace-2023-first.html
VIDEOS
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