Hyderabad, August 01, 2021. Vaishnavi Veeravamsham of Hyderabad tops the Monsoon Regatta National Ranking Regatta with some spectacular heavy wind sailing and from good lessons learned at the recently concluded World Championship at Italy.
Vaishnavi had her mainsheet badly stuck in a pulley block during the first race and despite leading for the most part struggled to keep that pace downwind where the sail would just not release for speed. She dropped to 4th but regained composure and got the 1st position in the second race and a 3rd in the 4th race placing her at the top of the fleet at the end of 3 races held this morning.
Divyanshi Mishra and Eklavya Batham of Bhopal follow Vaishnavi closely in 2nd and 3rd overall at the end of the day.
The winds ranged from 8 knots to 30 knots and were shifting a good 20 degrees making the racing very tactical, but Vaishnavi is an old hand at Hussain Sagar shifts and tacked at every shift to gain an advantage over her rivals and a consistent performance.
Eklavya Batham of Bhopal won the third race and Vaishnavi had to be content with a third position.
“I have spent most of my sailing life on this lake and I enjoy the heavy winds and my fitness is at an all-time high making it all the more enjoyable to sail at the top of the fleet.”, said Vaishnavi all beaming and smiles.
Hyderabadi girls, Jhansi Priya and Ravali Parandi had a bad day with their boat shipping in water during heavy wind manoeuvres and having to lose time bailing water and came in with lame positions through Jhansi got one creditable 2 positions.
‘Its too early to say but if Vaishnavi wins she will be only the second girl to ever win the Monsoon Regatta with stalwarts like Olympian Vishnu Sarvanan having won it in the past three times in a row. “Said Suheim Sheikh the President of the YCH foundation and her coach.
Racing will commence again tomorrow afternoon with 2 races scheduled at 2 PM.
Day 1 Overall positions at the end of 3 races
1 Vaishnavi Veeravamsham Hyderabad 8 Points
2 Divayanshi Mishra Bhopal 14 Points
3 Eklavya Batham Bhopal 17 Points
4 Vishvanath Padidala Goa 21 Points
5 Akshat Kumar Bhopal 21 Points
