A total of 102 sailors from 9 countries ie Malaysia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, Slovenia, USA, Seychelles and India participated in the three competing classes namely the Optimist, Laser 4.7 and the 29er. The Principal Race Officer Ilker Bayindir from Turkey, who was invited by the organisors for the third consecutive year to be the PRO of the event, faced severe challenges thrown by the fickle wind calmly and managed to complete 10 races for the 29er, 8 for Laser 4.7 and 6 for the Optimists. Brig (Retd) Jagdish Singh, the Jury Chairman and his team were on water every day to ensure fair sailing and dealt with the few protests that were lodged, with wisdom and understanding.
The first two days of racing saw little or no wind; however, when the wind did put in an appearance it kept shifting continually which led to a lot of waiting on water for both officials and sailors and also resulted in change of racing area and abandonment of a few races. At the end of two days of racing, instead of the scheduled six races each class, just one had been completed for the Optimist, two races for the Laser 4.7 and three for the 29er class. The situation was turning dire and there was tremendous pressure on the Race Committee to complete the series of RIIR 2013. In the Optimist class it was clear right from the Practice race that the Malaysian sailors meant business and at the end of second day of racing, seven of the top ten positions had been cornered by them. Among the 29ers, Slovenians won all three races whilst Indian sailors finished 2nd behind them with New Zealand following in at close third position, whilst, the Laser 4.7 competition was dominated by Indian sailors.
On the third day wind conditions improved and two more races each were held for the Optimist and Laser 4.7 and three for the 29er. In the Optimist class, new winners from among the Malaysian team emerged as Black Flag violations had changed the fortunes of a few of them. There were now only four Malaysians among the top ten though they held all the top three positions led by Md. Dhiauddin. The other six positions were cornered by four Indian sailors led by Mahesh Balachander in 4th place and two Irish sailors following their heels. Among the Laser 4.7 all three top positions were held by India with Dheer Singhi leading the pack. Among the 29ers, the Slovenian Janezic siblings Peter Lin and Lea Dora continued to rule with five guns and a 6th position in the 6 races. India’s K C Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar had a bad day and slipped to 3rd position while Kiwis Markus Somerville and Isaac McHardie moved up to 2nd.
On the final day of racing, perfect conditions prevailed and the PRO ran three races each for Optimist and Laser 4.7 and four for the 29ers. In the Optimists Md. Uzair who had put in steady performance right through won the championship. In the Laser 4.7, Upamanyu Dutta came up with spirited performance and snatched away the trophy from Dheer Singhi whilst Janaki Balachander finished 3rd overall and won the girls Gold. Among the 29ers the Slovenians slackened slightly on the last day but they had built up a lead that could not be breached and won the 29er trophy. Ganapathy and Varun sailed with focus and clawed their way back to second position whilst the top girls team of Varsha Gautham and Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan put up a great performance to move up the ladder to win the Bronze.
On the final day the team racing championship in the Optimist class was sailed in brilliant sailing conditions and the combined team of Irish and Indian sailors ie Vishnu Saravanan, Venkat Krishna, Johnny Durcan and Peter Fagan won the team championships. The Malaysians once again proved their sailing prowess and won the Silver and Bronze medals. The Raymond India International Regatta 2013 ended on 6th Oct 2013 with the prize distribution ceremony.
LCdr Abhilash Tomy KC, who is the first Indian to finish a solo unassisted non-stop circumnavigation was also invited to the regatta and interacted with the young sailors. He also visited many local schools and shared his experience and encouraged the young school children to take up the sport.
Mr Leonard Chin, a member of the Jury in an e mail addressed to the organisors described the event as "Excellent hosts!" "Passionate about sailing!" "Wonderful new found friends!" "Great Regatta!" "Excellent company" "Delicious Idili, Dosai, Vadai, Rasam, Kutu, Puttu, Ras mallai, Beriyani!" What else can I say..................."Incredible India!" Unggalukku Nanri !
