30th Laser Sailing Championship - 2015

Opening ceremony of the 30th Laser Sailing Championship 2015 was held at Secunderabad Club Sailing Annexe on 15 July 2015. Hon’ble Minister of Finance of Telangana, Shri Etela Rajender was the Chief Guest on the occasion.

The event is being jointly hosted by the EME Sailing Association and the Secunderabad Sailing Club, under the aegis of Laser Class Association of India and the Government of Telangana.

Lt Gen Gurmukh Singh, SM, VSM, President Laser Class Association of India (LCAI) and Commodore EME Sailing Association, extended a warm welcome to all the Sailors from across the country and wished them fair winds & happy sailing.

A fleet of 153 sailors including 17 Women participants will participate in this season.

The Championship will be conducted in three variants of Laser Rig – Laser Standard, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7. Bikram Mohapatra, Gurjeet Singh and Gitesh Kumar are the top medal contenders in the men’s category. A total of 48 Sailors from Telangana are participating in the event and the local challenge in Laser 4.7 category will be led by Ananya Chauhan, Ananya Siwatch and S Anirudh. Prominent officials who will attend the event include the International Judge, Brig (Retd) Jagdish Singh and National Judge Lt Col S S Siwatch.

The Principal Race Officer will be Col (Retd) M P Jaggi, an experienced race official having over four decades of race management experience.

This year the Hyderabad Sailing Week will see a galaxy of noted sailing clubs including Army Yatching Node (AYN), Mumbai, Tamil Nadu Sailing Association (TNSA), Royal Bombay Yacht Club(RBYC), National Sailing School (NSS) Bhopal, Secunderabad Sailing Club (SSC), EME Sailing Association (EMESA), EME Sailing Club (EMESC) Bhopal, Corps of Engineers Sailing Club (CESC), NDA Sailing Club, Royal Madras Yacht Club (RMYC), Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala, Yacht Club of Hyderabad (YCH) and Muzris Yachting Club (MZYC), Kochi.

The championship would witness 36 races over three racing days under the aegis of LCAI, whose president is Lt Gen Gurmukh Singh, SM, VSM.

To maintain healthy competition at all levels and keeping in tune with the International Laser Class Association policy, a large no of medals in various categories will be awarded.

These will cover age groups ranging from 12 to 64 years under the following categories:-

(a) Laser Standard – Men, Youth-under 19 years and 21 years, Apprentice Master (35-44 years), Master (45-54 years), Grand Master (55 years and above).

(b) Laser Radial – Men, Women, Youth-under 19 years and Youth-under 17 years, Apprentice Master (35-44 years), Master (45-54 years), Grand Master (55-64 years), Great Grand Master (65 years and above).

(c) Laser 4.7 – Boys-under 16 and under 18 years, Girls-under 16 and 18 years.

The pride of place will however be reserved for the Late Lt Cdr Kelly S Rao Trophy, which will be awarded to the sailor who tops the Laser Standard Fleet without discards.

Hailing from Hyderabad Late Lt Cdr Kelly S Rao was an Arjuna Awardee for Sailing. He was a multiple winner of the Laser Nationals and had represented India at Seoul and Barcelona Olympics.

He was also a World Champion in the Enterprise Class of boat. Secunderabad Sailing Club also introduced a Rolling trophy last year for the sailor who tops the Laser Radial Open Fleet without discards for the Hyderabad Sailing Week.

TOP LASER SAILORS COMPETING IN 2015 EDITION

Men Sailors
1. Gitesh Kumar - AYN
2. Gurjeet Singh - AYN
3. Shrinu - EMESC Bhopal
4. Sharif Khan - AYN
5. Sachin Singha - EMESA
6. Prince Nobel - Kerala

Women Sailors
1. Meghanna B T - Chennai
2. Ananya Chauhan - Hyderabad
3. Ananya Siwatch - Hyderabad
4. Shaila Charles - Bhopal
5. G Kavya Selvi - Chennai