Sailing Championship 2013

The final sailing championship in the 29er Eurocup series concluded in Lake Garda. Fourteen races were completed in four days of racing and Indian sailors Ganapathy and Varun won the Bronze in the event. 

Two Indian teams from Tamil Nadu Sailing Association, K C Ganapathy / Varun Thakkar and Varsha Gautham / Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan participated in this 7th and final championship of the Eurocup series, in a fleet of 66 teams from nine countries. 

Getting over a couple of poor races where Ganapathy and Varun capsized and lost several places, the sailors recovered with grit and determination to win the Bronze. They won two of the 14 races held and finished among the top ten in 10 of them. 

Varsha and Aishwarya finished 4th among 13 girls teams and 29th overall, achieving best positions of 8th and 10th in two of the races.At the end of the 7 events in the Eurocup series held during this year at various venues in Europe, both the Indian teams have performed consistently in the top to win the Overall Silver (Ganapathy and Varun) and the Girls Silver (Varsha and Aishwarya). 

Varsha and Aishwarya have finished 6th overall in the series. If Tamil Nadu Government is forthcoming with support for the boy’s team also, there is no doubt that their chances for success in the Olympics 2016 will be greatly enhanced. So far the few Olympic entries in sailing has been only through wild cards, so the honour of meritoriously sending Indians to Olympic sailing for the first time will go to the state of Tamil Nadu.