Close to 75 J80 class boats and 500 sailors from over 20 countries took part in the recently concluded J80 World Championship in Spain that took place off the waters of Bilboa. And Hyderabad girls Ananya Chouhan and Alekhya Maharaju represented India in its maiden appearance in the championships.
While Ananya (Royal Madras Team) was a part of the team that came third in the mixed category race, Alekhya (Team Yatra) was member of the team that finished fourth in the all-women’s, category.
Ananya Chouhan’s team came third in the mixed category race
Sailor, ahoy!
Ananya, currently studying first year of mechanical engineering in Vellore, is naturally thrilled. “So far, I have sailed in individual boats (like Optimist and Later), where I’ve been the sole sailor. This was the first time I sailed in a J80 boat, which has six members. But this was a great experience, and even more heartening that we finished third. This victory has given me a lot of confidence to sail on bigger boats, and to take up more responsibilities in team games,” says a clearly ecstatic Ananya.
Unlike single-member events, team events rely heavily on communication between its members. And for an event such as this, the team usually endures several challenges during the tournament. “Murugan, our team’s skipper helped take several key technical decisions instantly on the boat itself. That made me realise how significant presence of mind is,” explains Ananya.
Talking about challenges, wind speeds in Chennai, where the team practised, was high. In contrast, though, the conditions in Spain were tricky, wind speed was low, with no wave. “It took us some time adjusting to the conditions. But it was a learning experience all through our course because everything was new to us,” adds Ananya.
The heady experience
Alekhya is equally thrilled at finishing fourth in her category, especially given the skipper of her team and she had made their comebacks after eight years. Undoubtedly, the championship has buoyed her confidence. “Rohini, my skipper, and I have been practising over the past three months and wanted to give our best shot,” shares Alekhya.
Alekhya describes the sailing experience as nothing but ‘exhilarating’, especially considering she could rub shoulders with Olympic medallists and world champions. “Sailing with top sailors has been a great learning experience. Also, the players were very helpful in giving us the tips about the weather conditions. I found that unusual because I’ve seen that normally in such intense competitions, such things don’t happen,” says Alekhya, also mentioning in the passing about how the host team’s warm hospitality helped her team prepare better for the championships.
Standing out
Incidentally, Alekhya’s team won applause for their performance in the event. “It was very gratifying to know that many clubs, associations and players were shocked to see our performance and praised us when they knew we had only three months to prepare for it,” say the proud 28-year-old.
Apart from earning respect for their performance, Alekhya’s team was also invited to train with the best sailors in the world in Spain. “That’s a double delight for us,” she exults, adding, “The opportunity to be part of such a huge championship itself was also satisfying. The reason we were able to put up such a great show was because of our camaraderie. We have been training for three months, which gave us enough time to know each other well and get along well.”
This triumph is an important one for Alekhya also because it will help improve her ranking in the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). “This is a great step to start off at the international level. We can only see ourselves doing better although we know there’s a long way to go,” the water-sport enthusiast reveals.
