As the summer abates and the refreshing monsoon winds bring ripple and drizzle to the Hussain Sagar the 14th edition of the YAI Monsoon Regatta introduces a new thrust in sailing based on the Mixed International 420 boat with 5 entries from Telangana and many more from across the country from July 16 to 23 2023. This will be the first time a mixed event will be held at Hyderabad.
Gender equality has been a focus for the IOC-International Olympic Committee and it provides the impetus for the all girls Project Naavika of the Yacht Club of Hyderabad (YCH) with the tagline Dignity Through Sports.
Preethi Kongara of Hyderabad a student of Marredpally Govt. College who was trained at the YCH under Project Naavika is now heading for the Olympic Test Event at Marseille enroute to the Worlds at Nederlands and the Asian Games at Ningbo China in September.
4 girls from Hyderabad have been training vigorously in the International 420 Class of boats and the top entrants from YCH are Dharani Laveti, Ravali Parandi, Thanuja Kameshwar and Vaishnavi Veeravamsham all erstwhile Under 15 National Champions.
In the under 15 category Hyderabad boasts of India No1 Deekshita Komaravelly and her sister Lahiri Komaravelly placed at 4 both residing at Rasoolpura and studying at Udbhav School.
Amongst Boys Daniel Israel and Bunny Bongur are expected to come back with medals and an invitation for the Asians at Abudhabi if they rank at the top.
Telangana hopes to bring home the Monsoon Regatta Trophy and the Shri.SH Babu Memorial at this National Ranking event.
The 14th edition boasts of an International Jury from Singapore, Hongkong and Israel and also introduces Team Racing in the Optimist once again.
"We are proud to have conducted 13 Monsoon Regattas in a row and the 14th will be special as it will have many of Telangana's top sailors in contention for national positions and we wish them all the luck", said Suheim Sheikh of the Yacht Club . "We will miss Preethi Kongara but she is working hard on the international circuit and we wish her all the best", he continued.
The teams are practicing hard and expect to add to their bagful of medals in the three forthcoming National Ranking regattas at Hussain Sagar in multiple classes of boats like the Olympic Laser, Under 15 Optimist and the Mixed International 420 Class being conducted by various cubs across the lake under the banner of the National Federation the Yachting Association of India.
The Yacht Club of Hyderabad has already bagged 160 medals and produced 10 National Champions from amongst challenged communities and many have found careers in the Army and Navy after honing their skills at the Yacht Club.
