Champions Verma and Rao of the Navy had a close race with Kaushal Kumar and Girish, and had to finally concede the first race of their championship at the Tata Photon Monsoon Regatta on Wednesday.
Verma and Rao finished first with just a 15-second lead on Kaushal Kumar and Girish. But in the 8th race, Kaushal and Girish proved themselves once again with a win, and their guns now total an incredible 7 out of 8 races - clearly establishing their supremacy in the Tata Photon Monsoon Regatta.
The Optimist Kids had a coaching camp by Coach Sunil Lobo and Chaitanya Chowgule (erstwhile Optimist national champion).
Teams from RBYC Bombay, TNSA Tamil Nadu, RMYC Tamil Nadu and our local lads from Secunderabad were in attendance.
The Tata Photon Match Racing Nationals round-robin commenced with a few flights, and saw the brothers Aashim and Nitin in a close match, with Nitin winning. R Mahesh comfortably won against Ayesha Lobo.
The wind conditions were close to perfect, with speeds oscillating between 6 to 10 knots in the afternoon, as against the occasional spell of 16 knot gusts in the morning.
Thursday will see a whole day of Match Racing in the J24 Class of boats, and world champions Nitin Mongia, R Mahesh and Aashim Mongia will battle it out on the waters during the double round-robin.
All Optimist teams from across the country will come in, and the championship will commence on Friday morning at 10:15am.