Janashakthi national sailing c’ships

Richard Dwight

Based on the enthusiasm and keenness that has grown through the years, it could be easily said, that the national championship is a much looked forward to event in the calendar of the Yachting Association of Sri Lanka (YASL).

This will be very much in evidence, when the 2007 sailing championship sponsored by Janashakthi Insurance for the fourth successive year, takes place on October 20 and 21 on the Bolgoda Lake, with the sailboats being launched form the Ceylon Motor Yacht Club (CMYC).

These preliminary observations was made to the media at a briefing held on Tuesday evening at the Hilton Hotel by the President of YASL, Ananda Wimaladharma.

It was heartening, Wimaladharma added to find Janashakthi supporting sailing for the fourth year, with the promise of doing so until the year 2110, which is most encouraging. It is noteworthy that Most major international ocean - sailing races too enjoy similar major corporate sponsorships including Rolex, Volvo and Orange.

The General Manager, Sales and Marketing, Janashakthi Insurance, Ravi Liyanage said that there is a large following for cricket and rugby, where crowds converge and sponsors are drawn to support them, but tend to ignore the less glamorous sport.

It’s because of this, that Janashakthi, he stressed has stepped into support sports like sailing and hockey where there is much potential to reach international levels.

According to sailing convenor YASL, Lalin Jirasinha, the sailing nationals will be organised and conducted on the lines of an international regatta governed by the IYRU rules and in conformity with the local YASL sailing instructions, with accredited judges and a race committee.

In all there will be around 40 boats in keeping with their categorised class viz Enterprise, GP14, Optimist and Laser.

The Enterprise and GP 14 will comprise 14 ft boats with twin sails, they will be sailed by two adults helm and crew.

The Optimist class made up of 6 ft hull is sailed by kids under 15 years of age, they are sailed single handed with one sail.

The Laser class includes 10 ft hull single sail, sailed by one adult.

The races on a ‘90 minute’ course will start at 11.30 a.m. on both days Saturday 20 and Sunday 21.

Each class of boats will sail a total of five races of which the best four results will count towards the final score. The Optimist will sail three races on Saturday morning and two on Sunday morning, while the Lasers, Enterprises and GPs will sail two races on Saturday afternoon and three races on Sunday afternoon.

The awards ceremony will be held at 3.30 on Sunday.