East Coast sailing takes wind at Club Oceanic
Sailing Fleet in action
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With the dawn of peace in Sri Lanka, the weekend of August 21-22 will
see a major sailing regatta taking place in Trincomalee. The event is
being organized jointly by Club Oceanic Hotel, Trincomalee and the
Colombo-based Royal Colombo Yacht Club, which has been at the forefront
of Sri Lankan sailing for more than the past century.
Launching off the beach in front of the Club Oceanic Hotel, large
fleet of sailing dinghies belonging to four classes is expected to cross
the start line in the first race scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday
21 August.
In addition to the GP14s that make up the bulk of the island's
amateur sailing fleet will be the Sri Lanka Navy's team's 14-foot
Enterprise-class boats flying their traditional sky-blue sails. Several
single-sailed Laser-class dinghies in the youth category too, are
expected to participate, alongside a strong showing from the nation's
junior sailors in their Optimist dinghies.
Announcing the regatta, the Royal Colombo Yacht Club's Commodore,
Lalin Jirasinha said "In past years Trincomalee used to be a major hub
for the sport of sailing and we hope this event will give new impetus to
restoring it to that position once again. We chose August for this event
so that as many youngsters could participate during their school
holidays, and also because during this period there are calm seas with
strong south-westerly katchan winds blowing. It is the ideal recipe for
exciting sailing."
The two-day event is being hosted by Club Oceanic Hotel to signal
that Trincomalee is now completely open for tourism and able to host
major sporting events. The hotel, located on a broad sandy beach, 5 km
north of Trincomalee town is a haven for the adventure-travel enthusiast
with waters ideal for angling, canoeing, surfing, scuba diving, and even
whale and dolphin watching during certain times of the year.
Further details may obtained from: Annouchka Weeratunga Fernando,
Manager Marketing Communications, John Keells Holdings PLC, 130 Glennie
Street, Colombo 2. Tel: 011230625, Fax: 011230432, Email:[email protected]
and Website: www.johnkeellshotels.com
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