Nitin Mongia triumphs

Brothers Nitin and Ashim Mongia ruled the waves in different classes of boats in the National Sailing Regatta in Mumbai on Friday with the former clinching the O K Dinghy title and the latter well-set to win the Enterprise class on the morrow.

Nitin, the World and Asian O K Dinghy champion who represents hosts Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre, took hold of the crown with a penalty points tally of 15 at the end of the eighth and final race that was won by S Purshottam of the EME Sailing Association, Bhopal, on Friday.

Purshottam's victory in the last race gained him the second spot ahead of third-placed V K Raut (INWTC, 22).

Ashim Mongia and crew Amit Arvind led the 26-strong field in the Enterprise class after the ninth and penultimate race with a total of 13 penalty points, six better than his closest rivals Naresh and G L Yadav. Dharmendra Singh and Joji Joseph of Corps of Engineers Training Centre, Pune, were third overall going into the last race tomorrow.

In the Youth Nationals, G Sandeep of Tamil Nadu SA took the gun in the eighth race while Salil Sabir of Goa Yachting Association surged to the front in the ninth. A close fight for top honours is on the cards between the two.

In the 420 class, Nitin Mayekar and Prasad Shelar of Army Yachting Node, Mumbai, maintained their lead positions by clinching the eighth race while the result of the ninth race was withheld pending a protest.

Results:

O K Dinghy class:  Race 8: 1. S Purshottam (EME SA, Bhopal), 2. D P Selvam (Army Yachting Node, Mumbai), 3. K Srinivas (EME SA, Secunderabad).

Enterprise class: Race 8: 1. Ashim Mongia/Amit Arvind (Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre, Mumbai), 2. N S Yadav/G L Yadav (INWTC), 3. Dharmendra Singh/Joji Joseph (Corps of Engineers Training Centre, Pune).

Race 9: 1. Dharmendra Singh/Joseph, 2. D K Acharya/V B Mahjhi (INWTC), 3. A Mongia/A Arvind.

Youth Nationals:

420 Class (Open):  Race 8: 1. Ninad Mayekar/P Shelar (AYN, Mumbai), 2.

Shilpa/Neha (INWTC), 3. Kunal Sahasrabuddhe/Rahul Malaney (Royal Bombay Yacht Club).

Laser Class: Race 8: 1. G Sandeep (Tamil Nadu SA), 2. Salil Sabir (Goa Yachting Association), 3. Ajay Rau (TNSA).

Race 9: 1. Sabir, 2. G Sandeep, 3. Ajay Rau.