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Sports

Lipton Cup Regatta
By Pelham Juriansz
Racing down the Bolgoda Lake with the wind against your face, water splashing all around you is what you experience when you sail on the Bolgoda Lake. This is what the Regatta is all about. The first race held in the Lipton Cup Regatta on Sunday was the Optimist race. This was held at the Picturesque Bolgoda Lake and was won by Akshan Jirasinghe. The first race was run over a course that lasted 45 minutes where Sri Lanka's undisputed Optimist Champion, Akshan Jirasinghe had to fight at the end of the event but managed to win comfortably in the end.

The Optimist class is for small boats-children (girls and boys) under the age of 15 as at January 1st. Devin Gunawardene, an up and coming sailor from Colombo International School (CIS) fought all the way, despite not having a good start, from being way behind, to end up as the runner up, and almost beat the ultimate winner, Akshan Jirasinghe. The enthusiasm shown in this event was tremendous.

Another notable achievement was by Sehr Gunawardena, daughter of Chandima Gunawardene, who was lying a comfortable second right throughout the race, but had the misfortune of a collision with young Devin and after having overcome a penalty (2 turns for knocking another boat) lost out and finished fourth. It is encouraging that 15 Junior Sailors took part in this event.

The main event for the Lipton Trophy (overall Trophy) was the Fleet Race and consisted of Enterprise, GP and Lasers (These are names of boats or rather makes, much like Nissan, Toyota and Mitsubishi in car makes).

Although Sri Lankans W.K.Janaka finished first in the race, Anil Gunawardene spurred on by his wife, Michelle, were the worthy winners of this prestigious Cup, due to their handicap. Incidentally the boat that Anil sailed was manufactured and built by the craftsman of the staff of the Ceylon Motor Yacht Club (CMYC). This victory will help Anil and his wife Michelle to participate in the British GP Nationals in the UK in August this year.

In the Lipton event there were over 20 boats and competitors of many nationalities who took part. However, the race was dominated by Sri Lankans. W.K. Janaka finished first over the finish line in Enterprise, but with the handicap system Anil and Michelle won the overall standings in a GP 14.

Joseph Kenny, crewed by young teenager, Pramukshi Kariyawasam came second. The Chief Guest was David Smythe MD of Unilever Tea, and the Regatta was organised by Izath Mohamed, who had organized a wonderful event. Sharmila Bandaranaike-Brand Manager, Unilevers also distributed the awards.

The next big event of the motor Club Calendar is the Royal Ned Lloyd on June 20 and the Yachting Association South Asian Regatta to be held in the 1st week of July with teams from India and Pakistan.

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