Regatta: Slovenian pair tops in 29er

Slovenian siblings Peter Lin Janezic and Lea Dora Janezic topped in the 29er class after slipping past New Zealand sailors Markus Somerville and Isaac McHardie while the Dutch pair of Joris Waller and Daniel Bramervaer finished third on the second day of the Raymond India International Regatta here Thursday.

Shifting winds and dull weather conditions played havoc with the schedule as only one race each in the 29er class and the Laser 4.7 could be held and none in the Optimist.

The situation was rather tough for the organisers as in two days, instead of the scheduled six races each, only three could be held in the 29er, two in the laser 4.7 and just one in the Optimist. It now looks increasingly likely that there will be fleet racing on the 6th also instead of the team racing planned for the Optimists.

The 29er race was started in about 6 to 8 knot winds from the East and then the Lasers started off. Before the Optis could be started, winds dropped. However, the 29er fleet managed to finish their race while Lasers finished a shortened course.

The wind shifted to 120 deg now and the marks were moved for the Optis. By then, it was getting close to 4 PM after which no race could be started. And the wind too died and racing was called off for the day.

In the Laser 4.7 class, Indians continue to hold the fort. TNSA's Janaki Balachander who has just outgrown the Optimist, won the race beating experienced sailors like Upamanyu who finished second ahead of Dheer Singhi.

Dheer Singhi leads the Laser 4.7 fleet overall now while Janaki got ahead of Nethra who was leading among the girls Wednesday..

Provisional results:

Laser 4.7 (Race 2): 1. Janaki Balachander (India); 2. Upamanyu Dutta (India); 3. Dheer Singhi (India). Overall: 1. Dheer SInghi - 5 pts; 2. Shikar Garg (India) - 8 pts; 3. (Koteswara Rao (India) - 10 pts

29er (Race 3): 1. Peter Lin Janezic / Lea Dora Janezic (SLO); 2. Markus Somerville / Isaac McHardie (NZ); 3. Joris Waller / Daniel Bramervaer (NED). Overall: 1. Janezic / Lea Dora - 3 pts; 2. Ganapathy / Varun Thakkar (India) - 8 pts; 3. Somerville / McHardie - 11 pts.