KARACHI, March 22: Although he finished a disappointing fourth in his sixth event, the overnight leader Hussain Patel bounced back in the seventh, to finish first, nosing out Waleed Tobeh and maintained the lead in the Optimist Class on the third day of the First Pakistan Day International Regatta, held on the Arabian Sea near the DA Marina Club on an extremely hot afternoon on Tuesday.
Later with a strong wind blowing and the sea becoming a bit choppy with the tide coming in, five youngsters failed to complete both the events held.
Asdaf Iqbal had his main sail ripped, the brother and sister Amin Arshad and Yasmin, along with Farrukh Abbas capsized, while Ismail Iqbal was towed back to shore with a broken Mast Eye.
Waleed Tobeh lying second behind Hussain on the second day got off to a splendid start winning his sixth event and was leading the rest of the sailors the next race, well set to take over the lead. But with just 400 meters to reach the finishing line, Hussain taking advantage of the south westerly wind blowing at about 15 to 17 knots, came in from bewind to pip Waleed, who is presently the National Optimist champion.
Great friends on shore but fierce rivals at sea, Waleed although disappointed with the result went across and shook Hussain’s hands, a sporting gesture indeed.
Adil Jalil Zuberi finish second and fourth on Tuesday maintained and his third spot with 24 PP. He was now tied with Ujala Mir Masood (3+6) also with 24 PP. Ujala’s younger sister Ghazal, the present girls champion in the Optimist Class, was lying fifth with 25 PP followed by the young Sri Lankan Ishan Kavan Abeysekera sixth with 33PP. Maria Sehr was seventh with 41PP followed by Viren Harinda Dias also from Sri Lanka eighth with 46 PP. Haider Ali Tippu was ninth with 51 PP and Amrik Sacha Elapata Gunaratne 10th with 53 PP.
The fourth Sri Lankan lad in the race Nishan Wijetilaka Atukorla was 11th with 65 PP.
In the Laser 4.7 Class after seven events, Wijhatullah Babur was still ahead with 9PP. He was followed by Mir Ahmed Mansoor with 11 PP. Kiran Ikram unfortunate to be disqualified after winning her first race on the opening day, came back strongly on Day Three, finishing first and second, closing in third position with 13 PP.
Muhammed Umer Ahmed was fourth 24PP, Huzaifa Farooqi fifth with 36 PP and Ali Akbar sixth with 42 PP.
Following was the table after three days of racing.
OPTIMIST CLASS
Hussain Patel 9PP 1, Waleed Tobeh 10PP 2, Adil Jalil Zuberi 24PP 3, Ujala Mir Masood 24PP 4, Ghazal Mir Masood 25PP 5, Ishan Kavan Abeysekera (Sri Lanka) 33PP 6, Maria Sehr 41PP 7, Viren Harindra Dias (Sri Lanka) 46PP 8, Haider Ali Tippu 51PP 9, Amrik Sacha Elepata Gunaratne 53PP 10, Nishan Wijetilaka Atukorala 65PP 11, Usman Aslam 102PP 12, Jasim Altaf 104PP 13, Marcus C. Rehman 120PP 14, Muhammad Ismail Iqbal 133PP 15, Muhammad Mustafa Ahmed 142PP 16, M. Asdaf Iqbal 144PP 17, Syed Ibaad Ali 145PP 18, Sohail Saad 158PP 19, Adnan Rasheed 168PP 20, Farrukh Abbas 168PP 21, Usama Bin Ayaz 168PP 22, Fahad Alvi 168PP 23, Amin Arshad 168PP 24, Kazi Talha Nadeem 168PP 25, Sabir Ikram 168PP 26, Yasmin Arshad 168PP 27.
LASER 4.7 CLASS
Wajahatullah Babur 9PP 1, Mir Ahmed Mansoor 11PP 2, Kiran Ikram 13PP 3, Muammad Umer Ahmed 24PP 4, Huzaifa Farooqi 36P 5, Ali Akbar 42PP 6.
