Mongia-Mahesh falter at the finish

Lack of consistency prevented India from making giant strides after races V and VI in the Enterprise World Sailing championships in Bogmalo, Goa, on Wednesday.

Aashim Mongia and R Mahesh virtually snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by allowing reigning World champions Richard Estaugh and Peter Rowley of Great Britain to get past them at the finish line in race V, despite having a lead of five boat lengths. The top Indian pair got a disappointing 11th position in race VI.

Gautam Dutta and Utpal More stood first in race VI, but a dismal 14th in race V.

Overall, India had a good day with one first and two second places, but, as Indian team coach Cdr Homi Motiwala said, "India has great depth in her sailing team. So many different pairs have performed so well." But, he lamented, "What we lack is consistency."

Mongia and Mahesh were second round the windward mark at the end of the first beat in Race V, with Estugh and Rowley hot on their tail. The two got away on the reach, leaving the rest of the fleet behind as the race progressed. Aashim and Mahesh never allowed Estaugh and Rowley to get ahead, however, establishing a commanding lead of five boat lengths in the last beat.

With just a few hundred meters to go for the finish, they failed to cover Estaugh on a tack, resulting in his getting a lift from the wind to go past them for the finish.

"Our jib sheets were getting stuck while tacking," Mahesh said.

Nick Craig and Claire Upton-Brown (GBR) came third, while Naresh Yadav and G L Yadav (India) came fourth. Shane McCarthy and Simon Cook of Ireland were fifth while Nitin Mongia and Sandeep Jain were sixth.

Iindia had another two places in the top ten with Dharmender Singh and Joji Joseph coming eighth and Farokh Tarapore and P K Garg coming ninth.

Overall standing after six races (with one discard) are as follows:

1. Estaugh and Rowley (GBR) -13 points
2. A Mongia and Mahesh (India) - 23 points
2. McCarthy and Cook (IRL) - 23 points
4. Gilbert and Fry (GBR) - 24 points
5. Dutta and More (India) - 25 points
6. N. Yadav and G. Yadav (India) -29 points
6. Tarapore and Garg (India) - 29 points
6. Craig and Upton-brown (GBR) - 29 points
9. N. Mongia and Jain (India) - 38 points
10. Singh and Joseph (India) - 42 points.

All results are provisional.

Earlier reports:
Day 1: Britain, India share honours on day one
Day 2: Indian sailors hog the limelight