Thomians escape to victory as Royal sailors miss target

Sailors from S. Thomas’ College won the overall title at the 10th Royal-Thomian Sailing Regatta in what was said to be an anxious edge of-the seat finish on the Bolgoda Lake last week.

Royal College however won the top three ILCA spots while S. Thomas’ claimed the Ranil Dias Memorial Trophy after a two-year lapse. With both schools locked on equal individual and team race wins at a 11-11 tie, the Royalists, who fought hard to defend the trophy, narrowly missed out as the title was awarded under regatta rules to the Thomians.

The overall championship went to the ILCA A team winners, handing S. Thomas’ College victory. The two-day contest came down to a final showdown ILCA A team race, with both sides level on points. The determined Royalists Omar Hazari, Yusef Hazari, Kevan de Costa and Randira Hangarangoda pushed hard against Thomians McKyle Karunaratne, Nithik Senaratne, Vinuk Senaratne and Shevon Ponniah with the boats bow-to-bow just metres from the finish.

A jury penalty on Yusef Hazari and De Costa in the final seconds swung the result in favour of the Thomians. The regatta made history as two brothers and national champs, Omar and Yusef Hazari of Royal College, led a team as captain and vice-captain for the first time.

Royal’s vice-captain Yusef Hazari was outstanding on the opening day, taking the ILCA individual title for the Best Sailor, with exceptional maneuvering and beating odds against two capsizes. Royal’s Yusef Hazari, Hettigamage and De Costa also made history for Royal College, claiming the first, second and third places respectively in a clean sweep in the ILCA individual races, making it only the second time in sailing history for a single school to win the coveted top three ILCA positions.

The regatta also witnessed the closest tie breaker in Royal-Thomian individual racing history, as Binal Perera of Royal and Haren Wickramatilake of S. Thomas’ tied on equal points. Following international sailing rules, the trophy went to Wickramatilake. In the ILCA B team races, Royal’s Muazzam Imtiaz, Minuga Hettigamage, Chevinda de Mel and Sanditha Gamage beat the Thomian B team with ease capturing the first two races and claiming the four points up for grabs. Optimist honours were split, with Royal’s A team consisting of Luqmaan Aneeq, Vonal Boteju, Binal Perera and Ruvaneka Rajapaksa taking their category, while the Thomians won the B team races.

The event, sponsored by North Technologies, was graced by chief guest Jonathan Martenstyn. Former Olympian Lalin Jirasinghe and Devin Goonawardena officiated as race officials. The Ranil Dias Memorial Trophy is in honour of former Olympian and Royal Coloursman in swimming, rowing and water polo, the late Ranil Dias.