Sailing: Indian Naval Academy emerge Open winners at Commandant’s Cup Regatta

The inaugural Commandant’s Cup Sailing Regatta, organised by the Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA), was held off Sandy Bay, Trincomalee, from September 27 to 29.

The opening ceremony was held at the Shanthi Bahar Memorial Sailing Club under the auspices of NMA Commandant Commodore Kalana Jinadasa and Sarath Kuragama of the Yachting Association of Sri Lanka (YASL). 

Naval Academies of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan and the Military Academy of the Sri Lanka Army along with 7 Officer training intakes from the NMA, participated in this Regatta. 

A total of 8 races were held over 2 days for the Open and Cup Championships. 

The Indian Naval Academy won the Open Championship while the Cup Championship was won by the Midshipmen of the 59th Intake. 

The closing ceremony and prize-giving were graced by Sri Lanka Navy Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Piyal De Silva as the Chief Guest.Eastern Naval Area Commander Rear Admiral Sumith Weerasinghe, Director General Training, Rear Admiral Rasika Dissanayake, Flag Officer Commanding Naval Fleet, Rear Admiral Ananda Guruge and a large number of officers and sailors were also present on this occasion. 

Results 

Cup Champions: 59th Intake ‘A’ (Midshipman ADM Wimalasiri, Midshipman DDDC Weerasinghe, Midshipman AKDS De Zoysa) 
1st Runner-up: 33rd Intake (Midshipman WMCJ Weerasekara, Midshipman EMSP Wickramasinghe, Midshipman WNGGD Isharaka) 
2nd Runner-up: 59th Intake ‘B’ (Midshipman GRM Wickramarathne, Midshipman KADU Madushanka, Midshipman RA Maduranga 

Open Champions: Indian Naval Academy [(INA) Midshipman Aviral Keshav, Midshipman Nikhil Singh Chauhan, Cadet Aditya Jain] 
1st Runner-up: NMA Team ‘A’ (Midshipman WMCJ Weerasekara, Midshipman EMSP Wickramasinghe, Midshipman AKDS De Zoysa) 
2nd Runner-up: NMA Team ‘B’ (Midshipman ADM Wimalasiri, Midshipman DDDC Weerasinghe, Midshipman WNGGD Isharaka) 

Laser Open 
1st- Cadet Aditya Jain (INA) 
2nd- Midshipman AKDS De Zoysa (NMA) 
3rd- Cadet Omer Farooq (Pakistan Naval Academy) 

Enterprise Open 
1st- Midshipman Aviral Keshav & Midshipman Nikhil Singh Chauhan (INA) 
2nd- Midshipman ADM Wimalasiri & Midshipman DDDC Weerasinghe (NMA ‘A’) 
3rd- Midshipman EMSP Wickramasinghe & Midshipman WMCJ Weerasekara (NMA ‘B’)