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India’s First All Women’s International Match Racing Team – Korea Here They Come!

24 October 2008 No Comment

The beautiful city Busan, Korea is hosting the Woman’s World Class Match Race 2008 from the 28th of October to 2nd of November. Haeundae Beach is the official race arena. 11 international teams such as Australia, France, USA etc are participating in this competition and India is one of them. Team of six girls headed by Skipper Pallavi Naik are on their way to Korea. This is the 1st time in India’s history that All Girls Match Racing team is participating in an International competition.

Team GIIRA got to catch up with one of the key team members, Alekhya Sudam and had few words with her. In such a rush it was sweet of her to take out sometime to answers our queries.

How is the preparation going on between you girls for the World Women Match Racing Competition?
Well,the boat that we’ll be sailing in Korea is a new boat.So we haven’t sailed that yet.Which is why the team is going a few days in advance to attend the clinics and get familiar with the boat.But apart from that,we’ve practiced match racing on the J-24.

THE TEAM

HELM

Pallavi Naik

Ayesha Lobo

MID-BOAT

Alekhya Sudam

Rohini Rau

FORE-BOAT

Taramati Mativarde

Dhanya Pilo

What measure have you girls undertaken to stay fit for the upcoming competition?
I go to the gym everyday nd train for at least one and a half to two hours.We have to keep our diet in control as well.Try not to eat too much junk food.Have a protein and multi-vitamin diet to stay fit and perform on the boat.

Has the government in any way helped sponsor the trip or you girls are taking out money from your respective pocket?
Since we found out about the event only last week,the organising authority in Korea is helping us out by taking care of the accommodation, food and transport including our flight fare.We are paying the entry fee and damage deposit by ourselves.

11 international teams are participating in the competition. Where do you think team India will stand?
The Indian team is the first women’s Match Racing Team to go international.We will be sailing against the top sailors from all over the world.We may not be the best team there,but we are sure to give our best.

As you girls use to race on the J24, will the new 9m match racing yacht which is the official boat make any difference?
Yes,this is a much bigger boat which requires a crew 5-6 people including the skipper such that our total weight comes up to 340 kilos. Also this boat is light and accelerates much faster, so everyone on the boat has to be quicker and more alert. Everything is going to be bigger in size, from the sails to the ropes to the equipment, which means more hard work from our side.

How excited are the team members at present?
The excitement started the night we found out about the event; i.e. last Sunday, 19th October. Ever since,we’ve been really excited because we had to form a team of six members, get our visas and get everything organised – all in one week!Finally the excitement of being the first Women’s Team to represent India in Match Racing internationally is overwhelming.

We have watched these girls perform during the ISAF Nations Cup last week and let me tell you that they are really good with tremendous potential . We at Giira Yachts wish them lots of luck and hope this is the stepping stone for taking women’s sailing to the next level!