Mumbai: Zahaan Hemrajani claimed his fourth consecutive O’pen Skiff U17 National title, delivering a commanding performance across eight races in conditions ranging from very light air to medium breeze over small and medium chop.
He won seven of eight races outright — dropping only his penalised fifth place as a discard — to finish on a nett score of 7.0 points, the cleanest series scoreline in the fleet.
The one blemish on an otherwise perfect scorecard came with a story of its own. Having come from behind in a tightly contested race to cross the finish line first in what had been a photo-finish battle, Zahaan received a penalty for contact with the committee boat mark at the line. He was scored fifth. The discard rule absorbed it. That he fought to the front in that race at all — only to lose the result on contact at the finishing mark — speaks to the competitive instinct that defined his sailing all week.
The performance builds on a year of structured development within the 24Seven Sailing programme under coaches Amish, Rigo, and Umesh. Zahaan has been refining his technical game — particularly upwind boat speed in light winds and chop, while continuing to develop his tactical awareness. His layline judgement and ability to identify and commit to the strongest position on the racecourse have become distinguishing features of his racing at this level.
What sets this four-year run of national titles apart is not the results alone, but the consistency of intent behind them. Racing at the Learning to Win stage, Zahaan is building the competitive habits that separate good sailors from high performers: treating each race as information rather than judgement, and responding to difficulty with precision rather than retreat.
With Euro 3 in Warnemünde and the World Championship in Calasetta, Italy on the horizon, the national title confirms the direction of travel. The foundation is strong. The ambition is clear.
“Zahaan is exactly where he needs to be right now. With some targeted work on speed and a continued shift in how he processes performance, we are not just building better results — we are building a stronger athlete,” said Amish, head mentor.
(IANS)
