Andhra Pradesh

INS Rana emerges winner

Whaler pulling regatta is on in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: INS Rana, a frontline destroyer of the Eastern Fleet, won the coveted ‘Cock Trophy’ and was adjudged the ‘Cock Ship of The Eastern Fleet’ in the Eastern Fleet Whaler Regatta conducted on Friday at the Naval Dockyard.

Nineteen teams competed in four categories-junior sailors, seniors, officers and best whaler. Preliminary races were conducted on December 28 to select the six best teams in each category for the finals. INS Ranvijay, the runner-up, was adjudged the ‘Hen of the Eastern Fleet’.

Colourful flags, enthusiastic crowds and friendly bets marked the traditional regatta. The pulling regatta is, perhaps, the sailor’s way of paying tribute to the earliest form of propulsion. For the sea going fraternity, there is no greater sporting event, since the regatta brings out the virtues of ‘pulling together’, ‘espirit-d-corps’ and ‘camaderie’.

To this day, the regatta continues to occupy great importance in the seafarer’s sporting calendar. Ships start practising months before the big event. The regatta, an annual event, involves a keenly contested race in which each boat is rowed by five men. It calls for strenuous practice, physical grit and sound mental strength to compete and win the race, which covers a distance of 1.3 km in the naval channel.

As the men rowed to the finish, naval personnel and their families onboard INS Jalshawa and INS Magar cheered their favourite teams.

Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Vice Admiral R.P. Suthan, was the chief guest. He gave away the prizes to the winners. Admiral Superintendent of the Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam, Vice Admiral Ganesh Mahadevan, Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet, Rear Admiral R.K. Dhawan, and other senior officers, sailors and their families witnessed the event.

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